Does Your Language Empower People to Communicate the Message?
Posted by Doug Foltz on Jan 18, 2011 in Communications | 0 commentsI love the creativity of church planters. But sometimes, I have to caution that too much creativity in the choice of our words can create communication barriers. You may very well be able to communicate clearly what missional incarnational living means. But the goal isn’t whether people can understand you when you have time to unpack your language. The goal is whether the average person in the church can use these same words to communicate to their friends, neighbors and co-workers who don’t know Jesus yet. If the average person has to use words that they never use in their vocabulary, the answer is no. The early church hijacked common words in the culture and gave them a biblical meaning. Take the phrase, Jesus is Lord. It was just hijacked from the Roman culture that proclaimed, Caesar is Lord. The word baptism just meant immerse. So take a second look at your language. Does it empower people to communicate the message or is it just making you look edgy and smart?
