Christian figures of speech

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Like most social groups, Christians have invented figures of speech and shorthand expressions to describe ideas and experiences common to the Christian life and community. Some of these expressions come from Scripture quotations (see lay out a fleece), but others are simply phrases that have found popularity in Christian circles (see be plugged in).

Because most of these figures of speech are multi-word phrases, strict alphabetical order probably isn't the best scheme. For example, strict alphabetical order would put all the "be . . ." and "have . . ." phrases in a row, simply because they start with the common verbs be and have. So the following scheme has been adopted. The order is alphabetical according to the key word in each phrase: the key word in a multi-word phrase is the noun (or the most prominent or specific noun in a phrase with more than one noun); and the key word in an adjective + noun phrase is the adjective.

Contents
0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


[edit] A

  • answered prayer — belief that God has provided a specific response to a prayer

[edit] B

  • backslide — to no longer follow the teachings of Christ and to remove oneself from Christian gatherings, without formally renouncing them. Used commonly in Christian groups which teach the doctrine of eternal security; those who do not teach this doctrine do not use this phrase as those followers believe the person is lost (see below).
  • believer — shorthand for believer in Jesus Christ

[edit] C

  • be called to do (or say) [something]
  • Christ
    • accept Christ — to have committed oneself to the teachings of Christ. This involves more than a simple mental assent to their validity; it also implies that one will center one's entire life around the teachings of Christ and Christianity.
    • know Christ — to have previously accepted Christ (see above).
  • cross
    • lay [something] at the cross — to forsake a known sin or activity that one knows to be wrong and trust Jesus to help one keep his commitment.
    • nail [something] to the cross — see lay [something] at the cross.

[edit] E

  • evangelize [someone] — to tell someone about Jesus Christ. Synonyms include: share the good news (or gospel) with someone; tell someone the good news (or gospel).

[edit] F

  • have (or be granted) favor with someone —
  • felt needs, n. — the perceived needs and desires of someone not currently a Christian. Used frequently in churches such as Willow Creek Community Church and their followers as a means of evangelism (i.e., determine one's felt needs, then show how the Gospel can meet them), but with groups opposed to Willow Creek's practices, to meet one's "felt needs" is considered a compromise.
  • be on fire for God — to have a strong witness
  • lay out a fleece — to ask God to answer a specific request, as a means of determining whether a prior word from God was genuine. Taken from the Biblical story of Gideon.
  • be foundational —
  • bear fruit — to display evidence of God's working within oneself. Some of the fruits of the Holy Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (from Galatians 5:22-23; see also Luke 6:44 and Matthew 12:23).

[edit] G

  • gifting, n. —
  • "God spoke to me" — same idea as a word from the Lord below
  • gospel — literally, "the good news" (from Old English). The gospel is the message that God will forgive individuals' sins through Jesus Christ.

[edit] H

  • heart
    • "God laid it on my heart to say (or do) [something]" — believing that God has given one a specific task.
    • "God gave me a heart for [someone or something]" — believing that God has given one a specific personal ministry. Similar to above but usually involving more commitment (in terms of time, resources, etc.).
    • guard one's heart — restraining from activities that would negatively impact one's Christian witness. Commonly used when dealing with interpersonal relationships.
    • have a heart for [someone] —
    • have a heart for the nations —

[edit] I

  • be intentional about [something] —

[edit] J

  • accept Jesus — see accept Christ
  • know Jesus — see know Christ
  • steal one's joy —

[edit] K

  • fight on one's knees — to pray

[edit] L

  • the Lord — Jesus Christ
  • the lost
    • the lost — people who have not made a commitment to Jesus Christ (Luke 19:10; Matthew 18:11)
    • heart for the lost — an especial awareness of the necessity of evangelization
    • passion for the lost — similar to heart for the lost above, but perhaps associated with activity as well as awareness. Example: I met Jack on a mission trip to Quito last year, and boy does he have a passion for the lost. He was out there every morning handing out tracts and answering folks' questions.
    • reach the lost — to undertake evangelical and missionary efforts
  • feel led to do [something] —

[edit] M

  • mission trip — a visit to another place (often far from home) for the purpose of evangelizing the people there. Mission trips can (and often do) provide practical assistance such as medical services or construction help in addition to evangelism. Example: My Bible study went on a short-term mission trip to this little town in Mexico where we built a school and told people about Jesus.

[edit] O

  • offer [something] up —

[edit] P

  • pewsitter - one who has little involvement in church activities outside of attending services.
  • be plugged in — to be significantly involved in one's church activities and ministries (as opposed to pewsitter).
  • prayer
    • covered in prayer —
    • covet prayer —
    • go to the Lord in prayer —
    • take it to the Lord in prayer —

[edit] Q

  • quiet time — a period of private prayer and Bible study or devotional reading. Many Christians have their quiet time in the morning. Example: I've started waking up 15 minutes earlier each day so I can have some quiet time with the Lord before I head off to work.

[edit] S

  • saved
    • be (or get) saved — to accept Jesus Christ as one's savior and have one's sins forgiven. Some churches stress that there is a particular moment when a believer accepts Jesus Christ, and so they will talk about when they got saved. But not in all cases can a person pin down at what moment they first began to believe. Example: I wasn't saved until college, when I gave up trying to run my own life and asked Jesus to be the lord of my life instead.
    • be unsaved — to still bear the weight of one's sins
  • soul-winning — the activity of sharing the Gospel with people in the hopes they will accept Christ
  • spiritual walk — a person's relationship with God
  • spiritual conversation — the kind of conversation about God and religion and other "big questions" that is often an opportunity to present the Gospel. Example: Over lunch the past few weeks, Joey and I have been having some really interesting spiritual conversations. She seems pretty curious about what the Bible says about Jesus.
  • stronghold - an area of a believer's life that hasn't yet been given over to God; often, a sinful habit or pattern that is made conspicuous by positive changes in other areas of the person's life. Example: His anxiety over whether God has truly forgiven all his sins is a real stronghold for him.
  • stumble; cause one to stumble — to sin, usually as a result of some kind of temptation. Example: When I stay in hotel rooms, I don't even turn on the cable channels because I don't want to stumble.
  • support — money used for ministry (usually missionary) work; a shorthand expression for financial support. Example: Susan's raised about half the support she'll need to spend the summer in Spain volunteering at a church.
  • sword drill — a game where the first person to locate a particular Scripture verse in the Bible wins. It tends to be pretty organized: for example, with all the players holding their Bibles closed in one hand before the verse reference is called out. Example: We had a few minutes left in Sunday School, so the teacher ran us through some sword drills.

[edit] T

  • tent-making — the practice of supporting one's ministry or missionary work by keeping a secular job. The Book of Acts notes that Paul was a tent-maker by trade (Acts 18:3) and Paul makes occasional references in his letters to his continuing to work in that trade to support himself on his mission trips (1 Thessalonians 2:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:8)
  • testimony — the story of how someone was saved. A testimony often describes how in need of Jesus Christ a person was, and then describes the change that occurred in that person's life as a result of accepting Christ.
    • give (or share) one's testimony — to tell the story of how one accepted Christ, to one person or to a group of people

[edit] V

  • have victory over [something] — to be freed from an addiction or stronghold, often after a long struggle with it

[edit] W

  • wait upon the Lord — can mean either: 1) after having prayed over a matter, to see how the Lord will respond, 2) to not do something until receiving positive confirmation from the Lord.
  • witness
    • ruin one's witness — to engage in sinful activities, in the presence of nonbelievers, that will cause them to have a negative view of Christianity and the person in particular, thus making them less receptive to the Gospel
    • save one's witness —
  • be a good witness — to live one's life in a manner that will cause nonbelievers to have a positive view of Christianity and the person in particular, thus making them more receptive to the Gospel
  • word
    • a word from the Lord — a clear and unmistakable instruction from God, often received during prayer or worship. Example: I'm not saying I have a word from the Lord on this, but I think we should really explore putting in another parking lot behind the church.
    • be (or spend time) in the Word — to read the Bible on a regular basis (see Quiet Time)
    • hear a word from the Lord —