SSS: Christianese, or Why You Should Consider Different Words

So I’ve been at this blogging thing for just over four months now. I’ve written somewhere around 40 000 words in an effort to tell stories that reveal truths in ways that kids can easily understand. That might seem like a lot of words, but I really just throw that number in there to make my accomplishment sound more impressive than it is.

But between writing 40 000 words and teaching lessons on Sunday mornings and at camp, I’ve learned something important about the words we use when teaching kids. And that lesson is that, surprise surprise, words matter. A lot. In fact, the words you use to explain truth can make the difference between a kid understanding and retaining the message or not.

I have a friend edit all of these blog posts before they go live (thanks Katie!). She reads for grammar and spelling, sure, but more often than not, her comments go something like this: “I’m not sure an eight year old will understand _______________. Try using a different word.” I’m extremely thankful that I have an extra set of eyes that can catch when I use words or phrases that a regular kid probably won’t understand. As such, today I want to talk a little bit about the dangers of Christianese in storytelling.

First, let’s define what that word means. Christianese refers to those words or phrases that, if you’re a Christian, you’ll probably understand without too much hassle. These words or phrases tend to build on stereotypes or theological ideas that people in the church naturally learn simply because they’ve been a Christian for a decent amount of time.

Unfortunately, it can be our tendency within Christian circles to overuse Christianese, often without even realizing it. This isn’t such a big deal when you’re having conversations with your friends at Bible college – actually there, Christianese often ends up being the butt of a bunch of your jokes – but it’s not so good when these words or phrases are used in an actual ministry setting.

Why? Because by using Christianese, you risk alienating your audience. Let’s run through a few examples. At my church, we talk about “doing life together.” This term tends to come up when we break off into our Life Groups (small groups) to discuss the sermon, but it can be extended to include the hoped for connections and experiences you’ll engage in with your small group members outside of the study setting. But for someone who’s just walked into your church for the first time, that’s a lot of context they aren’t going to understand just by hearing “doing life together” though.

Or what about “I’m going through a season right now”? A season of what? Spring? A show on Netflix? No, in Christianese, this refers to when you’re going through a really tough time in your life and where, ideally, you’re learning to trust God more in the process.

Some of these Christianese phrases can get pretty intense. My favourite is “I’ve been washed in the blood of the Lamb.” This phrase is supposed to describe how we are saved from our sins because Jesus poured out his blood for us when He died on the cross. But just think for a second about how that would sound to someone who doesn’t automatically connect Jesus to the Passover lamb – like anyone who’s grown up in the post-Christian West and has never stepped foot in a church. Not knowing the Christianese context to this phrase makes us sound pretty sadistic. Thankfully I haven’t heard this one thrown around all that often.

Now I get that there can be a time and a place for these phrases, but I point out these examples to show how just assuming your entire audience knows what you’re talking about when you use cliché Christian phrases can be seriously off-putting to people who haven’t grown up in a setting where these clichés are normal. And these are the kind of things we typically say to a room of adults! Now imagine how much worse Christianese could be misinterpreted when used in a Kidmin setting.

 

In fact, with kids, you have an added dimension to this problem. Most adults still know what forgiveness or sin means, but you can’t assume that a six year old will. Believe me, if you don’t explain what some of these terms mean, you’re just going to be met with blank stares.

So let’s go through a few examples more closely. Sin is probably the most overused not understood word in children’s ministry. Lots of unchurched kids won’t automatically know that sin means “all those bad things you do” or “those things that go against what God wants.” So if you stand at the front of your stage and ask the kids in your ministry if they want to confess their sins to Jesus without explaining what a sin is, you’re probably not going to make a lot of progress.

We have to get better at explaining the words that talk about dealing with sin too. You can’t automatically assume every kid in the audience knows what “confess,” “repent,” or “forgive” mean. So let’s break them down.

Confess, in kid friendly terms, is admitting to someone that you’ve done something wrong. You might want to give an example involving stealing cookies or something. When you confess, you tell someone that you were mean to them and then you say sorry.

Repent is an even less known word for kids. To repent literally means “to turn around.” I would suggest moving when trying to explain this to kids. Walk in one direction and talk about a whole bunch of bad things we can do. Then stop, turn around, and start walking in the other direction while explaining that repentance is doing exactly that: to stop doing those bad things and start doing what God wants instead. It wouldn’t hurt to add that we can’t actually pull that off on our own but need God’s help to do it!

And then there’s forgiveness. You might think that’s the easiest of the bunch to explain, but I’m not so sure. I had a friend ask me a few weeks back to define forgiveness and realized it’s not as easy to do as you think. But the best way I can think to explain it to kids is that forgiveness is not holding something against someone. Again, examples are helpful. If someone pushes you over, you forgive them when you decide to not stay mad at them for pushing you. Instead, you move on.

I point out these words because they’re the most obvious ones you’re going to deal with when talking to kids about what Jesus did on the cross. And if you can’t explain to a kid in language they understand what sin is and why they need forgiveness for it, you’re setting them up for failure down the road. You don’t want them graduating from your ministry or getting to the end of your summer camp without them ever knowing that sin means there’s a problem in their life that only Jesus can fix!

Speaking of, let’s also use caution when we introduce the idea of accepting Jesus to kids. Kids can be quite literal, so talking to them about “asking Jesus into their hearts” can create some weird mental pictures. But if you can explain to them what it means to believe in Jesus and have a relationship with Him without them thinking they need open heart surgery, you’re probably on the right track.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that we need to seriously think about the words we use. The Gospel is powerful and can make its message known to people of any age, but there’s no sense in confusing kids by talking about the Gospel with words that they won’t understand. But when we use words and examples that they can relate to, we’re setting them up to not just make the most important decision of their lives but also to understand why making that decision matters! And if we do that, they’re going to be far more likely to hold on to their faiths as they get older.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go and make sure my next story doesn’t use long, complicated theological words that no child would understand. Probably shouldn’t bring up the potential theophany in Rack, Shack, and Benny…

~Brentagious