It's no wonder the Church struggles to communicate effectively with the rest of humanity. It invents words and creates terms that are only understood by those who invent them, in an effort to sound relevant and in an attempt to be (pre) inclusive.
Unbelievers have become "pre-christian." Outreach has become "missional." In an effort to grow in numbers at the expense of our congregation's spiritual depth we have become "attractional." Programs have replaced community, production has replaced authenticity. Bonhoeffer spins in his grave.
The Bible gives us the language we need, there is no need to invent anything new. We are ambassadors, living in a culture to which we do not belong; despairing over issues that the Church abandoned long ago (as indicated by Rookmaker in Art Needs No Justification). We have one task: reconciling people to God (2 Corinthians 5:20).
We need not complicate our task by pretending to speak the language of the culture we live in, when in reality the words we use are foreign to those for whom they are intended. A true ambassador learns the language and culture in which they are living. We must do the same and quit speaking "Christianese."
