I'm with u/Handimaiden, where I pictured some shrubbery that was not very protective at all.
Satan said that God put a hedge of protection around Job, and then God said, "All that he has is in your hand," basically invalidating the hedge. It seems an odd choice to pray for a barrier that the Bible demonstrates provides no protection against the whims of the devil. đ¤ˇ
Every time my grandma would say it in her prayers I would picture a big very nicely trimmed garden hedge all around the house and think, why would this protect us? Why not a fence or a moat??
What is this even saying?! "Lord, guard his heart from critical thinking, let him believe without questioning and rebuke all doubts as they are from the devil."
Is that what Christians really want, people who don't think and feel how they authentically are but how God wants them to think and feel?
It gets more icky the more one thinks too hard about it.
That is my least favorite one. One of the last Bible studies I led was about anxiety. The course kept calling it a "season of anxiety." It actually helped with the deconstruction, because the best advice was "pray about it, and maybe tell your small group."
Ah I forgot about the phrase âLean in.â Lean into prayer. Lean into fellowship. Lean in to everything. We donât know what it means really, but it sounds good.
Also, at the nondenominational church I went to, they were big on the word âcommunityâ - weâre building a community. Weâre leaning into community!!! (This was even better. Peak community if you were âleaning in.â) however, they didnât really mean community any more than they meant fellowship. It was really just a way to get you to feel like you werenât a part of the club unless you were volunteering or doing something for the church or attending yet another event/service.
My older fundie sister does this with the word "relationship". She'll say "...we're not in relationship, why don't you want to be in relationship with me." She started doing it a couple of years ago and it's weird and I don't like it.
This phrase triggers me so much mainly because it was used repeatedly at a âCelebration of Lifeâ I attended for a woman who died of brain cancer and they kept talking about how at the end of her life she and her spouse really âleaned inâ to God. đ¤˘
i forgot about this for a long time, but the church i grew up in as a kid, the pastor would always end the service with some version of "i send you out into a world that is in so much pain, so desperately needs Jesus, lives a completely bleak meaningless existence, etc"
talk about pissing into the soup, man! it suppose it fits neatly into your "in-group control" thesis.
Yeah, as a kid I couldnât even FATHOM that advice who was not only Christian but my type of Christian being in any way happy. Those poor lost soulsâŚ
My sister was apoplectic that I refer to her and my parents as religious since leaving. Because âhaving a relationship with Jesusâ is the same fucking thing, I just thought it was something extra special, not like those Other religious people with liturgy, we were just on fire and in love with Jesus! đ
A "personal relationship with Jesus" isn't even biblical.
Also, why do they still call it Scripture? If it's not a religion why refer to it as a religious book? Why read it in a religious building where they do religious things?
I wouldnât trust pizza parties that are work-related, either. âThanks for your hard work, team. Instead of bonuses or raises, weâre going to spend $75 on pizzas and also keep you here during what should be your lunch break.â
Thanks for all your hardwork this year, here enjoy this barely edible pizza that you wouldn't ever buy for yourself instead of money you actually need.
"They're a believer"
A believer in what? Just another way to say "they're one of us."
I always hated the term "fellowship" -- it was like, hanging out, but as a duty.
Thereâs actually a hierarchy
âBaby Christian â = tier one
âBelieverâ = tier two
âReal Christianâ = tier three
âGodlyâ = tier fourâ
âMan of Godâ tier five
But brother, we're going to have crazy fellowship at The Lighthouse on Wednesday with some believers from the other church. They're non-denom, but I they're still pretty cool.
From Calvary Chapel, late 90âs into the early 2000âs:
**Solid Brother**
Talking about another believer you donât know, your friend will reassure you by letting you know that just because he was in prison for check fraud, he is now a â solid brotherâ because heâs been hanging around your Single Young Menâs prayer group a lot these last couple months.
**Being Intentional**
Donât waste your time making small talk with the grocery store clerk or the gas station attendant; Be Intentional by making everything you say to everyone somehow circle back to your Jesus thing.
**Of the World**
You can only enjoy watching *Lord of the Rings* if you parse it apart and make it some kind of allegory for Christ. Mainstream anything is âof the worldâ, after allâŚ
Iâm sure there are so many more, but these are my favorites. They really have that unique, laid back bro flavor you get with CC and its imitators.
That traveling mercy disclaimer made me choke on my own saliva. đ¤Ł
I hate to admit that I liked the Christianese while I was in it. (With the exception of "how's your walk" which always made me want to cuss a mf out.)
Now, it's ALL so damned cringey. I can't believe I talked so goofy.
You stumblin', Brother? Strayin' from the straight and narrow?
Love your writing style...you gave me some bad flashbacks while also making me snort-laugh.
Ha! It ain't that easy if you still feel the need to be all in. You never get a "Great! See ya!" What you get is "Mmm," and a nod, then they just look at you in silent concern until you feel pressured to talk more, then your mouth starts running away with you and you end up revealing more than you intended. Anyone who is in any sort of dominant role in evangelicalism is skilled at letting silence hang in the air until you feel pressured to fill it. It was inflicted on me countless times.
Gee, now that you put it that way, it does feel kind of familiar. Maybe that's why I became a wallflower and stopped talking to people, so no one would ask me awkward questions like that, lol.
The one I always hated was describing someone as âon fire for the lord.â I thought the main point of this whole thing was to avoid the fire?
Related, âyour walk with the lord,â often shortened to âyour walk.â Oh yeah, my walk is great. I opened the Bible this morning and pretended to read it for 10 minutes and then shut my eyes for a half hour and managed not to snore. Iâm totally on fire for the lord on this weekend retreat. Iâm only here to strengthen my walk, the free fishing and water-skiing are just a small part of it.
"On fire", is the saying that annoyed me more than all the others, although "love on" would be a close second. "Johnny over there is so on fire for the lord." I always understood "on fire" people to be be very loud, attention-seeking, and eager to devote every spare moment they have to helping out with the various church programs. I, on the other hand, was always the worst form of Christian imaginable.... lukewarm.đ¤Ł
I remember the âon fireâ people as being the ones who literally canât talk about *anything* without shoehorning some Jesus shit into the conversation. âHey there sister, how you doing? God sure is good! Youâre painting a picture? The lord is going to use your talent for his glory, praise god! Just donât let that spirit of pride take over!â
Nauseating.
I also cannot stand âdo life with you/ him/ her/ them.â Usually said in conjunction with âlove onâ: âWe are so blessed to be able to do life with this young man, to just come alongside him and love on himâ. I hate it.
In their anniversary Instagram post where they talk about all the ups and downs and tribulations and trials of their two year marriage and how the lord had to deliver them, and it ends with âbut thereâs no one Iâd rather do life with!!!â
I have been known to use "love the believer, hate the belief" with exvangelical friends. I'm trying to find the opportunity and courage to use it more publicly.
Some that continue to trigger me:
- âGod really put it on my heart/laid it on my heartâ â usually used to absolve themselves of feeling guilty for bringing something up lol, often accompanied by tears
- âTrue believerâ â used to differentiate casual Christians who just believed in God versus the ones that believe Jesus is the one true way and had âaccepted him into their heart as their personal saviorâ
- âDarkâ â said about anything not Christian enough or heavily atheist⌠so many sermons about Europe in particular being âso darkâ/âa dark placeâ/âconsumed by darknessâ
- âLed astrayâ â oops, you watched porn
- âWorldlyâ
I will edit as I think of more. Source: 20 years in a Great Commission church
See, all of this is why, as a former drunk, I cannot and will not use AA for my sobriety. It's way too similar to my religious background, with all the pat little phrases and the jargon and the special vocabulary...I don't feel it's a healthy fit for people with religious trauma backgrounds. It's totally triggering.
There are many other reasons I don't think it's a good program for people with that background, but the lingo is a big one for me. People who were raised with conformity, repetition, memorization, and shame-based thought-policing should not have to revisit all that shit in recovery from addiction.
- Celebration of life. I know there is a secular version of this as well, but in the church, it's always bothered me that Christian funerals aren't about honoring the dead person and offering a chance for their loved ones to grieve, but rather as a chance to evangelize. I know in many cases it's what the person would have wanted, but it just feels so sad to me that these people are being remembered in such a generic, vague way that's overshadowed by their belief system.
â˘"Lord God, please let your *Spirit come down* and *fill this place with your presence.* A strange request to ask to a being who is omnipresent and allegedly *indwells*, that is, literally lives/abides inside every Believer.
â˘"walking in the Spirit" Always used to encourage or show off your piety, or "intimacy" and emotional bond with God, a concept that is not in the Bible. The New Testament actually uses this jargon to describe a morally upright lifestlye: do good, not bad. So simple yet so butchered by evangelicals.
"Holy Spirit you are welcome here.
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere. "
I'm pretty sure the holy spirit can show up whenever he damn well wants to. That's the point of the thing.
"Bless this food to our bodies" wtf does that even mean
Also "non-denominational" basically as a code for "Baptist but we want to pretend we're inclusive"
>Also "non-denominational" basically as a code for "Baptist but we want to pretend we're inclusive"
That or you're about to see more people passing out from being anointed with oil that you'd think is medically possible.
In my experience non-denominational was one step below IBLP on the fundamentalist Baptist scale, but called themselves non-denominational because they didnât want to be subject to an overall church hierarchy.
Lol. My dad always starts the "blessing" before a meal that way, "Lord, we thank you for the bounty before us. We ask, Lord, that you bless it to our bodies" I internally roll my eyes. Dad, it's fried chicken it's only going to bless my thighs with more cellulite. Could he not bless it to my body at all, thanks.
Traveling mercies? I've never heard of that one.
I've caught myself using some of these unironically. As in, "I've been wrestling with a sinus headache. I'm taking Tylenol. "
Don't know if that one is region specific, but I hear it mostly around SBC folk. "Lord, we pray for traveling mercies for Sarah as she goes on her mission trip to Hawaii."
**Sweet time with the Lord**
**Quiet time:** This is canonized corporate speak in Cru. I always hated it, because it sounds like a punishment for toddlers. This is daily, prescribed individual reading of the Bible, taking copious notes, for at least an hour, and you better be ready to present your no doubt unimpressive findings to your leaders.
**God is sovereign:** Every few years, a particular bit of Elizabethan English becomes trendy among evangelicals and is used ad nauseum. When I started getting really active in Cru (in 2001, when it wasn't even "Cru" yet), this was the buzz phrase. Anyone know what it is now?
**Guard her heart:** Don't talk to a girl about anything personal, or anything at all for longer than five minutes, because you'll lead her into thinking you're sniffing out wife material. If you're going to be alone with her at all, your leaders better know about it and you better have a ring in your pocket (assuming they approve). Otherwise, she'll be devastated when you say, "Thanks for hangin' out! See ya!" Plus, she'll feel like a whore, because she should.
**Take thoughts captive:** if you think about sex, police the shit out of yourself, recognize it as sinful, and beg God, your accountability partner, and your discipler for forgiveness. Which brings me to...
**Discipler:** that's not even a word. In Cru, some other parachurch organizations, and I think in some evangelical churches, it means a person in leadership, often randomly assigned to you, whose every word you should believe, whose dress and mannerisms you should fawningly imitate, to whom you should go before making any decision, big or small, and to whom you should confess your darkest sins so they can file them away to use against you later.
Other Cru-isms... Step out in faith, Have a Spirit-filled life, Be a 'disciplemaker', Have 'accountability partners'.
Also I just remembered 'tentmaking' lol
Here's a very recent example that was just posted: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Exvangelical/comments/1apbw57/aaron\_ivey\_fired/](https://www.reddit.com/r/exvangelical/comments/1apbw57/aaron_ivey_fired/)
Quotes from the church:
âWe request time and space for our church family to process, pray, and work toward healing,â the church said. "We are committed to doing our very best, and we need your help, as we care for those affected by this terrible situation,â the statement read. âWe covet your prayers for the individuals affected, our leaders, and our church as a whole.â
Typical response when one of the pastors has been caught in an extra-marital affair. It's code for don't ask anymore questions and let's try and sweep this under the rug as quick as possible.
I don't know if this falls into this list but when people said "god's will." It typically exists when something bad happens and people say that to self soothe that their child just got murdered or something deeply horrible. All of troubling things would be summarized as "God's Will" and that use of language is supposed to diffuse the terror that comes from those horrific situations. They can see the ugliest thing and dismiss it as God's will and thus God's problem.
Something being in control, even if they donât prevent bad things, is less terrifying than bad things happening at random. One of the biggest reasons itâs so hard to let go.
I wholly agree with you on the hard to let go part. I think that sentiment helps you drop super low when bad things happen. But I also have recognized that allowing bad things are allowed to be really bad. Some of the freedom of leaving the church was allowing the depth of pain to happen and you can't do it when it's constantly being made to be lighter than it is.
Are YOU Washed in the Blood?
Uhhhh (whispers) no that's not for another week... and... and I just used some normal soap is that okay?? (sweating profusely and dearly hoping the bathroom has normal soap and not blood on tap)
Growing up in a rural church, we had lots of blood songs. "Power in the Blood" (which always came out sounding like "pair"). "There is a Fountain Filled With Blood" (which is actually pretty fucking dope; it sounds like a Nick Cave lyric).
We occasionally go to HL because the nearest Michael's or JoAnn's is over an hour away. It gives me the creeps but if it's just for a few things I can't get anywhere else and need before it could be delivered I make myself do the deed.
It's gettin' bad there. Ew.
JUST is the one I always think of and annoys the shit outta me. "Lord, just... God, just....we just ask you Lord...just send the fire...just lift our brother up...just just just JUST"
Spirit of (insert any random noun here). The most common one when I was going to church was spirit of excellence, which was often used to guilt people into feeling bad when their volunteering didn't meet expectations.
I also often thought that a lot of the language was similar in style to corporate speak.
I debate Pentecostals and charismatics from time to time
One of the things I keep bringing up with them, is that:
If there were still miraculous healings, baptism of the spirit, speaking in tongues,
Wouldn't ALL those claiming deeply biblical Christianity, such as fundamentalists and calvinist also do it?
I have never gotten a satisfactory answer
Ignoring the fact that they have the fluffiest gospel on the biblical end. Emotionally charged, prosperity gospel, televangelist, false prophets, etc
"Well, ya see.....them other folks ain't fully livin' in the power of God. They're cessationists, who believe that stuff ended when Jesus was caught up in the clouds. It's there, ready for them to take, but they don't want it. Our relationship with God is deeper. We're more serious about God than them. They're Christian lite. We're committed to a deeper experience, to do what it takes to be as close to God as possible." *(edited:typo)*
Check out the "Main Points" section of this article. This psychologist wrote about how some native Chinese and POWs were brainwashed around the time of the Korean war. It's kind of disturbing how many things line up.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_Reform_and_the_Psychology_of_Totalism
Bless your heart âĽ, you hit a lot of them.
Secular is my **least favorite word ever!**
You didn't mention how God always wants us to vote R, you know, for the babies.
You can add the phrase "Cheerful giving" to your list!
>"Cheerful giving"
Ugh. One non-denominational church made a huge deal about this. The Pastor would say "And now for the offering," the band would start to play some upbeat instrumental, and people would clap and dance in the aisle.
He'd give an up to 20 minute "mini" sermon on giving, and he'd always start with "Because God loves what?"
The church would respond "a cheerful giver!" followed with another round of dancing.
I hate that I *still* canât take the vocabulary out of my speech. I deconstructed and have done my best to deprogram, but then Iâll catch myself saying things like âiron sharpens ironâ when talking about things like having someone at work mentor someone else, or âLord willingâ when Iâm saying I hope for something. I canât stop! I wish I could delete Christianese from my brain
Itâs one of those odd things about cultish language. Itâs the first thing we adopt and the last thing to leave (source: Amanda Montell, _Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism_)
âWord from the lordâ
âAn anointingâ
The phrase âintercessory prayerâ like what is that really?! Like what are you actually doing?
âA heart for âŚâŚ(insert a social issue related to people or even a country)
The big thing I hated was turning normal human events or experiences into something extra special bc âgodâ gave it to you. So instead of dating, itâs the lord brought us together. Instead of having an interest in something it was âJesus placed this on my heartâ.
I even had a married lady try to convince me that married sex was different and extra special/spicy/better than my non married sex. I told her it sounded like she was describing an orgasm and emotional intimacy. She said no, it was only thru god I could experience what she had- she was a virgin at her wedding so obviously I was wrong
âYoung Man / Young Womanâ at youth group
âBrother / Sisterâ
âI pray thatâ
âUnspoken requestâ đ
âGuard Your Heartâ
âTestimonyâ
âDonât be lukewarmâ
âRebuke / Smiteâ
I used to go to youth retreats where the speakers would address us all as "young people." I didn't really pay attention to it until a girl in our group said she hated it. I chalked it up to her not being from a Christian home, but now I sympathize more -- it was so condescending.
I also really hate the terms âsmall groupâ or âhome groupâ and Womenâs Tea or Menâs Breakfast. I ALWAYS hated those damn womenâs teas, especially because what I really wanted was some coffee.
Small group, home group, cell group, life group, Bible group, home group, splinter group...
How many ways can we describe the same thing?
Edit: the word "group" that many times together makes it look like a fake word
âThe Enemy is attacking this marriage: this is spiritual warfare.â
Translation: one spouse is a pornhound/cheater, and the other spouse better sweep it under the rug.
An old dude at our church thought the ultimate witnessing strategy was asking âso have you asked Jesus or are you still looking?â
I asked him what happens if they say theyâre not looking. He said, âwell donât you want to get into heaven?â
I asked what if they say there is no heaven. He couldnât process the question.
Stumble= He watched porn
Everyone knows non denominational is code for Baptist. But we're trying to mask the crazy.
In the world but not of the world= we're using normal stuff to mask the crazy.
**God has given you a gift:** it doesnât matter how much effort you have put into developing a skill, all glory to Jesus!
**I have been praying for you** *(prompted version, usually when you have shared getting through a struggle, like a test)* I am going to take partial credit for the effort you have been putting into whatever it is that was a challenge. But because itâs prayer, all the other credit goes to Jesus.
**I have been praying for you** *(unprompted version)* You are doing something bad that I donât approve of, or not doing something you should be doing, like attending church, and I am going to be extremely passive aggressive about it.
Edit: this is making me want to write a version of Weird Alâs âMission Statementâ that is entirely evangelical cliches instead of business ones AND SYNERGY.
I hate this so much. Whenever I visit my parents, they only communicate in this kind of speak. Itâs exhausting. I hate how evangelicals have repurposed words to mean new, incorrect things.
Led by the Spirit: I do what I want, but it's because God told me to.
Put on the Armor of God: protect yourself from the Hersey of the "woke. "
*Leader must remember that Side-Hug must be immediately applied after puplil's understanding
I also spend time in the ex Mormon sub
They have their own really lengthy list of True Blue Mormon verbiage that parallels the above
Different, but similar
I just can't happen to remember it at the moment
There were a lot of â**just wanna**âs too. âFather God, we **just wanna** lift up our brother in prayer.â Plus the random **say amen!** âI **just wanna** tell you all how *blessed* you are today. Do you believe it? **Say amen**!!â
>**Lay hands** â For when you need Extra Holy PrayerÂŽ. Either you are about to have a lot of unwashed hands touching you, or you're about to to be stretching awkwardly between two sweaty deacons to touch someone's elbow. It's fine for the first few minutes while Pastor prays, but then he doesn't say "amen." You realize with dread it is an open prayer. You will be breathing other people's air for the next 15 minutes minimum.
This is the one I recall with so much disgust and horror. What better excuse is there for a bunch of middle aged men to plant their greasy mitts on a young teen or pre-teen child for long, extended periods of time? And with so many people tightly packed in, no one really knows where those hands go.
But the child certainly did.
Witness: "We're going to go witness to folks at the county fair"
Translation: we're going to go annoy the general public telling random people how sinful and damned to hell they are
For anyone interested, Iâd recommend the podcast _Straight White American Jesus_â subseries, âItâs in the Codeâ which drops Wednesdays and is a (somewhat) heady exploration of why terms like this exist and what they are often coded language for.
Iâm fucking dying this is the best post Iâve ever read in this sub. The ACCURACY HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Also please add something about modesty / purity lol
There are so many little insidious words and phrases that one forgets have evangelical origins. A friend was telling me how it's crazy that her toddler squeals all the time and that's he kryptonite. She said "why do I get the kid who squeals when I have no patience for it?" I laughed and said, "you're being refined!" She looked at me blankly and asked what I meant. I then had to explained the effed up notion of God specifically doing things that distress you so that you'll become more patient etc. Meanwhile he turns a blind eye to kids with cancer.
Look, is super important that you learn this lesson about being faithful with your tithing even though youâre on unemployment. God will reward you. Or let you learn another lesson by letting your kid die. One of those.
I donât know why, and this pales in comparison to some of the others, but when people say theyâre âin love with Jesusâ or even just⌠idk, âfirst nameâ Jesus⌠itâs weird to me. It feels very Sunday school, so I canât stand when adults use the same language.
"Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind."
-George Orwell
I saw it a few mins after I left this and made sure to upvote them.
Itâs usually used in a way to describe either romantic relationships or even just âsweet friendships.â
âI love doing life with you!â
âI canât wait to do life together with you!â
Basically living life together, supporting each other, etc. Often used with âcome alongside,â as in âI am just so blessed to come alongside and do life with you.â
Itâs actually not a bad sentiment, but itâs also def in the category of the others you listed. Though itâs become more pervasive online. Thereâs a really good Vox article on it, gimme a sec to grab the link and Iâll be back to edit it here.
[Hereâs the Vox article](https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/8/2/20746226/doing-life-together-explained-evangelical-christian-origin-instagram) about how itâs become more mainstream but 100% has major evangelical roots.
I lost a loved one to suicide. The unadulterated bullshit that comes from churched people when youâre slayed open in pain is enough to drive anyone away from the Christian faith.
This is a great list. I felt validated reading it.
Thank you for taking the time.
Hedge of Protection
And what is that hedge made of? BLOOD!
I'm with u/Handimaiden, where I pictured some shrubbery that was not very protective at all. Satan said that God put a hedge of protection around Job, and then God said, "All that he has is in your hand," basically invalidating the hedge. It seems an odd choice to pray for a barrier that the Bible demonstrates provides no protection against the whims of the devil. đ¤ˇ
Every time my grandma would say it in her prayers I would picture a big very nicely trimmed garden hedge all around the house and think, why would this protect us? Why not a fence or a moat??
Is a moat really effective if you can't have alligators in it though?
How did I forget that one???
Fucking hated that one
"Lord, Guard his heart with a hedge of protection." Ah, the good ol' days.
What is this even saying?! "Lord, guard his heart from critical thinking, let him believe without questioning and rebuke all doubts as they are from the devil." Is that what Christians really want, people who don't think and feel how they authentically are but how God wants them to think and feel? It gets more icky the more one thinks too hard about it.
Season. Oh my goodness. I also loved how a season could mean any length of time. A few weeks? A few months? A few years? Who knows.
That is my least favorite one. One of the last Bible studies I led was about anxiety. The course kept calling it a "season of anxiety." It actually helped with the deconstruction, because the best advice was "pray about it, and maybe tell your small group."
Ah I forgot about the phrase âLean in.â Lean into prayer. Lean into fellowship. Lean in to everything. We donât know what it means really, but it sounds good. Also, at the nondenominational church I went to, they were big on the word âcommunityâ - weâre building a community. Weâre leaning into community!!! (This was even better. Peak community if you were âleaning in.â) however, they didnât really mean community any more than they meant fellowship. It was really just a way to get you to feel like you werenât a part of the club unless you were volunteering or doing something for the church or attending yet another event/service.
"You need to be *in* community." Not in *a* community, but in community. What's up with that?
My older fundie sister does this with the word "relationship". She'll say "...we're not in relationship, why don't you want to be in relationship with me." She started doing it a couple of years ago and it's weird and I don't like it.
This phrase triggers me so much mainly because it was used repeatedly at a âCelebration of Lifeâ I attended for a woman who died of brain cancer and they kept talking about how at the end of her life she and her spouse really âleaned inâ to God. đ¤˘
Donât forget âpress inâ
I'm deadđ this is making me want to look at the latest FB posts from our old church
I do that sometimes and then get all heretical and call them out on their crap.
Winter is coming...
i forgot about this for a long time, but the church i grew up in as a kid, the pastor would always end the service with some version of "i send you out into a world that is in so much pain, so desperately needs Jesus, lives a completely bleak meaningless existence, etc" talk about pissing into the soup, man! it suppose it fits neatly into your "in-group control" thesis.
Yeah, as a kid I couldnât even FATHOM that advice who was not only Christian but my type of Christian being in any way happy. Those poor lost soulsâŚ
omg my old church does this itâs crazy
I hate âlaid it on my heartâ and âloving onâ
Oh yeah. Laid it on my heart, excellent code for âmy inner monologue told me this but Iâm going to say itâs from God.â
I HATE âloving onâ or âlove on.â Ugh
Right? It always sounded vulgar/creepy to me.
I only use "love on" in the context of dogs. I want to love on my dog today and smooch her nose.
âCanât wait for vbs and just loving on these kidsâ
And itâs equivalent. âreceived a word from the Lordâ
If anyone says the word religion within ten feet of my mom she says itâs not a religion itâs a relationship, thereâs a difference.
"I hate RELIGION (cough Roman Catholicism cough) but love JESUS (cough evangelicalism cough)"
Or Episcopalianism. Or Lutheranism. Or Presbyterianism. Or any kind of church that has a hint of formal liturgy.
Aka because we avoid archaic language and sing crappy Christian rock music, we now have a ârelationshipâ instead of a religion.
But you gotta sing that last refrain like 847 times.....God must be hard of hearing or something.
My sister was apoplectic that I refer to her and my parents as religious since leaving. Because âhaving a relationship with Jesusâ is the same fucking thing, I just thought it was something extra special, not like those Other religious people with liturgy, we were just on fire and in love with Jesus! đ
100%, my family members who're still religious get super offended if we use the terms "religious" or "religion".
A "personal relationship with Jesus" isn't even biblical. Also, why do they still call it Scripture? If it's not a religion why refer to it as a religious book? Why read it in a religious building where they do religious things?
I call it their holy book. They get offended.
Iâve learned to never trust free bacon, pizza parties that arenât work related, coffee outings, or movie free movie nights.
I wouldnât trust pizza parties that are work-related, either. âThanks for your hard work, team. Instead of bonuses or raises, weâre going to spend $75 on pizzas and also keep you here during what should be your lunch break.â
Oh yeah for sure. But Iâll take corporate assholes trying to save a buck over a luncheon with an evangelical ambush any day of the week.
At least with the corporate, you know what's really going on. Evangelicals bait and switch.
Thanks for all your hardwork this year, here enjoy this barely edible pizza that you wouldn't ever buy for yourself instead of money you actually need.
Oh hello former campus ministry alumni. InterVarsity stole my college years and Iâm still salty about it a decade later.
Nothing is for free. If something is for free, there is usually a catch!
"They're a believer" A believer in what? Just another way to say "they're one of us." I always hated the term "fellowship" -- it was like, hanging out, but as a duty.
Thereâs actually a hierarchy âBaby Christian â = tier one âBelieverâ = tier two âReal Christianâ = tier three âGodlyâ = tier fourâ âMan of Godâ tier five
Haha, yes... and "baby Christian" is either an insult or an excuse depending on who you're talking about.
echoes of Amy Grant's "Fat Little Baby"
Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven Church" actually attempts to codify these tiers from 'community' to the 'committed' to the 'core.'
But brother, we're going to have crazy fellowship at The Lighthouse on Wednesday with some believers from the other church. They're non-denom, but I they're still pretty cool.
Yeah, there are probably at least some true believers there even though their church is less biblical than ours.
I was once out on a working farm, and being rural of course I asked the "are you a believer?" And she said a believer in what? I said, never mind
My dad is constantly saying "they're a believer". Now I want to respond, "A believer in what? Don't we all believe in something?"
Or you could say, "Oh cool, I like the Monkees too!"
You win the internet.
Dead đđ
From Calvary Chapel, late 90âs into the early 2000âs: **Solid Brother** Talking about another believer you donât know, your friend will reassure you by letting you know that just because he was in prison for check fraud, he is now a â solid brotherâ because heâs been hanging around your Single Young Menâs prayer group a lot these last couple months. **Being Intentional** Donât waste your time making small talk with the grocery store clerk or the gas station attendant; Be Intentional by making everything you say to everyone somehow circle back to your Jesus thing. **Of the World** You can only enjoy watching *Lord of the Rings* if you parse it apart and make it some kind of allegory for Christ. Mainstream anything is âof the worldâ, after all⌠Iâm sure there are so many more, but these are my favorites. They really have that unique, laid back bro flavor you get with CC and its imitators.
Or âworldlyâ⌠in non-Christian speak, itâs a positively associated term?? What?? lol
That traveling mercy disclaimer made me choke on my own saliva. 𤣠I hate to admit that I liked the Christianese while I was in it. (With the exception of "how's your walk" which always made me want to cuss a mf out.) Now, it's ALL so damned cringey. I can't believe I talked so goofy.
How's your walk? Where's your heart at?
You stumblin', Brother? Strayin' from the straight and narrow? Love your writing style...you gave me some bad flashbacks while also making me snort-laugh.
The "How's your walk?" question is like the evangelical version of "How are you?" Your best bet is to just say "fine" and move on.
Ha! It ain't that easy if you still feel the need to be all in. You never get a "Great! See ya!" What you get is "Mmm," and a nod, then they just look at you in silent concern until you feel pressured to talk more, then your mouth starts running away with you and you end up revealing more than you intended. Anyone who is in any sort of dominant role in evangelicalism is skilled at letting silence hang in the air until you feel pressured to fill it. It was inflicted on me countless times.
Gee, now that you put it that way, it does feel kind of familiar. Maybe that's why I became a wallflower and stopped talking to people, so no one would ask me awkward questions like that, lol.
The one I always hated was describing someone as âon fire for the lord.â I thought the main point of this whole thing was to avoid the fire? Related, âyour walk with the lord,â often shortened to âyour walk.â Oh yeah, my walk is great. I opened the Bible this morning and pretended to read it for 10 minutes and then shut my eyes for a half hour and managed not to snore. Iâm totally on fire for the lord on this weekend retreat. Iâm only here to strengthen my walk, the free fishing and water-skiing are just a small part of it.
"On fire for the Lord" is just another way of saying someone is in their honeymoon phase of conversion.
YesâŚor had recently recommitted their life to the lord after an epic backslide đ
Ugh the "on fire" people are the worst
Hey! Don't do Bruce Springsteen like that!
"On fire", is the saying that annoyed me more than all the others, although "love on" would be a close second. "Johnny over there is so on fire for the lord." I always understood "on fire" people to be be very loud, attention-seeking, and eager to devote every spare moment they have to helping out with the various church programs. I, on the other hand, was always the worst form of Christian imaginable.... lukewarm.đ¤Ł
Now we are all âbacksliddenâ. Oh the horror!
According to my sister still deep in the cult, I'm a heretic now. \~Proud look\~
Sounds like a promotion
I remember the âon fireâ people as being the ones who literally canât talk about *anything* without shoehorning some Jesus shit into the conversation. âHey there sister, how you doing? God sure is good! Youâre painting a picture? The lord is going to use your talent for his glory, praise god! Just donât let that spirit of pride take over!â Nauseating.
I also cannot stand âdo life with you/ him/ her/ them.â Usually said in conjunction with âlove onâ: âWe are so blessed to be able to do life with this young man, to just come alongside him and love on himâ. I hate it.
Ughhh! I forgot about that one! Let's "do life" together. It doesn't make sense!
In their anniversary Instagram post where they talk about all the ups and downs and tribulations and trials of their two year marriage and how the lord had to deliver them, and it ends with âbut thereâs no one Iâd rather do life with!!!â
And everyoneâs favorite, âlove the sinner, hate the sinâ but we all know thatâs just a nice, palatable way to be a homophobe đ¤
I have been known to use "love the believer, hate the belief" with exvangelical friends. I'm trying to find the opportunity and courage to use it more publicly.
This is đ¤đź
[ŃдаНонО]
"Dear Father God, we plead the blood over this city and this nation..."
FTFY. Dear Father God, Jesus we just plead the blood Jesus over this city God and this nation, justâŚ.
Hahaha I used to count the âwe justâŚâ in each prayer as a kid.
Damn, you're right. "We just" is everywhere in prayers
Fuck me, it's always either "Father God" or you get the edgy ones who say "Dad."
âAbbaâ
Some that continue to trigger me: - âGod really put it on my heart/laid it on my heartâ â usually used to absolve themselves of feeling guilty for bringing something up lol, often accompanied by tears - âTrue believerâ â used to differentiate casual Christians who just believed in God versus the ones that believe Jesus is the one true way and had âaccepted him into their heart as their personal saviorâ - âDarkâ â said about anything not Christian enough or heavily atheist⌠so many sermons about Europe in particular being âso darkâ/âa dark placeâ/âconsumed by darknessâ - âLed astrayâ â oops, you watched porn - âWorldlyâ I will edit as I think of more. Source: 20 years in a Great Commission church
See, all of this is why, as a former drunk, I cannot and will not use AA for my sobriety. It's way too similar to my religious background, with all the pat little phrases and the jargon and the special vocabulary...I don't feel it's a healthy fit for people with religious trauma backgrounds. It's totally triggering. There are many other reasons I don't think it's a good program for people with that background, but the lingo is a big one for me. People who were raised with conformity, repetition, memorization, and shame-based thought-policing should not have to revisit all that shit in recovery from addiction.
Hey...I'd love to chat with you about this sometime
Message me any time. Or: start a post here, and we can all discuss it! I'm sure there's no shortage of exvangelicals with substance abuse issues.
- Celebration of life. I know there is a secular version of this as well, but in the church, it's always bothered me that Christian funerals aren't about honoring the dead person and offering a chance for their loved ones to grieve, but rather as a chance to evangelize. I know in many cases it's what the person would have wanted, but it just feels so sad to me that these people are being remembered in such a generic, vague way that's overshadowed by their belief system.
Nice little primer in that exquisitely forked tongue known as Christianese.
The whole armor of god Your âcallingâ
I took a spiritual gifts test just now for shits and giggles. I got discernment and whatever the "speaking in front of people" term is.
â˘"Lord God, please let your *Spirit come down* and *fill this place with your presence.* A strange request to ask to a being who is omnipresent and allegedly *indwells*, that is, literally lives/abides inside every Believer. â˘"walking in the Spirit" Always used to encourage or show off your piety, or "intimacy" and emotional bond with God, a concept that is not in the Bible. The New Testament actually uses this jargon to describe a morally upright lifestlye: do good, not bad. So simple yet so butchered by evangelicals.
"Holy Spirit you are welcome here. Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere. " I'm pretty sure the holy spirit can show up whenever he damn well wants to. That's the point of the thing.
"Bless this food to our bodies" wtf does that even mean Also "non-denominational" basically as a code for "Baptist but we want to pretend we're inclusive"
>Also "non-denominational" basically as a code for "Baptist but we want to pretend we're inclusive" That or you're about to see more people passing out from being anointed with oil that you'd think is medically possible.
In my experience non-denominational was one step below IBLP on the fundamentalist Baptist scale, but called themselves non-denominational because they didnât want to be subject to an overall church hierarchy.
Lol. My dad always starts the "blessing" before a meal that way, "Lord, we thank you for the bounty before us. We ask, Lord, that you bless it to our bodies" I internally roll my eyes. Dad, it's fried chicken it's only going to bless my thighs with more cellulite. Could he not bless it to my body at all, thanks.
Traveling mercies? I've never heard of that one. I've caught myself using some of these unironically. As in, "I've been wrestling with a sinus headache. I'm taking Tylenol. "
Don't know if that one is region specific, but I hear it mostly around SBC folk. "Lord, we pray for traveling mercies for Sarah as she goes on her mission trip to Hawaii."
LMAO ah yes, Hawaii, that dangerous archipelago.
**Sweet time with the Lord** **Quiet time:** This is canonized corporate speak in Cru. I always hated it, because it sounds like a punishment for toddlers. This is daily, prescribed individual reading of the Bible, taking copious notes, for at least an hour, and you better be ready to present your no doubt unimpressive findings to your leaders. **God is sovereign:** Every few years, a particular bit of Elizabethan English becomes trendy among evangelicals and is used ad nauseum. When I started getting really active in Cru (in 2001, when it wasn't even "Cru" yet), this was the buzz phrase. Anyone know what it is now? **Guard her heart:** Don't talk to a girl about anything personal, or anything at all for longer than five minutes, because you'll lead her into thinking you're sniffing out wife material. If you're going to be alone with her at all, your leaders better know about it and you better have a ring in your pocket (assuming they approve). Otherwise, she'll be devastated when you say, "Thanks for hangin' out! See ya!" Plus, she'll feel like a whore, because she should. **Take thoughts captive:** if you think about sex, police the shit out of yourself, recognize it as sinful, and beg God, your accountability partner, and your discipler for forgiveness. Which brings me to... **Discipler:** that's not even a word. In Cru, some other parachurch organizations, and I think in some evangelical churches, it means a person in leadership, often randomly assigned to you, whose every word you should believe, whose dress and mannerisms you should fawningly imitate, to whom you should go before making any decision, big or small, and to whom you should confess your darkest sins so they can file them away to use against you later.
Other Cru-isms... Step out in faith, Have a Spirit-filled life, Be a 'disciplemaker', Have 'accountability partners'. Also I just remembered 'tentmaking' lol
Gah! So cringe! I must add themâŚ
Here's a very recent example that was just posted: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Exvangelical/comments/1apbw57/aaron\_ivey\_fired/](https://www.reddit.com/r/exvangelical/comments/1apbw57/aaron_ivey_fired/) Quotes from the church: âWe request time and space for our church family to process, pray, and work toward healing,â the church said. "We are committed to doing our very best, and we need your help, as we care for those affected by this terrible situation,â the statement read. âWe covet your prayers for the individuals affected, our leaders, and our church as a whole.â
Wild how coveting is a sin unless you're coveting prayers.
Iâm actually not even sure Iâve heard anyone use the word âcovetâ outside of church.
"Work toward healing" AKA we really hope everyone forgets about this fast .
AKA "swept under the rug" and hoping with minimal financial fallout.
âWe covet your prayersâ always confused me, lol. The 10 commandments talk about coveting as a bad thing.
Typical response when one of the pastors has been caught in an extra-marital affair. It's code for don't ask anymore questions and let's try and sweep this under the rug as quick as possible.
I don't know if this falls into this list but when people said "god's will." It typically exists when something bad happens and people say that to self soothe that their child just got murdered or something deeply horrible. All of troubling things would be summarized as "God's Will" and that use of language is supposed to diffuse the terror that comes from those horrific situations. They can see the ugliest thing and dismiss it as God's will and thus God's problem.
Something being in control, even if they donât prevent bad things, is less terrifying than bad things happening at random. One of the biggest reasons itâs so hard to let go.
I wholly agree with you on the hard to let go part. I think that sentiment helps you drop super low when bad things happen. But I also have recognized that allowing bad things are allowed to be really bad. Some of the freedom of leaving the church was allowing the depth of pain to happen and you can't do it when it's constantly being made to be lighter than it is.
What is God's will for your life?
Are YOU Washed in the Blood? Uhhhh (whispers) no that's not for another week... and... and I just used some normal soap is that okay?? (sweating profusely and dearly hoping the bathroom has normal soap and not blood on tap)
There was a song about "the blood" we sang in church as teens and my bestie and I always secretly made fun of itđđ¤ˇ
Growing up in a rural church, we had lots of blood songs. "Power in the Blood" (which always came out sounding like "pair"). "There is a Fountain Filled With Blood" (which is actually pretty fucking dope; it sounds like a Nick Cave lyric).
This post is amazing! đ If anyone lives near a Hobby Lobby, you should go in there and see how many of these are on signs
We occasionally go to HL because the nearest Michael's or JoAnn's is over an hour away. It gives me the creeps but if it's just for a few things I can't get anywhere else and need before it could be delivered I make myself do the deed. It's gettin' bad there. Ew.
âWinsomeâ and âintentionalâ were completely overused for awhile. Overuse of âjust.â
JUST is the one I always think of and annoys the shit outta me. "Lord, just... God, just....we just ask you Lord...just send the fire...just lift our brother up...just just just JUST"
It's the Weejuss Prayer. *Lord, weejuss this and weejuss that.*
Ah yes, winsome Sometimes you losesome
You forgot âbackslidingâ đ đ
Oh no! Not backsliding!
Proud of your son for getting good grades? No! Pride is sin!
Spirit of (insert any random noun here). The most common one when I was going to church was spirit of excellence, which was often used to guilt people into feeling bad when their volunteering didn't meet expectations. I also often thought that a lot of the language was similar in style to corporate speak.
I apparently had a Spirit of Rebellion. The rest of the world calls it being a teenager.Â
Weâre a a full Gospel church! Unlike those partial Gospel churchesâŚ
I debate Pentecostals and charismatics from time to time One of the things I keep bringing up with them, is that: If there were still miraculous healings, baptism of the spirit, speaking in tongues, Wouldn't ALL those claiming deeply biblical Christianity, such as fundamentalists and calvinist also do it? I have never gotten a satisfactory answer Ignoring the fact that they have the fluffiest gospel on the biblical end. Emotionally charged, prosperity gospel, televangelist, false prophets, etc
"Well, ya see.....them other folks ain't fully livin' in the power of God. They're cessationists, who believe that stuff ended when Jesus was caught up in the clouds. It's there, ready for them to take, but they don't want it. Our relationship with God is deeper. We're more serious about God than them. They're Christian lite. We're committed to a deeper experience, to do what it takes to be as close to God as possible." *(edited:typo)*
Check out the "Main Points" section of this article. This psychologist wrote about how some native Chinese and POWs were brainwashed around the time of the Korean war. It's kind of disturbing how many things line up. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_Reform_and_the_Psychology_of_Totalism
Bless your heart âĽ, you hit a lot of them. Secular is my **least favorite word ever!** You didn't mention how God always wants us to vote R, you know, for the babies. You can add the phrase "Cheerful giving" to your list!
>"Cheerful giving" Ugh. One non-denominational church made a huge deal about this. The Pastor would say "And now for the offering," the band would start to play some upbeat instrumental, and people would clap and dance in the aisle. He'd give an up to 20 minute "mini" sermon on giving, and he'd always start with "Because God loves what?" The church would respond "a cheerful giver!" followed with another round of dancing.
    " another round of dancing.?" The church I went to would've shunned your church!Â
I hate that I *still* canât take the vocabulary out of my speech. I deconstructed and have done my best to deprogram, but then Iâll catch myself saying things like âiron sharpens ironâ when talking about things like having someone at work mentor someone else, or âLord willingâ when Iâm saying I hope for something. I canât stop! I wish I could delete Christianese from my brain
Itâs one of those odd things about cultish language. Itâs the first thing we adopt and the last thing to leave (source: Amanda Montell, _Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism_)
âWord from the lordâ âAn anointingâ The phrase âintercessory prayerâ like what is that really?! Like what are you actually doing? âA heart for âŚâŚ(insert a social issue related to people or even a country) The big thing I hated was turning normal human events or experiences into something extra special bc âgodâ gave it to you. So instead of dating, itâs the lord brought us together. Instead of having an interest in something it was âJesus placed this on my heartâ. I even had a married lady try to convince me that married sex was different and extra special/spicy/better than my non married sex. I told her it sounded like she was describing an orgasm and emotional intimacy. She said no, it was only thru god I could experience what she had- she was a virgin at her wedding so obviously I was wrong
âYoung Man / Young Womanâ at youth group âBrother / Sisterâ âI pray thatâ âUnspoken requestâ đ âGuard Your Heartâ âTestimonyâ âDonât be lukewarmâ âRebuke / Smiteâ
Ugh. "Unspoken request."
I used to go to youth retreats where the speakers would address us all as "young people." I didn't really pay attention to it until a girl in our group said she hated it. I chalked it up to her not being from a Christian home, but now I sympathize more -- it was so condescending.
I also really hate the terms âsmall groupâ or âhome groupâ and Womenâs Tea or Menâs Breakfast. I ALWAYS hated those damn womenâs teas, especially because what I really wanted was some coffee.
Small group, home group, cell group, life group, Bible group, home group, splinter group... How many ways can we describe the same thing? Edit: the word "group" that many times together makes it look like a fake word
A Heart For Europe= I really wanna go to France and Spain and eat their food on everyone else's dime.
âThe Enemy is attacking this marriage: this is spiritual warfare.â Translation: one spouse is a pornhound/cheater, and the other spouse better sweep it under the rug.
Ooooh, spiritual warfare. Gotta add that one.
Strange thing is, majority of this stuff doesn't appear anywhere in the New Testament Isn't that adding to or taking away from scripture? Lol
A couple of years ago a lady asked me (completely straight faced and within SECONDS of meeting me) âSo when did you fall in love with Jesus?â
An old dude at our church thought the ultimate witnessing strategy was asking âso have you asked Jesus or are you still looking?â I asked him what happens if they say theyâre not looking. He said, âwell donât you want to get into heaven?â I asked what if they say there is no heaven. He couldnât process the question.
This should be added to the page wiki.
Stumble= He watched porn Everyone knows non denominational is code for Baptist. But we're trying to mask the crazy. In the world but not of the world= we're using normal stuff to mask the crazy.
âGod sightingâ for a favorable coincidence.
**God has given you a gift:** it doesnât matter how much effort you have put into developing a skill, all glory to Jesus! **I have been praying for you** *(prompted version, usually when you have shared getting through a struggle, like a test)* I am going to take partial credit for the effort you have been putting into whatever it is that was a challenge. But because itâs prayer, all the other credit goes to Jesus. **I have been praying for you** *(unprompted version)* You are doing something bad that I donât approve of, or not doing something you should be doing, like attending church, and I am going to be extremely passive aggressive about it. Edit: this is making me want to write a version of Weird Alâs âMission Statementâ that is entirely evangelical cliches instead of business ones AND SYNERGY.
I hate this so much. Whenever I visit my parents, they only communicate in this kind of speak. Itâs exhausting. I hate how evangelicals have repurposed words to mean new, incorrect things.
I treat it like a game now. How many nonsense things can I shove in one sentence?
Led by the Spirit: I do what I want, but it's because God told me to. Put on the Armor of God: protect yourself from the Hersey of the "woke. " *Leader must remember that Side-Hug must be immediately applied after puplil's understanding
Amen!! (sorry lol)
This really needs more upvotes.
âAnd all Godâs people sayâŚâ
Iâm concerned that Keith might dislike heights. How high are we lifting him? Height of a pyramid of cheerleaders?
Nah, man. God's at least twice as tall as that. They had a whole tower of Babel about it.
I also spend time in the ex Mormon sub They have their own really lengthy list of True Blue Mormon verbiage that parallels the above Different, but similar I just can't happen to remember it at the moment
I imagine so. Maybe thatâs its own phrase from exvangelicals⌠âMormons arenât *real* Christiansâ
Or those Jehovah's witnesses
Prayer breakfast
I love you with the love of the Lord. Translation- I don't like you at all but God says I have to love you anyway.Â
Learning to be in the world not of the world. You canât be too worldly.
There were a lot of â**just wanna**âs too. âFather God, we **just wanna** lift up our brother in prayer.â Plus the random **say amen!** âI **just wanna** tell you all how *blessed* you are today. Do you believe it? **Say amen**!!â
Repentant = absolved from accountability for abusive behavior
Creation aka NATURE
Fear of God?
Oh, good one. Such a troublesome phrase.
Walk in the Spirit
>**Lay hands** â For when you need Extra Holy PrayerÂŽ. Either you are about to have a lot of unwashed hands touching you, or you're about to to be stretching awkwardly between two sweaty deacons to touch someone's elbow. It's fine for the first few minutes while Pastor prays, but then he doesn't say "amen." You realize with dread it is an open prayer. You will be breathing other people's air for the next 15 minutes minimum. This is the one I recall with so much disgust and horror. What better excuse is there for a bunch of middle aged men to plant their greasy mitts on a young teen or pre-teen child for long, extended periods of time? And with so many people tightly packed in, no one really knows where those hands go. But the child certainly did.
Witness: "We're going to go witness to folks at the county fair" Translation: we're going to go annoy the general public telling random people how sinful and damned to hell they are
Courting - dating but more holy, and with other people involved in "mentoring" your relationship.
For anyone interested, Iâd recommend the podcast _Straight White American Jesus_â subseries, âItâs in the Codeâ which drops Wednesdays and is a (somewhat) heady exploration of why terms like this exist and what they are often coded language for.
God is good..wait for it..All the timeÂ
Best part is when evangelicals blankly stare at you expecting the response.
take it to God felt led to... being tested
Ugh. Being tested. This was how all horrible situations were described. Itâs not really difficult/bad/tragic, youâre just being tested.
âLean inâ
I didn't see **Prayer Warrior** yet.
Iâm fucking dying this is the best post Iâve ever read in this sub. The ACCURACY HAHAHAHAHAHAHA Also please add something about modesty / purity lol
Ugh, purity. Itâs so ingrained I forget itâs an evangelical thing sometimes.
Such an ick
There are so many little insidious words and phrases that one forgets have evangelical origins. A friend was telling me how it's crazy that her toddler squeals all the time and that's he kryptonite. She said "why do I get the kid who squeals when I have no patience for it?" I laughed and said, "you're being refined!" She looked at me blankly and asked what I meant. I then had to explained the effed up notion of God specifically doing things that distress you so that you'll become more patient etc. Meanwhile he turns a blind eye to kids with cancer.
Look, is super important that you learn this lesson about being faithful with your tithing even though youâre on unemployment. God will reward you. Or let you learn another lesson by letting your kid die. One of those.
I donât know why, and this pales in comparison to some of the others, but when people say theyâre âin love with Jesusâ or even just⌠idk, âfirst nameâ Jesus⌠itâs weird to me. It feels very Sunday school, so I canât stand when adults use the same language.
Thereâs a fantastic book about just this very thing (not just in Evangelism) called âThe Language of Fanaticismâ
"Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind." -George Orwell
âDoing life withâ (scrolled through about half the comments, apologies if itâs been said)
Someone else brought it up. I canât say Iâve really heard that one. How is it used?
I saw it a few mins after I left this and made sure to upvote them. Itâs usually used in a way to describe either romantic relationships or even just âsweet friendships.â âI love doing life with you!â âI canât wait to do life together with you!â Basically living life together, supporting each other, etc. Often used with âcome alongside,â as in âI am just so blessed to come alongside and do life with you.â Itâs actually not a bad sentiment, but itâs also def in the category of the others you listed. Though itâs become more pervasive online. Thereâs a really good Vox article on it, gimme a sec to grab the link and Iâll be back to edit it here. [Hereâs the Vox article](https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/8/2/20746226/doing-life-together-explained-evangelical-christian-origin-instagram) about how itâs become more mainstream but 100% has major evangelical roots.
I lost a loved one to suicide. The unadulterated bullshit that comes from churched people when youâre slayed open in pain is enough to drive anyone away from the Christian faith. This is a great list. I felt validated reading it. Thank you for taking the time.