We all have something called a Reticular Activating System.

It's the part of your brain that filters the information that comes into your brain and determines what your senses actually hold on to out of all the stuff that is coming at you at any give point.

In the earlier blog Your Mind And Evangelism, it was referenced that 2 million bits of information are hitting you at every given second and your conscious mind is only able to catch about 2,000 bits every second.

What I'm getting at is that because of this system, what someone hears is not always what was what you said.

In this blog we're going to go over some words that are normal to you but are probably freaking others out, and some good alternatives to use.

Loaded Words

These are the words that are normal within #Christian circles but are alien to the rest of the world.

In saying that, if you use these words in casual conversations, that's exactly what these words are going to make you look like too: an alien.

For example our intentions are really good when we go up to someone and ask if we can pray for them.

In our mind we're thinking we're talking to Poppa on their behalf. Maybe we're asking for good things for them.

In their mind the word "pray" can mean anything. If they have a church background, prayer to them might mean gossip.

You know how we do that? "Hey y'all we need to pray for Brian J. He's been gambling on #Saturday nights and really needs our prayers... oh yeah, and did you know that he's got financial problems too? That's why he's been gambling. Sandra saw him there the other weekend. We need to pray for him... Oh and pray for Sandra because why was she at the casino too?"

See how "prayer" can mean something different?

Prayer might also give someone a weird picture in their mind.

When you ask to pray for them they might be thinking, "What are you going to do? Are you going to put something on me? Are you going to get loud? Are you going to get weird?"

A better alternative to "pray" is "encourage."

"Hey can I encourage you today?"

This word has a more concise definition in the minds of people and it won't likely freak anyone at.

In fact everyone looks forward to encouragement and won't turn you down (unless of course they're in a rush and can't stay).

Mall Story

Leading a small group of Christians around the mall praying for people, we did this once at a kiosk.

The lady began her thing on trying to sell us a Christmas ornament. After her pitch, it was a small moment of awkward silence because she wanted us to buy and we wanted to pray.

So I opened by saying, "Hey, we're professional encouragers. Can we encourage you today?"

"You're encouragers?"

"Yeah! Pick any one of us to encourage you today."

The lady picked the mother-looking woman among us and our lady went in and began encouraging her in Jesus.

By the end of it, the sales woman was crying and gave her life to #Jesus. At the mall!

I don't know what the conversation went like because the rest of the group gave them some privacy.

But can you see the difference between asking someone if you can pray for them vs. asking if you can encourage them?

It's not always "what" you say but rather "how" you say it.

Here is a list of words that could mean something else in the minds of others, or could be considered "Church-ese" that most non-church people might not understand if you were to use it while sharing with them:

• Ascension
• Atonement
• Baptism of Holy Spirit
• Blasphemy
• Condemnation
• Consecration
• Conversion
• Denomination
• Epistle
• Fornication
• Incarnation
• Messiah
• Redemption
• Repent
• Sanctification
• Transgression
• Tribulation
• Vicarious

Good Alternatives

• Ascension                         =                  Went Up
• Atonement                        =                  Made Right
• Baptism of Holy Spirit       =                  God's Power in/on us
• Blasphemy                       =                  Profane/incorrect talk/teaching regarding God
• Condemnation                  =                   Strong disapproval/sentenced to punishment
• Consecration                   =                   Declare sacred
• Conversion                       =                   Change
• Denomination                  =                   A type of Christian church
• Epistle                              =                   A letter
• Fornication                       =                   Sex outside marriage
• Holy                                  =                   Set aside for special purpose
• Incarnation                        =                   Taking bodily form
• Messiah                            =                   Savior
• Pray                                  =                   Talk to God (or encouragement for someone)
• Redemption                       =                   Saved (or act of being saved)
• Repent                               =                   Change ways
• Sanctification                     =                   Being made hold
• Transgression                    =                   An offense or breaking a rule/law
• Tribulation                          =                   Trouble or suffering
• Vicarious                             =                   Done for someone else

Maybe you know of some other words that could be added to this list. I'm sure there are many.

Here is a larger list of "christian words" that might even be new to you.

Either way when sharing your faith I want to encourage you that you can use the language that you understand and chances are it will be the language that they understand too.

You don't need to sound religious or holy and in fact the more you do that, the more likely you're going to confuse someone.

Just be you, have a normal conversation about #spiritual things, and treat the other person like a human. You'll do great!

So What Are Your Thoughts?

What are some words that you normally use when talking with people instead of using a church-ese one?

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