Jargon. It is everywhere -- the workplace, college campuses, and the church. Christianity, just like any other religion, brings with it a set of words and phrases that naturally become saturated throughout its community of believers. The use of these words and phrases in and of themselves poses no problem, but overusing them poses many. Contemporary Christians (myself included) seem to be some of the worst offenders for overusing words that should mean a lot, causing them to mean very little.
Blessed is a prime example of a word that gets misused by Christians again and again, especially when preceded by a hashtag. Being #blessed does not mean that you just made a bigger paycheck than usual. Blessings do not come in the form of material things. The issue with this is the false pretense of humility. Too many people claim to be #blessed as a sneaky way to boast about their recent win at life. The world's definition of blessed has to do with health, wealth, and personal accomplishments; but the biblical definition of blessed is: endowed with divine favor and protection. The Beatitudes in Matthew 5 highlight the fact that being blessed comes from the condition of one's heart versus one's circumstances. We can't even blame Drake, because this was a problem long before he was "way up."
How many times have you heard, or said, "I really want to be more intentional in my relationships?" I never really heard this word until coming to a Christian college. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with the word "intentional." I appreciate the goal of rejecting passivity that this word implies. However, you shouldn't have to label your method as "intentional."
God wants us treat one another as we want to be treated, not just the people we are trying to get to know better. Not just the person we could see potentially becoming our best friend, but everyone. All of our relationships should have intent behind them.
I think we can all agree that we want to find our calling in life -- why we are here, what we're supposed to do with the life we've been given, and how we can best utilize our skills. Be that as it may, saying you've been called to something is a bold statement. There is a difference between enjoying a certain type of service and being called to it. Foreign missions exemplify this. When you are called to something, outside factors such as financial stability, peer pressure, and your personal wants, take a backseat. Oftentimes, our desires and God's desires for us do not naturally line up. But when we put every ounce of our trust in the Lord, His desires become ours. Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." I challenge you to make sure that God is the one calling you -- not money, adventure, or your future spouse.
The definition of conviction on the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry website is: "The work of the Holy Spirit where a person is able to see himself as God sees him ... totally unable to save himself." Conviction is not something to be taken lightly. There is a fine line between feeling guilty and feeling convicted. Conviction brings an awareness of sin and should catalyze a response of repentance. It reveals our desperate need for forgiveness from our one and only Savior.
Another concept that wasn't really on my radar until college is what most people call a quiet time: a regular block of time set apart for you and the Lord to pray, read the Bible, journal, or whatever brings you closest to God, sans distractions. This has the power to be invaluable in your everyday life. However, an issue arises when so much emphasis is put on quiet time that you are seeking the Lord then and only then. God wants us to spend every waking moment with Him, not just 45 minutes MWF.
How often do we say we love something when we really just think it's pretty? "Love" is overused on a regular basis, and not just in a Christian context. It's a choice, it's a verb, and it's an incredibly strong emotion. All too often we forget how much power the word has and toss it around like a frisbee. Don't get me wrong, it is our job to love people, but not in the same way we love the Lord. The Ancient Greeks had the genius idea of separating love into six different types. Eros is sexual love, the kind that abounds in rom-coms these days. Philia is deep friendship, centering around loyalty. Ludus is playful love, as in between children. Agape is selfless love, love for everyone. Pragma is the long-lasting love that married couples usually develop. Philautia is love of the self, which can be healthy or unhealthy. I vote we integrate this system into modern culture.
"I'll pray for you" are four words that can have a huge impact ... when followed through with. Saying that you will keep someone in your prayers means nothing apart from actually doing it. I think that offering to pray for someone is such an automatic response in difficult times that we often simply forget to do so. We also tend to whip out that response as a form of evading the situation at hand. The power of prayer is ridiculously real. It's time we stop with the empty promises and keep our commitments to interceding on behalf of others.
Each one of these words and phrases should be treated like junk food -- wonderful in moderation. The danger of these Christian platitudes lies in the oversimplification of concepts and promotion of exclusivity. As believers, we have to be careful to not let our lingo speak louder than our actions. It's one thing to talk the talk, but it's another to walk the [Christian] walk.
Remember, not everyone speaks Christian-ese.
