There is jargon in sports, theater, writing, and trades: language best understood by those involved in that trade or endeavor. For example, imagine watching soccer for the first time.
What does “nutmeg” have to do with kicking a ball — isn’t that a spice? (It’s also a term for fast, clever footwork to get around a defender). How about a free kick or the offside rule?
In the world of baking, bread makers “proof” their bread. Perhaps they bake it “with the lid on” in order to obtain a square shape.
Similarly, Christians use a language some call “Christianese” when discussing their faith, and this kind of language can be intimidating to non-Christians or those who were not raised in church. Let’s tackle a few distinctly Christian words and phrases.
1. Hedge of Protection
“Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land” (Job 1:10).
The Hebrew word suk means “fence, make a hedge” for protective purposes. This was Satan’s accusation of the Lord regarding Job, whom God appeared to have favored and protected.
Michael Patton explained, “This is the [...] primary Christian defense against demonic forces,” a prayer that God would protect a loved one. Or one might ask God for protection personally against Satan’s evil.
Whenever I’ve heard this phrase, someone is currently immersed in or will soon be faced with some kind of spiritual warfare.
We pray this prayer over missionaries about to embark on a journey, over high school students tempted to attend parties where there will be drugs or heavy drinking, or when someone is about to confront a loved one about addiction or abuse.
So why would we ask for this “hedge” when it turns out Job actually did face a horrible spiritual attack? Because God stayed close to Job.
He rebuked Job soundly, but even though his answers were stern and put Job in his place (“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding,” 38:4), God answered.
And in the end, Bill Kynes notes, “God not only vindicates Job, he also blesses him richly.”
2. Washed in the Blood
In him we have redemption through his blood (Ephesians 1:7).
Here is that verse in The Message: “Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people.”
How can someone be washed clean with blood? Isn’t soap and water a better combination for cleaning someone? For cleansing the body, yes, but not for spiritual cleansing.
The term “washed in the blood” reminds us that there was once a sacrificial system in place by which God’s people made atonement for sins.
This system required the shedding of an animal’s blood — countless animals were sacrificed over centuries of Jewish worship in order to make atonement; then Christ gave his life as a “ransom for many,” the final sacrifice (Matthew 20:28).
The oxymoronic idea of being “washed in the blood” encourages us to think about the magnitude of what our sin cost, but also the awe-inspiring result of Christ’s sacrifice: the Christian’s restored relationship with the. No other blood is necessary or even worthy.
3. To ‘Love On’
I think that the most charitable explanation of the phrase “love on” is that someone is showing love in practical ways towards another human being. Passive love, which says from a distance, “I’ll be thinking of you,” is not biblical love.
Jesus instructed his disciples, “Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34). Jesus’ love was active. He went places and talked to people about their sin, their sickness, and their needs.
He healed; he talked; he listened and encouraged. He also offered intercessory prayer, which is an important part of our connecting with others. Intercessory prayer takes our eyes off ourselves and encourages empathy.
What is the general idea of love in the modern secular world? So often, what we really mean is “be nice to each other” and “let everyone do what makes them happy without judging them; live and let live.” Don’t do bad things. This is a cowardly, lazy, hands-clean kind of attitude, but it’s not love.
What if you discovered your friend was addicted to alcohol; would you watch sadly from a distance or challenge her?
Would you beg her to get help and provide her with real, practical support, such as ordering soft drinks instead of wine when you both go out for meals; by sitting up with her when it’s late at night and she is so stressed she wants to buy vodka; by supporting her with God’s loving truth when she has a relapse and needs to know that she is not forsaken?
When we “love on” someone, the addition of that preposition simply indicates that this is more than fond thoughts or choosing not to do a bad thing. At the very least, someone is going to organize meals.
4. Pick Up Your Cross
One blog explains that “Take up your cross” is not referring to a real cross. When Jesus says his followers must “pick up your cross” (Luke 9:23), he means “denying the sinful thoughts that come up in you and putting them to death.”
We might be called to destroy a temptation to use drugs, to yell when we’re upset, or to overeat. We might be called to resist lust, gossip, or drunkenness.
But the cross we carry is to the glory of God. Our cross is not simply every difficult thing, but everything we ask God to help us with by his Spirit in order to be ambassadors of his mercy and grace to others.
In your battle with chronic pain, that pain is your cross if you experience Christ’s grace in the middle of that and choose to bless others with patience and gentleness. You refuse to let pain make you bitter and you declare that it’s only the Holy Spirit which makes this possible.
When you pick up your cross, you followJesus, “who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).
In other words, you experience the joy of serving God by obeying him, which is not saying you have to be perfect or full of laughter while life hurts.
We all get tired and lose our temper a little or say things we need to ask forgiveness for. But even the humility of asking forgiveness is a step that glorifies God.
5. To Be in Christ
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come(2 Corinthians 5:17).
The preposition “in” suggests a closet or a room you would enter. How can a person be “in” Christ? Isn’t he, by the Holy Spirit, in us?
Believers are unified with Christ. “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20). John Piper wrote that “in Christ Jesus, you are loved by God with an inseparable love.”
When we submit our lives to Christ, we diminish so that he can increase. What people see of us — we hope — is less of the old “us” and more of the new person who is being sanctified by Jesus.
We let him go ahead of us, surround us, and protect us. He has covered our sin with his blood. I often imagine the Lord looking at us through that red screen.
When we live “in Christ,” we are so closely united to him by our faith and his grace and by the Holy Spirit’s direction that we see our way better in the darkness of this world. Being “in Christ” is like walking around with a spiritual flashlight.
That’s not to say he will tell us, “Turn right at the next corner, pass three roads, and then take a right;” I mean that when a situation is difficult or a decision is weighty, the Lord helps us take each tiny step one at a time.
I think of holding my father’s hands and standing on his feet while he danced me around: I relied on him completely to guide my way. I went where he went.
A Final Word
There are so many words and phrases that Christians use, and their non-believing friends don’t understand. In fact, sometimes, we say these things without thinking about them.
It’s good to pause over Christian phrases and be sure you meant to say what you said. If you don’t know the meaning of what you just said, then find out!
For further reading:
How to Decipher Paul’s Words in the Bible
Do Our Words Have Creative Power?
Why Is the King James Version Held in Such High Regard?
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Just_Super
