Say What?

Missionaries have a big term called contextualization to describe how they first learn the culture of a country before they go to share the good news of Jesus with the natives.  The reason they do this is to know how to most effectively be able to share the Gospel in a way that will make sense to the people they are trying to reach.

In America we must do the same thing.  The sad thing is we’ve come up with our own little Christian language and most people have no idea what we’re talking about.  Sort of like if I went to China, but kept speaking English….most people wouldn’t understand me.  So here’s the question…if I’m in China to share Jesus with the natives, do I first expect everyone to learn English and then I’ll share the Gospel?  NO!!!  Instead I’ll learn Chinese and share the good news in their native tongue.

So again, what words or phrases do you use that only other Christians will understand?  How can you simplify it to say what it really means?  For example, many years ago I stopped saying, “You need to ask Jesus to be the Savior and Lord of your life.”  Now does that mean people don’t need that?  Of course not,  but now I say it this way…in fact if you’ve been around United long enough you can probably say it along with me…”You need to ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and come in and take control of your life…that is be the leader of your life.”  It’s saying the same thing, but now anyone can understand it. 

I’ll give some more examples tomorrow, but in the meantime, what are some Christian phrases that you use or you hear people use that could use some better wording.  Comment below…if you’ve got the solution, go ahead and share it…if not, I’ll tell you how I’d say it.  In the meantime, “Here I raise my Ebenezer.”