CHRISTIAN TERMINOLOGY OFTEN CAN BE INTIMIDATING TO OUTSIDERS

The words church members use during worship services can be as daunting and intimidating as the vast buildings that house congregations.

For anyone who seldom visits a church or who just professed to be a Christian, the "church words" can loom as large as any steeple. Terminology like sanctification, justification, redemption, Eucharist, evangelism and stewardship are only a few examples.

Are these words something church members and pastors should avoid?

The Rev. J. Friedel, director of Catholic Campus Ministries at Southeast Missouri State University, said that church leaders tend to us a lot of big words that are derived from Latin and Greek.

"Many times when people come to join the church they tell us that is seems so strange that we used all these different words. They are terms we hang onto because, to us, they still say something very important," Friedel said.

Terminology can become meaningless when people don't think about the meaning, concepts or the importance of the word, said the Rev. Dr. Andy Pratt of the Baptist Student Center at Southeast.

"It's always good to reformulate them, restate them, rephrase them so we can hear them once again," Pratt said.

Many pastors say it's better to educate new Christians about the word meanings than to abandon their use.

"Part of the genius of teaching what God's word says is to be able to explain those terms," said the Rev. David Dissen, a retired minister now serving at the Lutheran Chapel of Hope on the Southeast campus. "We still need to use those terms. They supply us with very clear biblical truths."

Friedel said the terms must always be explained because sometimes they are the best words to use. Pratt feels that making those words relevant in people's lives is the most important point.

"The words are not what's important," Pratt said. "It's the concepts they try to convey. The words, I think, have lost a lot of focus with people. They just seem to be big words that don't apply to their lives."

Dissen said he isn't discouraged by the use of religious terminology.

"You've probably heard medical terms you didn't understand. Once you learn what they are, you, yourself will probably be inclined to use those terms."

Here is a sampling of some religious terms and their meanings.

Sanctification

Sanctification refers to what happens in a person's life after they become a person of faith, Pratt said. "What it really refers to is growing, progressing in faith, becoming mature and becoming more Christlike."

Dissen said the word means to separate or make holy.

Eucharist

"Eucharist is from a Greek word that means Thanksgiving," Friedel said. "If we'd have come up with a better word, we probably would use it."

Justification

"This is a big word for Protestants," Pratt said. "It's also a very important word for all Christians. It seeks to describe the change that happens in a person's life because of the grace of God. In Christian theology, humans do not possess the capability of making it right. The term seeks to describe the grace of God which makes us right in our relationship with God."

Justification is a judicial word and a judicial action that declares sinners have been made right with God, Dissen said. "It's not the works of the law that human being do that make them right with God. It's what God does for us through Jesus Christ."

Redemption

Redemption means to buy back, Dissen said.

"If sanctification refers to life after conversion, redemption would seek to describe the event of conversion itself," Pratt said. The most important concept of the work is its restoration.

"Redemption many times describes what God does, in the God-human relationship. It's the act of God to restore the relationship and the removal of the alienation. In Christian theology, that relationship has been broken by the sinfulness of a human being. The word seeks to talk about that which God does for us which we cannot do for ourselves," Pratt said.

Liturgy

"Liturgy is Greek for public work," Friedel said. "Public works of the church involves work doing the Eucharist and sharing the word with everyone. We have the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist."

Evangelism

"Evangelism means 'good news,'" Pratt said. "An evangelist is one who tells the good news." Many times the work gets connected to the idea of making converts. "That's really not what it's about. We have some good news and evangelism is to share or tell the good news."

Stewardship

"Stewardship is about acting responsibly and intentionally with one's life," Pratt said. A steward is one who has been entrusted with something for safe-keeping. "In a Christian context this applies because life is a gift from God and God has certain expectations about what we do with this gift of life that includes abilities, mind, talents, time, relationships. Most of the attention just gets focused on money but money is only one facet of stewardship. It is really a whole-life issue."