Maybe you’ve seen them in a political speech. Maybe you’ve seen them in news interviews. Perhaps you’ve seen them on signs. Very likely, you see them every day in your social media. It seems like you just can’t get aways from them. I’m talking about “buzzwords.”
According to Miriam Webster, a buzzword is “an important-sounding usually technical word or phrase often of little meaning used chiefly to impress laymen.” We often see these in politics because they can be useful to summarize complex issues. But, they often simply get thrown around so that the speaker can signal their loyalty to a particular group without knowing much about the issue.
For example, someone who is pro-choice in the abortion debate might refer to a child in the womb as “a bundle of cells.” The argument is easily defeated by the fact that any human being is a bundle of cells, just in different stages of development, but that is not the point. Their purpose is not to make a rational statement to sway people to their side. The point is to claim an intellectual high ground that identifies them with a certain ideological group.
Why am I spending all this time talking about buzzwords? Because there is a great danger of these kinds of words making their way into the church and causing division. As I scroll through Facebook, I see brothers and sisters in Christ sharing posts and making statements about the church using politically charged buzzwords in order to separate those “in the loop” from those out.
By definition, these terms are vague. So, they require explanation. However, the ones using them always seem to use them to point out some moral deficiency in the church and refuse to explain what it is. Any questions are dismissed with sarcasm and derision. The only reason for this must be that changing the alleged issue is not the goal. The goal is to signal to those that already agree with them.
Brethren, this is not how the church should communicate. If there is an issue in the church, then it needs to be addressed in clear, Biblical language, not this coded, insider jargon. If the issue isn’t worth discussing clearly, then it must not be worth discussing. Paul tells us, “But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness” (2 Tim. 2:16).
We cannot let politics cause division in the body of Christ. We are going to disagree with our brethren about issues in the world. When we do, we must have the courage to speak clearly, in love, so we can heal and be reunited in the same mind and in the same judgment (cf. 1 Cor. 1:10).