The church environment can be a funny one. In it we often use words and phrases no one else uses, and sometimes it’s for very good reason that they don’t. Ours can be a foreign language if you’re not used to it. Some of the language is helpful and some of it is not. But either way church definitely has its own language so I decided to ask the Twitter world what church words need to, well, go away.
Here are the top 10 results for the church buzzwords (or phrase) the twitter world thinks should go away.
10. “God, just…”
I’m guilty. For some reason I add the word “just” a ton in my prayers. But, I wouldn’t do that in a conversation with a person. I’m scratching my head.
9. “I have an unspoken prayer request”
I wonder how long this phrase has been around? A long time! One woman tweeted out that students in her Christian school used this phrase to waste time in class and keep the teacher writing prayer requests on the board.
8. “Hedge of protection”
Every time I hear this I can’t help but think of the bushes in the front of my house. This term dates back thousands of years ago where villages would use thorn hedges to protect their property from predators. To say the least, the term is outdated to an American audience.
7. “Do life together”
I use this term A LOT. It was one of the more popular terms, and, depending on the context, it can mean something much different.
6. “Plugged in”, “Lean in” or “Press in”
Bottom line: no one wants to be in’d into anything.
5. “Slippery slope”
This thread caused such a buzz that even Beth Moore weighed in on her despised buzzword. It’s like saying, “You’re not wrong, but you’re almost wrong.” God bless Beth Moore.
I fan girled and responded to her. Bonus content: she made a personal video for my mom!
4. “Smokin’ hot wife”
There was plenty of conversation around this response and rightly so. It makes everyone uncomfortable in the room, including the wife.
3. “Hate the sin, love the sinner”
This is a church phrase that some people inside AND outside the church wish would go away.
2. “Love on”
Lets be honest, in today’s hyper-sexualized culture, this does not sound good. Should we try to redeem it? If you want to. But I think I’ll settle with another way to express how I love people.
1. “Let’s unpack this”
This was a total shocker to me, but this was by far the most despised phrase. From what I can tell it is an over-used term that doesn’t relate well. You unpack clothes so you can put them away. Is that what we should be doing with God’s Word?
Honorable Mention:
“God moved”
“Asking Jesus into your heart”
“It was a God thing”
“Traveling mercies”
What church buzzword or phrase do you wish would go away? Please add them to the comments.
That’s a fun list. Props to Beth Moore.
My honorable mentions:
I have heard, “Stay with me, now…” for decades; but too often from those who never ‘went anywhere’. Go somewhere; I’ll be happy to stay with you.
And, from listening to countless helpful messages from the great Dr. Stanley, the repetitious use of, “Listen”, “Listen to me,” “Now, listen,” in almost every sentence, kinna, sorta made it difficult to do what he was asking.
Dr. Stanley does do that a lot!
Millennials today. I feel like whenever people start saying this, they’re implying they don’t like millennials. I realize that people usually don’t mean that, but as a millennial that’s how that phrase makes me feel. It hurts my feelings and I’m probably not the only one who hates this phrase.
I’m a little scared that I haven’t heard half of those before. Am I attending the wrong church? Or just not paying attention?
Your church is probably just too busy with focusing on the Bible together. 🙂
Fellowship is my peeve. Who in the world uses that word? “Come and Fellowship at the gym.” “You are invited to a birthday party to fellowship.” NO. Weird. Stop it!
Stacey, I’m sorry I’m just now seeing this. Yes, “fellowship” gets thrown around a lot. Makes me think of LOTR lol
Season, referring to a period of time in a person’s life