Hank Hill meets the MegaChurch

I know this is making its way around the blogosphere — and for good reason! This is really one of the funniest but telling videos on the church I’ve seen.

Should preachers avoid Christianese in sermons?

I just came across an article for preachers entitled, “Using the Right Words: Insider Language Excludes People.”

Here are the two opening paragraphs:

In most sermons for Christians, or any Christian magazine, there are usually very many jargon words and phrases. We feel comfortable with them! Using them makes us feel that we belong! In prayer too, we love to use these words, as humorist Jim Watkins demonstrates.

Here are just a few:

“born again, salvation, saved, sinner, new birth, Savior, justification, Holy Spirit, testimony, evangelical, assurance, redeemed, redemption, saved, mission, outreach, repentance, witness, confess, found the Lord, have a burden.” This is the language we must unlearn and stop using (highlighting mine), if we are to communicate effectively with non-Christians! They are ‘insider terms’ which exclude the typical unchurched person. We must learn to get inside their heads!

He notes that we should even stop using the words like sin, repentance, and faith. What do you all think? I think it is misguided. The Scriptures communicate this verbage for a reason. Plus, whenever you come on to a new job, there are new technical terms you are to pick up in order to understand how thinks function. Should Christianity be any different?

I welcome your comments.