Do You Speak Christianese?

Help me write the lexicon

For 63 years - my entire life so far - I have been part of the Christian community. And so, I understand Christianese, the in-house language many Christians speak without realizing it. Like a second generation child’s aversion to his/her/their immigrant parents’ first language, I have worked hard to refrain from speaking Christianese. (Not that my parents spoke Christianese. My Dad coined so many words, he should have published a dictionary…and my Mom refused to speak much Christianese. But my paternal and maternal grandparents could sling Christianese without a stutter.

Over the course of 2024 I have been assembling a Christianese Lexicon, and I am inviting you to help me complete it. Any Christianese words, phrases, mottos…that pop into your mind, whether or not you know what they mean, please send to me. The format of my Lexicon is a list of Christianese entries in alphabetical order. For each entry, I offer a brief explanation. So far this project has been cathartic for me.

My aversion to Christianese is that it is an in-house language, which many Christians speak freely regardless of their context and audience, never dreaming that some, who are listening don’t understand what has been said. (I have been trying my best for at least 15 years to be less reactive, critical and sarcastic. It’s a slow process.)

The Catharsis so far = I have discovered that many of my Christianese entries are actually well-crafted language that could be most helpful to anyone who understands it. Many of my entries are lifted from the Hebrew Scriptures and New Testament, or at least allude to teachings and events recorded in them. Many entries are complete drivel or they are immeshed in a certain Christian practice that is not tethered to the Holy Scriptures, yet full of meaning.

Let me offer some examples before I go further:

Someone might say, “She is covered with the blood.” I actually know what that means! But I can imagine how creepy, cultish or at least odd this sounds. (You will have to read my Lexicon to discover what I think about this phrase.)

Someone might say, “I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.” I think I know what this means, but sometimes I am mystified. (Nevertheless, I actually do have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.) I try my best to describe this reality in words that translate but when I am tired, this sentence is quite convenient.

Recently someone invited me “to share my heart to God moment,” and I had to go online where AI helped me to understand the request. I told my friend that I would do it and she told me that the audience included people ready “to turn the corner,” and so if, “I felt led,” then I should offer an “altar call,” a term I know all too well from childhood. We enjoyed a nice chat in Christianese.

Theological Jargon: Most of it is scholarly and ecclesiastical. When it hits the streets for several generations, it becomes complicated.

Religious Lingo: Most of it describes rich and helpful events in a community’s spiritual pilgrimage. But it doesn’t always sound so in certain conversations.

Historical & Cultural References: If you don’t know the history, then…If you are of a different culture, then…. What does “take another lap around Mt. Sinai,” mean? Or what is “my Jonah experience?” What does “Adiaphora” mean? Or what is “dancing in the Spirit”?

Much of the Christianese I have heard over the years is an attempt to find a contemporary way to express what older generations have said. It’s ironic. The intention is to communicate truth more clearly, but sadly, it often confuses and, in some instances, departs further from the truth, or at least muddies the waters.

If you have been or are critical of Christianese, like I have been and still am at times, then consider that every sub-culture develops an in-house language. The field of Psychology has developed a lexicon rivaling the Arab dictionary in length and when the terms and phrases of psychology hit the streets, we sling it so sloppily that every other person we know becomes a narcissist, a passive-aggressive, or a pathological liar. Western New Agers have pirated thousands of terms from long-standing, Eastern religions, they know little about, inserting them into conversations to sound super spiritual. All of us Sports fans speak a sub-cultural language off court and off field, never thinking about it. In our technical and vocational fields, we speak a different language rife with acronyms. Isn’t language fascinating?!

So, if you can help me, then please shoot me a message with the Christianese you have heard, or use, whether or not you know what it means.