I believe Christians are using the wrong words.

What words are you using to describe your church? If your friends knew nothing about your church except the words you use again and again, how would they describe it?

Think about the Christian buzzwords.

Maybe the most used words in church are “traditional”, “contemporary,” or “modern.”

Should these be the words we are using?

Think about another set of words. We often talk about “Calvinism,” Arminianism”, Dispensationalism,” or some other kind of “ism.”

There are better words to use about church.

Here is a list of better words to use to describe your church. What about “Scriptural?” Other words to describe church would be “solid,” “sound,” “dependable,” or “caring.”

While I like these words better, even these words are not really found in Scripture. None of the words we have discussed so far are really words emphasized in the Bible.

What words should Christians really be focusing on? What words should be at the heart of our vocabulary as we speak of Christ and his church?

How about these words? The New Testament is filled with “faith,” “hope,” and “love.” These words are at the heart of the Christian faith. As Paul wrote to the church about church meetings, he said: “Three things will last forever–faith, hope, and love–and  the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13, NLT).
Could I suggest some other words which ought to be at the heart of your language? Everybody wants to experience love, joy, and peace (Galatians 5:22). We need to be using our time and vocabulary helping our children, our family, and our friends experience love, joy, and peace. They are searching for it desperately. Most people, like the country music song, are looking for these things in all the wrong places and in ways that really destroy love, joy, and peace.

You know where love can be found. Let your vocabulary express what God wants to do in your life.

As you go to your church this week, let’s determine to shift our words to reflect who Christ is and why He came into our world.

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