“Nice Language”

Language changes, and that’s not always a good thing. As Christians, we should test the spirits (1 John 4:1), discerning whether such language changes are in fact good or bad. Take, for example, how people speak of death. People will say, “So and so passed away.” This seems to have become the most universal, polite way to speak of death. Less often will you hear, “So and so died.” The phrase “passing away” sounds so much more polite. Another popular one is “A Celebration of Life” service. Whatever happened to “a funeral?” Evangelism has now become “sharing your story.” Hm. Interesting. “Authenticity” is a key buzzword. It seems to have taken the place of “holiness.” We’ve traded “being holy” for “being real.” Another key buzzword is “brokenness.” It seems to have taken the place of “guilt” and “shame.” We’re now “broken” instead of “depraved.” Being a “soldier” for Christ no longer gets emphasized, but being a “servant leader” for Christ is prevalent. On an organizational level, Campus Crusade for Christ has become Cru. Anything with “crusade” in the tag line has been under assault because the Middle Ages were so bad! How should we as Christians think about all this change?

I’m a traditionalist. I’m a “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” type of guy. I think Bible terms are the best: death, falling asleep, repentance, hell, salvation, preaching, sin, guilt, eternity, heaven, soldier, armor, battle, struggle, and judgment. Last time I read the Bible words and phrases like being real, authenticity, brokenness, passing away weren’t in there. Now! My point is not that we can only use the terms the Bible gives us. “Funeral” isn’t a Bible word, but we can and should still use it. Extra-biblical terms can be helpful. Rather, my point is this: there is a cultural drift in our language that moves away from truth and moves towards feelings. The appeal of “passing away” instead of “death” is that “death” is cold and sad whereas “passing away” is nicer. If this is so, then we as Christians need to push back against the “feelings over truth” language creep. How should we do that?

Use language that has not been taken over by modern niceties. When people say, “pass away,” you say “died.” When people speak of “human brokenness,” speak of “sin.” Treasure truth over feelings and speak in a way that highlights this conviction.

Pastor Chance Sumner