I grew up in an era where when you went to church, you would often hear terms like “soul-winning” “backsliding” and “silent witness.”
I hate those terms. Strongly dislike them. Have no use for them but that last one, hmmmmmmm:
Soul-winning: What it means is to lead somebody to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Great concept and done the world over by thousands and thousands of believers but when the term “soul winning” is used, I always visualize Bible thumping preachers spreading hate from the pulpit, Christians leaving horribly out-dated tracts (another term) along with a 5% tip for the waitress, and people knocking on my door unannounced at dinner-time to share their beliefs with me. For the record, soul-winning is what we’re supposed to be doing! I just have never cared for the term.
Back-sliding: My favorite term to hate. What does it mean? The term references someone whose life was changed at some point in time but has since returned to whatever destructive old patterns they used to have. In the church world it means someone who didn’t use to come to church, started coming to church and has since stopped coming. It’s a term often used by preachers whose congregations are dwindling and he has no answer for why. Is the term accurate? Yes, but if your church is truly filled with a healthy mix of believers, brand-new babies in Christ, and people seeking for the answers, can you imagine a more off-putting term to 2/3 of your audience.
Silent Witness: I used to hear this one a lot. It means, I’m uncomfortable sharing my faith but when people see me, I want them to see a nice person who lives life different and maybe they’ll ask me why I’m different and maybe, maybe I’ll tell them what I believe. I never cared for the term. To me, a silent witness was just that silent. You didn’t hear from them and don’t give me that stuff about people seeing you differently. When you’re silent, others don’t see you differently, they don’t SEE you! Phooey!
But waitaminit! The more I’ve been thinking about that term, the more I’ve been wondering: Have churches turned their people into silent witnesses? I had dinner with a friend the other night and he reminded me of how for years he never invited people to his church. Not until he started attended a church that was “cool.” What he meant was that he now attends a church where it’s easy to invite people to come. He doesn’t have to be silent anymore because he’s not worried that he will be embarrassed that the person he invites will see a place that is stale, a message that is irrelevant, and worship that is …. well not worshipful. He’s found a church that has helped him not to be silent any longer. WooHoo!
I still don’t like the term silent witness but my challenge is to first make sure that this silent witness has a church that will support them when they step out and provide them with a place where they can freely and joyfully invite their friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers to come and see why they’re different.
What about you? What terms do you strongly dislike or hate?
Renee
February 22, 2010 at 8:15 pm
I have always had a hard time when a church says ” we’re going to take over this area or that”. Now, I understand completely what it means…we are going to go out, spread the word of Christ, live life by example, and in turn, try to lead more and more people in that area to Jesus. But honestly, why don’t we just say that?
When people, far from Christ, hear of a church that plans to “take over New York” or “take over the southeast” , their first reaction is: “just who do these people think they are”? Every time I hear it, I can’t help but think of the phrase, “you will assimilate, you will assimilate”.
Again, when you understand what’s behind the term, that’s not at all what it means, but the term itself is very misleading. To non-believers, it sounds like they will be “taken over” and that we will force our beliefs on them.
In my opinion, a very bad choice of words, since this is completely opposite of the term’s intentions.