Imperishable Inheritance

How often does our conversation with non-believers seem like the comic on the right? Often we try and witness, but our witness is clouded by our Christian "language." In the short time I've been a believer, one of the things I've been most astounded to see is the widespread use of such vague Christian jargon. We use terms like: "saved," "bless/blessing," and "fellowship;" but they often become a "stumbling block" (another example of "Christianese") in being an effective witness to non-believers. I'm continually suprised to see at how prevelant this language is. When witnessing to a non-believer we might use language like this in our testimony (bolded words indicate "Christianese"):

"I was continually living in such deep sin, but the Lord showed grace on me and saved me not on the basis of my works. It has been such a blessing in my life to enjoy fellowship with other believers regarding our struggles. I now have a personal relationship through the cross."

It's not that we use language like this on purpose to confuse those we witness to, but it comes out of our experiences of Christianity. Believers all to often associate with "Christianity" and not the Gospel, but let me explain what that means. We have a natural tendency to hold onto the things surrounding our faith. Let me provide a more concrete example so I don't sound condeming.

I met a girl who did work in Cambodia, and she explained how she witnessed to a little girl there. She told her that if she believes on Jesus than He will "come into her heart." The little girl seemed puzzled, and she asked, "when Jesus comes back does He come out of our heart?" Examples such as this show us how confusing the language we use as Christians really is. Moreover, where did we ever get phrases like, "come into our heart?" God writes the Law on our heart (Jer 31:33; Rom 2:15), but that is a different issue (of which I'm working to understand as we speak).

On top of our witness to non-believers this language has also become largely cliché. Tim Challies wrote a great article a while back that got me thinking about all of this, and it was written about the time I became a believer. I enjoyed the honesty of looking at the faith that surrounded him, and I've come to agree with his assertion. I first heard Aaron Shaf say "grace and peace" in his closings, and at the time it was original; but now it has been adopted into much of the jargon of local Christians. It has become cliché. Talk about cliché, contemporary Christian music is riddled with it. It is so prevelant that it has no substance. It is honestly disgusting. Where are the hymn books separated by theological category?

One more thing. I've become very irritated with Christians who use the solas of the Reformation in a cliché manner. When Luther and his followers proclaimed "sola fide" or "[justified] by faith alone" they were in danger of losing their lives. Now I see Christians tag "soli deo gloria" or "sola christus" without the substance it was intended to have. The day I see "soli deo gloria" in an e-mail signature I'm converting to Islam. Don't tempt me...

Well, I'd like to thank the Lord for the blessing of imparting this grace to you. By the power of the Spirit we will continue to fellowship through the cross. I hope it was encouraging. I pray this all in Jesus name. Amen.