Christianese

Without realizing it, Christians often speak in a foreign language. To improve communication, let's zoom in on some definitions.
   

• Adam - The name means "Humanity."
• Adoration- "To orate a prayer" implying vocal worship. Also "infinite love."
• Agape - The Greek word for the type of love representing the decision to selflessly give, which may or may not include emotional attraction. It is the love God has for us (though His emotions and choices always agree.) See Love.
• Amen - "So be it" or "so it is"
• Anointing - Distinguished as special, more commonly, an experience of God's presence during prayer or through some tangible blessing from him.
• Angel - A "messenger" sent by God to minister to those who are God's.
• Apostle - "One sent forth." The disciples were called apostles only after they were sent.
• Atonement - Making amends with God. Some describe this restoration of unity as being "at-one-ment" (which is memorable, though has nothing to do with the actual word origin).
• Baptism - the drowning of the old self; emerging of the new self.
• Behold - There are many Greek words that translate to "behold" that all roughly mean, "check this out", "perceive this, man", "surprise!", etc.
• Beloved - in Semitic discourse in means "preferred" or "favorite"
• Bethlehem - "House of food."
• Bible - From the Greek phrase "ta biblia" or "the books."
• Carnal - "Flesh nature" vs. spiritual nature. It usually has a negative connotation, referring to the bad part of man's nature, the Old Man. (Note that the New Man, man's redeemed nature, is holy. See Christian Humanism.)
• Charismatic - From the Greek word for "gift"; it does not refer to joyful or emotional worship, but the presence of certain miraculous manifestations. Synonyms include Pentecostal, Full Gospel, and Spirit-filled. Here's more on the Charismatic Gifts.
• Christ - "The anointed One."
• Christian - Not merely a follower of Christ, but a "little anointed One."
• Church - "Called out."
• Comfort - "to intensify strength"; same Latin root as fortitude and fortissimo.
• Compassion - "to suffer with"
• Confess - "Saying the same as." Not simply admitting, but agreeing.
• Confidence - "With faith." Without faith there's no deep certainty.
• Consecrate - To perfect by dedication.
• Contemplation - "To connect in the temple." Also to see until blinded, i.e., you won't stop looking until something else stops you.
• Covenant - Means "to bind or unite". In its fullest form it is not simply a contract, but a self-giving "I am yours and you are mine"—a family bond. (There is no Hebrew word for family; covenant was really the word). The word "testament" also means "covenant", so the Old and New Testaments of the Bible are also the Old and New Covenants.
• David - "Beloved"
• Devil - The "accuser" or "slanderer"; one of the names of Satan.
• Disciple - one who comes under the 'discipline' or authority of another. Christ doesn't call us to be simply church members, but disciples.
• Ecumenical - "Inhabiting one house." The movement promoting unity among Christians.
• El Shaddai - "God is more than enough."
• Emmanuel - "God with us."
• Encourage - to instill courage
• Enthusiasm - Comes from a phrase meaning "in God".
• Epiphany - Often considered merely a realization, but the root is "manifestation" or "presentation"
• Eternal - "Undefined age." We tend to think eternity means 'a very long time,' but it is actually a different mode of being outside of time. It is like the time in the life of an author vs. the time in the life of his characters. (E.g., 2Ti 1:9)
• Evangelize - An "angel" is a "messenger" and to ev-angel-ize is to be "a messenger of the good news." If evangelize sounds like a sterile, impersonal, polysyllabic word, just say "share."
• Eve - Means "Living" [ooh baby!]
• Exalt - "To lift up" in high regard. See Humility.
• Faith - Is "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Heb 11:1). The Hebrew and Greek words for faith mean certain, loyal, reliable. They have a passive connotation and an active one. That is, faith in God connotes both the intellectual belief that he is faithful as well as the response of being faithful yourself. Faith is faithfulness. It involves not only the intellect, but the will as well.  Both passive and active senses are nicely combined in this verse: "Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." (Heb 11:6) [emphasis mine] Note also: faith (trust based on evidence) is not blind faith (trust w/o evidence).
• Fellowship - Friendship. God wants us to believe and belong.
• Flesh - Biblical language for corrupted desires. However, often it's confused with a.) the physical flesh, or b.) desire itself, good or bad.
• Forgiveness - "to send forth"; to release. Forgiveness is giving up the right to hold grudges.
• Full-Gospel - refers to persons/groups that experience the Charismatic gifts.
• God - I Am Who I Am
• Glory - Means "weight" as in the heaviest love (all good, true and beautiful)
• Gospel - from Saxon word "gode-spell" meaning "good story/tale"
• Grace - Often we think of grace mainly as a spiritual "fluid" or "electricity" that God pours out on us, but the better definition is simply his unmerited favor.
• Hades - "Not to be seen." The place of the departed spirits (for the lost, and for the saved up until the time of Christ's ascension). The equivalent of "sheol" in the Old Testament. This is not Hell, the final destination for the lost. Christ went in and out of Hades, but never went to Hell.  (Acts 2:27) Hades is for the physically dead; Ghenna is for the spiritually dead.
• Hallelujah - "Praise-Yah" short for "Praise Yahweh", so "Alleluia" is a misspelling.
• Happiness - The delight experienced by the soul vs. the delight experienced by the spirit (joy) or the delight experienced by the body (pleasure). It is based on a word that means "it happens"—happiness is dependent on our circumstances, whereas joy is independent, above our circumstances. See the article on Joy.
• Heaven - "To heave, to lift." In the Bible "Heaven" can mean the sky or the dwelling place of God.
• Hell - From the NIV Study Bible: "The Greek word is ge(h)enna, which derives its name from a deep ravine south of Jerusalem, the "Valley of (the Sons of) Hinnom" (Hebrew GE hinnom). During the reigns of the wicked Ahaz and Manasseh, human sacrifices to the Ammonite god Molech were offered there. Josiah desecrated the valley because of the pagan worship there (2Ki 23:10; see Jer 7:31-32; 19:6). It became a sort of perpetually burning city dump and later a figure for the place of final punishment."
• Holy - Of God or God-like conduct. The root for this is also the root for the words for sanctity, saint, hallowed and godliness. They all roughly mean "of God" or "set apart for God." Though not related etymologically, some say holiness is "wholeness"—the real you.
• Holy Spirit - When Christians refer to the third person of the Godhead they sometimes mean a general representation of God, but more commonly are focusing on the experiential dimension. The Holy Spirit is often associated with unity (love), gentleness (dove), healing (oil), power (fire).
• Hope - Not wishful thinking, but the confident, radiant expectation of good. Faith in God's love for the future.
• Hosanna - "Save!"
• Humility - "Lowering" (or "from the earth").  Being humble means lowering yourself, so that God can raise you. It does not mean denying your gifts, but submitting them to God, like Christ. Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but less about yourself. Not thinking less of yourself; but thinking of yourself less. See Pride. Also see Exalt.
• Idol - "A phantom image." Not just an old false pagan deity (e.g. Baal), but any attempted substitute for God:  money, sex, career, reputations, even a ministry (if not submitted to God), or the very self.
• Integrity - Your outside (actions) and inside (words) are "integrated". From same word as integer: whole, not a fraction, not divided.
• Israel - "May God show strength."
• Jehovah - See Lord.
• Jerusalem - "Jireh-Salem" means God "provides at Salem."
• Jesus - A transliteration of the Hebrew "Joshua" meaning "Jehovah is salvation." According to Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words: "In Paul's letters the order is always in harmony with the context. Thus 'Christ Jesus' describes the Exalted One who emptied Himself, Phil 2:5, and testifies to His pre-existence; 'Jesus Christ' describes the despised and rejected One Who was afterwards glorified, Phil 2:11, and testifies to His resurrection. 'Christ Jesus' suggests his grace, 'Jesus Christ' suggest his glory."
• Joy - Delight in the spirit (joy) vs. delight in the soul (happiness) vs. delight in the body (pleasure). Unlike happiness, Joy is not based on our circumstances. "Joy is not the something we can produce; joy is the perfume that is left when God has passed by." See Joy.
• Judah - "Praise"
• Justify - Refers to the justice accomplished by God so that we can receive the love of God in spite of our debt of love to him. Christ pays the debt for us, if we receive Christ. Through Christ I am justified, "just-as-if-I'd" never sinned. (Note that "justify" usually refers to the part God has played in this vs. how we respond. For our part see Sanctify.)
• Kerygma - Greek for "preaching" (proclaiming Jesus and proclaiming about Jesus; both as subject and object)
• Kindness - means "of the same kin or kind," recognizing others are as you.
• Kingdom - comes from "King's-Dominion"!
• Logos - A Greek term translated as "word," but more fully defined as "the expression of." Jesus is the Logos of the Father, the perfect expression.  It also refers to the Bible, God's eternal unchanging word. Contrast with Rhema.
• Lord - There are two Hebrew words that translate into "Lord"; one means "master" and the other is the proper name for God. Since ancient societies believed knowing someone's name gave you power over them, the Israelites left out the vowels! The resulting word is JHWH, and is called the Tetragrammaton, meaning "four-letter word." No one knows the exact pronunciation, but most say either "Yahweh" or "Jehovah".
• Love - A most important word yet, commonly misunderstood. There are four Greek words that translate into the English word "love". "Eros" is romantic love. "Storge" is affection. "Philia" means "friendship" and "Agape" is selfless giving. Christian love means first agape, which is not an emotion, but a decision of the will. It comes from us, not to us. Perfect agape is experienced in Christ. For a page about all of this, see Love.
• Lust - Not sexual desire, but disordered desire (any type, sexual or otherwise)
• Mammon - The name of the evil spirit that tempts to idolize money.
• Man - "Adam" means "mankind" or "humanity."
• Mercy - From the same Latin root for "merchandise"; price paid for a reward.
• Meekness - Not weakness or gentleness, but controlled power. Refraining from self-assertiveness.
• Moses - "Brought up out of the water."
• Mystery - Not something you can't know anything about, but something you can't know everything about. When you hear the word "mystery" it's important not to give up trying to learn about the mystery, because God reveals his secrets. (Eph 1:9, 3:3, 3:4, 3:9, Col 1:27.) It means "revealed and initiated into by experience." You can learn more about a mystery, but you can never come to the end of it. The love of God is a mystery.
• New Man vs. Old Man - The renewed human nature given to you by receiving Christ vs. your old sinful nature still present until you reach Heaven.
• Orthodoxy - Means "right belief." Contrast with orthopraxy ("right practice")
• Paradise - "The parks of kings."
• Patience - This is not necessarily something passive, but is detachment from timing. It comes from a word that means "to suffer." When the Bible says "love is patient" it means "to suffer for another by waiting." (I Cor. 13).
• Peace - Can mean simply "to be silent", but more often means Shalom. (Biblical peace is not simply the cessation of war, but is Shalom.)
• Pentecost - "50th day." The explosive birthday of the Church, 50 days after Jesus returned to Heaven, when the Holy Spirit arrived in great power.
• Pentecostal - a Christian who experiences the charismatic manifestations, first given by God at Pentecost, literally "50 days" after the Resurrection.
• Perseverance - "Long-suffering."
• Praise - Means "to celebrate" and usually refers to vocal prayer, with songs and some sort of physical expression (clapping, raising hands, kneeling, dancing, etc.).
• Prayer - Comes from a word that means "to request", though most use it to mean a more direct relating with God, which may be loud or quiet, vocal or silent etc.—an intentional connection.
• Pride - A Christian believes that pride is the worst sin, where "pride" is defined as excessive self-focus or self-promotion. Pride in the Christian sense is not pleasure at one's success (unless it makes you consider yourself more special than others.) Being proud is saying "my will be done" over "Thy will be done." See Humility.
• Purity - Means not simply sexual faithfulness, but "to will one thing," to be authentic, simple, wholly itself, whole-hearted, uncontaminated. A pure love means an undivided love.
• Prophecy - From "pro" + "phemi"; literally "to speak on behalf of another." A prophet is God's mouthpiece. As in Biblical times, it refers to a message for the present or the future (or interpretation of the past).
• Question - from the same Latin root to be on a quest or seek.
• Radical - not necessarily something controversial, but "getting to the root".
• Religion - Most use this to mean external, spiritual traditions; but it comes from the Latin "religare" (re-ligament) which means re-ligament, re-link, or relate.
• Repent - "to change". (Note that it does not mean the emotion of remorse, though remorse may accompany it.)
• Rhema - A Greek term that translates to "word." It means "that which is spoken" and refers to that part of God's eternal unchanging word that is spoken by the Holy Spirit into the present moment. Contrast with Logos.
• Righteousness - From "right-wise-ness"; the state of being right or just.
• Sabbath - "Cessation or rest"
• Sacred - That which has been perfected by being dedicated to God.
• Sacrifice - "The act of offering"; giving 'til it hurts.
• Salvation - From the Latin "solace” —the ultimate healing. The state of being saved, delivered, or preserved from the effects of self-addiction.
• Sanctify - "Separated for God's purposes." This is the same root as the word for "saint". A saint is one sanctified. Although it is God who does the separating, sanctification in common Christianese usually refers to our part in responding to his love as we grow closer to him. See Justify.
• Satan - Means "Adversary".
• Savior - A "saver" or "deliverer."
• Scripture - "That which is written"; God's Word; the Bible.
• Seven - As well as the numeric value it also means "fullness or completeness". It is also related to the Hebrew word for "covenant" which could be described as "sevening oneself" or to "completing oneself" with another. It also relates to "cutting" or "severing" a covenant.
• Sin - From Greek, meaning "to miss the mark", like an arrow missing the target, implying misdirected love. Sin is more than a mere mistake, but rebellion to God (being related to a German word meaning 'separation'.)  The sinner defects from God's authority implicitly saying "I am the Lord." More than broken laws, broken relationships.
• Shalom - Not merely cessation of war, but full, harmonious, rich, secure, established relationships.
• Solomon - "Shalom."
• Soul - "Breath of life." The inner part of you that is self-conscious, containing the will, intellect and emotions. See Spirit.
• Spirit - "The wind." The inner part of you that is God-conscious (vs. the soul which is self-conscious). See Soul.
• Spirit-filled - refers to persons/groups that experience the Charismatic gifts.
• Striving - Pentecostal slang for trying too hard; relying more on your efforts than God's. Trying over trusting.
• Superspiritual - Slang for focusing on the spiritual to the unhealthy exclusion of the physical. E.g., praying for a healing when it's obvious God wants you to also see a doctor.
• Testimony - Sharing what God has done for you. Similar to Witness.
• Thanksgiving - from "thought". The outward expression of grateful thinking.
• Theology - Means "the logic of God."
• Theology of the Body - Means "the body reveals God." The doctrines related to how man images God, especially in regard to sexuality.
• Witness - To "witness" is to report/share what you experience of God. (Note: the expression "I have a witness in my spirit" means "I sense God inside me affirming something previously given.")
• Worship - "To bow towards and kiss" and revere worth or "worth-ship". Modern Americans tend to think of worship as mostly a cerebral activity, when in actuality the fullest transaction occurs when you also worship with your body (bow, sing, clap, raise hands, kneel, dance, etc.)
• The World - Two Greek words that translate as "world" mean cosmos (relating to space) and eon (relating to time). Christians usually mean the latter, as in "the people/values of this current life (vs. the next life)."
• Woman - Adam named her "woman" meaning "you are me outside of me."

Note: In Hebrew the change of a name denotes the change in the person's character and function, such as when Jacob's name ("heel-snatcher") was changed to Israel ("May God show strength"). Other name changes include Abram, Peter, Paul. Names that were not changed were Jesus, David, Solomon.

So there you have it!  Now at least we can talk the talk.