One of the things that burdens me as I navigate life as a follower of Christ is that we live in a “buzzword” culture. Anytime you hear “the left”, “the right”, “woke”, “socialist”, and “communist,” it causes a reaction in our mind and emotions. If you were to watch Fox News and CNN and compare them side-by-side, you would notice that they report the same stories, but they each use “buzzwords” that trigger an emotional reaction out of their listeners depending on their political perspective.
Using buzzwords can be an issue for 3 reasons. 1) They are meant to produce emotional reactions rather than thoughtful responses. 2) They oversimplify sometimes very complicated ideas. 3) They can misrepresent who we disagree with and hinder our ability to reason with them.
What does this mean? Flippant use of buzzwords can derail any hope of having intentional and beneficial conversations.
Why does this burden me as much as it does? It has entered the church and hindered our ability to know what we can respectfully disagree about, what we must plant our flag in the ground for, and what we must take a stand against. If you don’t believe me, just think about what feelings and thoughts stir up after reading these words:
Calvinist. Arminian. Predestination. Election. Christian Zionist. Replacement Theology. Dispensationalists. Christian Nationalism. Separation of Church and State. Cessationist. Continuationist. Heresy. False Teacher. Political Christianity. Progressive Christianity.
Think about the tone these words are usually said with, the reputation they carry, the reaction they cause, the emotions that well up with each of these words. Some of these ideas are respectfully debatable, some are clearly wrong, and some are even words that come from the Scriptures. These buzzwords at the least don’t need to be mentioned without a clear explanation of their meaning. At the most, helpful conversations about these ideas may be more possible by avoiding words if necessary that will lead to less listening and more reacting.
If we try to reason with each other simply using buzzwords, we will end up quarreling either with each other or the very people that desperately need the truth. We don’t need to compromise speaking the truth, but we don’t need to compromise being charitable with others by being gentle, respectful, and gracious. Look at what Scripture says:
“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.” (Colossians 4:6)
“But reject foolish and ignorant disputes, because you know that they breed quarrels. The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but must be gentle to everyone, able to teach, and patient, instructing his opponents with gentleness. (2 Timothy 2:23-25)
“But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ.” (Ephesians 4:15)
In the words of former SEBTS president Danny Akin, “What you say is more important than how you say it. But how you say it has never been more important.”
