Trying Not to Speak Christianese

This isn't a real post. It's mostly just me giving you a link to Addie Zierman's blog; she's creating an annotated glossary of Christianese, "How to Speak Evangelical." I'm enjoying it so far. My current series of posts has been about a bunch of Christian cliches connected to somewhat sketchy spiritual techniques- "Finding God's Will," "Giving God Control," "Not Splitting Head From Heart," and so on. Actually, I haven't written the post on the last one yet, but think about it- what kind of an odd phrase is that? It's Christianese- an example of language Christians (especially Evangelical Christians in America) use casually, but which can be pretty obtuse for someone who's not steeped in Christianity.

Actually, it's quite normal for people who associate over a specific, common cause or issue to develop some jargon. (I wasted some time last night exploring some of the WWF jargon on wikipedia, for instance.) But if part of the purpose of your association is to reach out and connect with others, then jargon isn't going to help. I've heard it said that "The Christian Church is the only organization on earth that exists soley for the purpose of those who are not yet members of it." (A quote from the late archbishop of Cantebury, Dr. Michael Ramsey, apparently.) So I'm liking Addie's blog, because I think Christians should be very careful about this sort of thing.