[by Marcia Ford]
Christians, and much of the population outside that demographic, realize that, as with any subgroup of society, believers have their own lexicon—a collection of words that convey specific religious concepts common to their everyday experiences, but words that are often misunderstood by those beyond the fold.
Take the term “born again.” That phrase appears once in the Bible, in John 3:3, where Jesus says to a man named Nicodemus, “…unless someone is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Now, you’d think that Jesus, being all-knowing, would have realized that such a concept would be foreign to the man, who was a member of the ruling party of Pharisees that opposed Jesus and His teachings. Nicodemus shows his confusion in his response:
“How can a person be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?” he asks Jesus in verse 4.
Jesus answers him, and quite adequately, but that’s not my point here. My point is that the term “born again” is just as foreign to nonbelievers in the 21st century as it was in the 1st century.
And it doesn’t take a vivid imagination to come up with a host of meanings today’s readers could apply to that image—some of them suggestive.
If those readers are deep into your book and discover that a character was born again, what are they to think? I don’t know in detail, but I do know this in general: their confusion will take them right out of the book you so carefully crafted and send them off to research the term or continue with a misunderstood image that conflicts with Jesus’ meaning.
You face a dilemma that plagues Christian writers every day. Do you use a term familiar to Christians, or do you find an appropriate substitute? The best answer to those questions may be “neither.”
Try describing the character’s faith instead of labeling him as “born again”:
“Nate seemed to have this uncanny way of relating to God, like talking to Him the way he talks to me, and asking Him for favors the way he asks me for favors, and telling Him he loves Him in a way he has certainly never told me.
“It’s as if he knows Him.”
You get the idea.
Today’s readers require religious images and vocabulary that have been transformed from believers’ jargon to words, phrases, images, or metaphors they can understand and relate to. Here are a few words you may want to think twice about using—though there are many others:
Anointed: This means chosen by God for a distinct purpose; just the clause “chosen by God” sounds condescending, and the idea of a special purpose sounds exclusive. It well may be, but it’s better to say a character sensed God wanted her to accomplish a certain task.
Backslider: An antiquated term that’s best left in the antiquated bin. It refers to a believer who has returned to his wicked, pre-believing ways—sliding back into debauchery. Ditch it.
Disciple: Change this to student or follower of Jesus, unless you’re referring to one of the original disciples.
Evangelism/Evangelical: Evangelism is often associated with beating a person over the head with the Bible, and evangelical, which used to be a perfectly fine way of describing Christians who wanted to share God’s love, now applies to politically power-seeking Christians. The disturbing thing is, we did this to ourselves. I wouldn’t use these terms without some explanation or definition.
Faith: A beautiful word that can be a substitute for many words that have become unbeautiful. “Person of faith” covers a multitude of judgmental descriptors. Use it with abandon, but avoid condemning to hell those people who don’t seem to have it.
Fellowship: Sounds exclusive or shallow—“exclusive” in that Christians should have a social life only with other Christians, and “shallow” in that it sounds like just hanging out at church, not the deep, loving relationship between believers who follow God.
Grace: This wonderful concept is a tough one to replace or even define, particularly among people who have probably only heard it in reference to a prayer some people say before a meal. Christians define it as “God’s unmerited favor,” but we need a better way of expressing that to an unchurched society—a shocking way that convinces readers that only God’s intervention could change a prisoner’s death sentence to a full pardon, for example.
Repent: Admit it. You see this word, and the image that springs to mind is of a nutcase in tattered clothes warning crowds in Times Square that the end is near. Don’t use this word unless you’re captioning a hilarious cartoon for The New Yorker.
Righteous: Despite Aaron Sorkin’s brilliance, he has a character in The West Wing describe members of the opposition party as “righteous.” And I’ve cringed each of the 10 times* I’ve heard it. No one—practically no one—uses this word to describe another person or movement, especially in casual conversation. Honestly? I’d prefer the blah word good to righteous.
*I’ve binged the entire series that many times.
Saved/Salvation; Sanctified/Sanctification: These words provide much-needed shorthand among believers, but they immediately place a barrier between your readers and the concept you intend to get across. Nonbelievers think of it as “saved” people = good; everyone else = bad. Think of nonbelievers as people who have yet to discover the love and joy you’ve found in your relationship with Jesus, not as “the unsaved” or worse, “the world.”
Sin: See above. If you need to flat-out mention “sin” that a character commits, be as specific as possible without using the word sin or offending your audience with graphic descriptions. Describe a spouse as having an affair instead of falling into sin, for example.
The Word: Just use the word Bible. I’d even avoid scriptures, since every faith has its own holy writings.
Worship: A perfectly acceptable word until you combine it with the word praise, as in the “praise and worship” portion of a worship service. Many, if not most, of us understand what that means, but even other Christians have trouble wrapping their heads around it if their church doesn’t have such a practice: “How can praise or worship be part of a service? Isn’t the whole service a time of worship?”
You can probably think of other terms unfamiliar to unbelieving readers, and even to believers whose churches don’t use the same jargon yours does. If you can’t think of other terms to avoid, pay close attention to the words spoken from the pulpit or among you and your Christian friends. Then “hear” those words as if you never heard them in that context before.
When you continue writing your current book, be aware of the Christian jargon you need to delete, change, or define. And never forget that making your message clear is one of the highest priorities you need to have as a Christian writer.
