I am taking this thesis as given:"Like all Americans, evangelicals are big on buzzwords."
Certainly this can be challenged, but right now I am more interested in exploring some questions surrounding the phenomenon.
Why do we use them so much?
Some possibilities:
We are in a hurry for the kingdom, and buzzwords speed communication.
We are market-driven/entrepreneureal. Advertising depends on grabbing consumers' attention, and a strong buzzword can do that.
We are lazy, intellectually; or we are anti-intellectual, and don't want our listeners to spend time thinking about what we are saying. We'd rather have them react.
What's good about them?
They are shorthand ways of communicating; don't require a lot of time and attention.
They help unite an otherwise disparate audience in focusing on a particular issue or idea
They are familiar, putting some people at ease and so enabling them to receive the rest of the message.
They are too familiar, causing other people to criticize them, and thus further the dialectic.
What's dangerous about them?
They don't communicate with much depth, if any.
They can be impediments to reflection.
They can be misunderstood, because they often function without a context or with an assumed context.
What are some great spiritual buzzwords of the past and present?
gloriously saved
born-again Christian
carnal Christian
spiritual laws
koinonia
shepherding
substitutionary
"Lord and Savior"
inerrant
evangelical
emergent
ecumenical
seeker, seeker-friendly
vibrant
relevant
WWJD
transparency
authenticity
tolerance
meaning
community
relational
spiritual
purpose-driven
postmodern
mystical/mystery
self-aware
timeless values
culture of death
Godself
Full Gospel
Whole Gospel
Missional, Evangelical, Post/Protestant, Liberal/Conservative, Mystical/Poetic, Biblical, Charismatic/Contemplative, Fundamentalist/Calvinist, Anabaptist/Anglican, Methodist, Catholic, Green, Incarnational, Depressed-yet-Hopeful, Emergent, Unfinished CHRISTIAN
bible-believing (Thanks, Dan!)
What words would you add? Change?
What's the latest buzzword?
I think "mission" is becoming a real contender. What do you think?
Are there any alternatives to using buzzwords?
Perhaps not, in this culture.
2 comments:
We Americans like things simple. The more simple something is the more true it must be. Buzz words are simplifications of complex subjects. So by nature we're constantly creating buzz. Regardless of the validity of the underlying assumptions buzz isn't necessarily such a bad thing -- unless buzz is all we have.
What if the more insidious reason Evangelicals use buzzwords is simply that it's the cultural water we swim in, so we "just do it"? Maybe there is no real driving reason, other than the fact that it's what we in America do.
Another for the list:
- Bible-believing
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