Why do we say “come to Jesus”? This Christianese phrase doesn’t just show up in church—it shows up in offices, homes, and schools around America, where we speak of “come-to-Jesus moments.” What about words like “community” or “intentional”? Do we even know what those words mean? Unless we attend to our words and try to express our thoughts more carefully, our religious language can end up thin, impotent, and laden with clichés.
Dru Johnson recently invited me onto the Biblical Mind podcast to talk about my book on religious language. We ended up talking especially about “Christianese,” the relationship between religious language and corporate discourse, and the ways we embed sacred authority in our talking. You can listen at the link below.
Religious Language 