As Christians, we frequently use jargon that is bewildering to non-believers, and frequently becomes cliches worthy of beating to death with a baseball bat, if Christians may engage in such activities. (Would Jesus beat a cliche to death with a baseball bat? hmmm….)

I’ll get the ball rolling with a few, either comment or track back if you have any others. The more annoying the better. Give us the “churchspeak”, the official definition, and the all-too-often practical definition.

1. Churchspeak: “I feel led”
Official definition: “I’ve prayed about this and I think I know what God wants me to do”
Practical definition: “I feel like doing this and I want it to sound holy.”

2. Churchspeak: “We’re stepping out on faith”
Official definition: “We have no idea what’s going to happen but we trust God to make it work.”
Practical definition: “We couldn’t figure out a better plan on our own, so we’ll do this and hope it works out.”

3. Churchspeak: “I’ll pray for you”
Official definition: “I’ll continually pray for you until this is resolved”
Practical definition: “I’m embarrassed or it’s otherwise inconvenient for me to pray with you right now, so I’ll think about you for a minute before I watch a double episode of CSI on the Spike Channel.”

Any others?

(And I’ll be back to Psalm 119 studies tomorrow – what with Hurricane Katrina my business has been on extremely shaky ground but I’m working on a bid for a project I heard about yesterday. If you’re a night owl, please pray for me because it’s got to be done – with design samples – by tomorrow morning so I’ll be up all night again.)