Evangelical Christianese

The invitation to become a Christian by personally trusting and following Jesus — often the closing line of a sermon, a camp talk, or a conversation about faith.

A friend you regularly and honestly tell about your struggles, temptations, and goals, who encourages you and asks hard questions — so you're not fighting alone.

The moment at the end of a service when people are invited to come to the front to commit to faith, pray, or ask for help — usually while a song plays.

Specially empowered or set apart by God for a task — and also, literally, having oil placed on one's forehead during prayer.

Confidence that one truly is saved and forgiven — the settled sense that your standing with God is secure.

A ceremony in which parents publicly commit to raising their child in the Christian faith and the church promises to help — used by churches that don't baptize infants.

Drifting or falling away from faith and its practice after having committed to it — usually gradual, often temporary.

Having become a Christian — described as a spiritual new beginning, from Jesus' words in John 3 that a person must be "born again."

A weekend or week away at a camp or conference center for worship, teaching, and community — for youth in summer, for adults on retreat — where a lot of Christians say their faith became real.

Living entirely inside Christian culture — Christian school, church, Christian friends, Christian music and media — with little contact with anyone else.

A church's formal process for confronting a member in serious, unrepentant sin — private conversation, then wider involvement, and, if it fails, removal from membership — with the aim of restoring them.

A brand-new church started from scratch — usually by a small team sent out by an established church, meeting in a school, storefront, or home until it grows.

Visiting different churches to find one that fits (shopping); or, moving from church to church without ever settling (hopping) — the second said with a slight frown.

The uncomfortable inner sense that you're in the wrong and need to change — attributed by Christians to the Holy Spirit. Nothing to do with a courtroom.

Dating with marriage explicitly in view — often with families involved, boundaries agreed up front, and casual dating avoided — a practice revived in some evangelical circles in the 1990s.

The process of seriously re-examining one's Christian beliefs — questioning what one was taught, discarding some of it, sometimes all of it — and, in "exvangelical," the identity of those who've left evangelicalism specifically.

Freeing a person from demonic influence or spiritual bondage through prayer — taken very literally in some traditions and understood more broadly in others.

Being deeply involved in each other's everyday lives as a church community — not just seeing each other on Sundays.

The devil — a personal spiritual adversary Christians believe opposes God, works against people (especially believers), and strives to hinder God's work of bringing humanity into right relationship with Him.

"I had a strong inner sense that I should do this" — an impression Christians attribute to God's guidance through the Holy Spirit.

A deeper experience of God's presence and power in a person's life. Pentecostals see it as a distinct event after conversion, often marked by speaking in tongues; other traditions describe it as ongoing.

Asking God for a specific sign before making a decision — from the story of Gideon, who laid out a sheep's fleece and asked God to make it wet while the ground stayed dry.

To commit to following Jesus — turning your life over to Him — usually at a definite moment, often in response to an invitation at the end of a sermon or event.

A call-and-response affirmation used in church and conversation — "God is good!" answered by "All the time!" — expressing trust that God's character doesn't change with circumstances.

How Christians describe a sense of specific guidance from God — ranging from a strong impression to a vivid inner conviction. Almost never an audible voice.

Be careful about emotional and romantic attachment — don't give your heart away too fast or to the wrong person. From Proverbs 4:23, mostly applied to dating.

A phrase meaning "I disagree with what you're doing, but I care about you as a person" — meant as a formula for combining moral conviction with love, and often heard very differently by the person it's said to.

A goodbye — "have a nice day" with a prayer folded in — wishing you God's favor. Common in the American South and in Black church culture.

A prayer asking God to keep someone safe from harm, pictured as an invisible barrier around them.

A filler word that Christians use constantly in spontaneous, out-loud prayer — "Lord, we just ask that you'd just be with us."

A Bible verse a person has adopted as personally meaningful — a motto, a promise, or a summary of their faith — often for years, and often printed on something.

Praying for someone — bringing their name and need before God. Nobody is physically lifted.

The way a person most naturally gives and receives love — words, time, gifts, service, or touch — from a 1990s Christian marriage book that became a worldwide idea.

A special collection, given freely and beyond regular giving, for a specific person or cause — a guest speaker, a family in crisis, a missionary passing through.

To show active, tangible care for someone — hugs, meals, attention, help, presence — especially to people who need it.

Half-hearted about faith — going through the motions without commitment. The criticism comes from Revelation 3, where a church is told it's "neither hot nor cold."

A written statement of commitments — to attend, give, serve, live by the church's standards, and submit to its leadership — that some churches ask members to sign when they join.

An older or more experienced Christian who guides someone in their faith — meeting regularly, teaching, and taking an interest in their growth.

An intense spiritual high — often at camp, a retreat, or a conference — when God feels close and everything is clear. "The valley" is what comes after.

One church with several locations — "campuses" — often sharing a sermon by video from the main site, with each campus having its own live band and pastor.

Extremely enthusiastic about faith — often newly so, and often visibly.

An opportunity that appears (open door) or falls through (closed door), read as God's "yes" or "no" about a decision.

Church activities aimed at people outside the church — service projects, community events, food drives, anything that meets neighbors where they are.

A Christian organization that isn't a church — campus ministries, relief agencies, mission boards, publishers, youth outreaches — working "alongside" the church to do things a single congregation can't.

The idea that Christianity is knowing God personally — a living relationship with Jesus — rather than following rules, belonging to an institution, or attending services.

The singing portion of a contemporary church service. Some distinguish praise (upbeat songs about what God has done) from worship (slower songs addressed to God directly).

A church's system for spreading an urgent prayer request quickly — once a telephone tree, now usually a group text or email — so that many people are praying within the hour.

Someone known for praying often, seriously, and persistently on behalf of others — the person you call when you need prayer that means business.

Continuing to pray about something persistently — over days, weeks, or years — until it resolves or until you find peace about it.

A guest preacher who fills in when a church's regular pastor is away — sick, on vacation, on sabbatical, or gone — and the arrangement by which churches find one.

The 1990s–2000s evangelical movement urging teenagers to pledge abstinence until marriage — with rings, rallies, books, and modesty teaching — and the wider culture it created, which many Christians have since critiqued.

A personal, daily time set aside for reading the Bible and praying — usually in the morning, usually alone.

Lifting one or both hands during singing or prayer as a physical expression of praise, surrender, or reaching toward God.

In some Protestant teaching, the moment when Christ returns and living believers are "caught up" to meet Him. More broadly, the cluster of beliefs about how history ends. Christians disagree widely on the details.

Having become a Christian — trusting Jesus for forgiveness and being rescued from sin and its consequences.

A phase of life — "a hard season," "a season of waiting" — understood as temporary and, in some way, God's timing. Duration unspecified.

Someone exploring Christianity who hasn't committed to it — the person a church hopes will walk in the door on Sunday.

A one-armed hug from the side, keeping bodies apart — once taught in youth groups as the "appropriate" way for boys and girls to hug, and now mostly a joke Christians tell about themselves.

A short prayer some Christians say to mark the moment they commit to Jesus — admitting sin, asking forgiveness, and asking Him to take charge of their life. Often led line by line by a pastor or friend.

A regular gathering of roughly 6–15 people from a church who meet, often in someone's home, to talk about the Bible, pray for each other, and build friendships.

Teaching considered correct, healthy, and faithful to the Bible. "Unsound" is the polite theological word for teaching that isn't.

Two related phrases. "Speak life" means say encouraging, hopeful, building-up words; "speak truth" means say the honest, hard thing someone needs to hear — ideally "in love."

A solo or small-group song performed during the service — as opposed to congregational singing — often during the offering or before the sermon.

The belief that there's an unseen conflict between God's kingdom and evil spiritual forces that touches everyday life, and that Christians are in it — fought with prayer, scripture, and faithfulness.

A persistent sin, fear, lie, or destructive pattern that has become spiritually entrenched — hard to break because it's dug in.

How many missionaries and ministry workers fund their salaries — by asking friends, family, and churches to commit to regular monthly gifts.

The story of how someone became a Christian, or of something God has done in their life — told out loud to encourage others.

A prayer for a safe journey — asking God to protect someone while they travel.

"Unequally yoked" (from 2 Corinthians 6) is the warning against a Christian marrying a non-Christian; "missionary dating" is the tongue-in-cheek name for dating someone in hopes of converting them.

A request for prayer about something the person doesn't want to describe — "please pray, but I'm not going to say what for."

A summer week of Bible camp for children, held at the church — mornings or evenings of songs, stories, crafts, games, and snacks, usually with an elaborate theme.

How a person lives out their faith day to day — their ongoing relationship with God, as opposed to the moment they became a Christian.

A church service on New Year's Eve that prays the old year out and the new year in — with deep roots in the Black church, where it commemorates the night before the Emancipation Proclamation took effect.

A modern church song, usually written in the last few decades and led by a band — simpler and more repetitive than a hymn, with a chorus and often a "bridge" that repeats and builds.

The band and singers who lead the music in a contemporary church service, and the person — often on staff — who directs them and chooses the songs.

The adult on a church's staff in charge of the teen ministry — planning youth group, camps, and trips, teaching, and being a trusted adult to a lot of teenagers.