Do you really need to be justified in order to work out your sanctification by loving on the kids in Sunday School? Are you feeling led to covet the prayers of others to strengthen your hedge of protection? Does your testimony attest to your stewardship? Are you fully leaning into the words of your Jesus? Are you intentional about doing life with others?
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then that makes two of us. I just gave you a crash course in one of my pet peeves when it comes to church: jargon. The Oxford Dictionary defines jargon as “words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group of people, and are difficult for others to understand.”
The key to that definition is “difficult to understand”. I think it’s time to retire all of these weird phrases. They do nothing to help people understand what we’re talking about or why Jesus is so awesome. In C. S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters, a demon instructs his protege nephew that:
Jargon, not argument, is your best ally in keeping him [referring to his human target] from the Church.
C. S. Lewis
I think this is true. A common set of phrases, slang, and dialect can help strengthen bonds within a community. But when it comes to the church, I think the problems with jargon far outweigh the benefits. People need to be able to understand what we’re talking about in order to feel like they belong. By using language and phrasing that is confusing (even to those of us within the church most of the time) we’re alienating a big portion of the audience we’re trying to serve.
If you find yourself guilty of using words and phrases like this, don’t beat yourself up. It’s not just a church problem. I work with defense contractors, and jargon is an industry staple. Of course, I never struggle with this problem (heavy sarcasm if you didn’t notice). David Ogilvy, the father of advertising, said:
Our business is infested with idiots who try to impress by using pretentious jargon.
David Ogilvy
Sometimes I’m an idiot. But I try not to be. Don’t make people feel stupid. Get rid of the jargon. Say what you mean and mean what you say. You can find much more simple and descriptive ways to communicate. I’ve noticed that most of my favorite pastors, leaders, and speakers avoid using jargon. That’s probably one of the big reasons why they are my favorites.
The leadership group at my church devotes an entire session to creating an outsider-focused culture. One of the ways that we do that is eliminating insider language. Remember, the gospel is good news, of great joy, for ALL people (Luke 2:10). Let’s make sure all people can understand what we’re talking about.
Since this is a pet peeve of mine, I’m thinking of following up with some posts featuring some of my personal unfavorites (sorry, we just watched Alice and Wonderland), why I don’t like them, and what we might try saying instead. Stay tuned for what I hope will be some entertaining and instructional posts.
If you have any favorites (or unfavorites), send me an email about them, or leave me a comment on Facebook. Or maybe I’m totally off base on this. If you can credit your 30% increase in church attendance to your pastor using 20% more jargon in his sermons, then tell me about that, too. I covet your opinion, but only if you’re feeling called to lean in and do life with me.
