Some substitute words for the Christian

As a college English instructor, I am a firm believer in clear communication. As a Christian, I also see the need for effective communication, and I see lots of ways we have failed to do this. For this blog, I want to focus on our word choice when we communicate the good news of Jesus to others.

Let's start with the word "faith." When we use this with others who don't share our views, it can come across as referencing a leap in the dark. They hear it as, "I don't have any reason to believe this. I simply take it on faith. It's my wishful thinking. " But that's not what the original biblical word meant. A much better word is "trust." We trust things that give us good reasons to trust in them – a light switch, a car, a family member, . . .

In addition, we shouldn't be talking about our "beliefs." For this postmodern generation, such a term suggests a subjective "true for me" preference, much like we would use for a flavor of ice cream. Instead, we should be saying things like, "This is what I think is true," or "These are my spiritual convictions." This will inform the listener that we are talking about actual, real-world truths.

We also make it difficult for ourselves when we refer to "the Bible" or the "Word of God." We live in a post-biblical world which sees no value to this book. Quaint images of Pilgrims or Puritans come to mind. It might be better to talk about "Jesus of Nazareth" or "those who Jesus trained" or "ancient Hebrew prophets." When we want to talk about the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John), a far better way might be to call them "the primary source historical documents for the life of Jesus." That's much closer to the way historians look at them.

What about the way we deal with those who are not Christians? We are likely to use terms like "non-Christians" or "unbelievers." Many who hear or see these references will conclude that we look at the world as an "us versus them" situation. That hardly makes us look open or inviting. Notice what I used instead in the second paragraph – "those who don't share our views." It's a little longer and clunkier, but it avoids the black/white phrasing of the other terms.

Then there's the word "sin." Today we get blank stares when that word comes up because it has very little meaning to many people. Again, it may suggest quaint visions of hellfire-and-brimstone preachers. What can we say instead? How about talking of our moral crimes against God or our acts of rebellion against our Sovereign.

I'm sure there are other words that can be used for the above terms, but I'll leave that up to the reader to think about.