4. ‘The Culture’
Oftentimes, we use “culture” as a boogeyman catch-all word to refer to anything about the prevailing beliefs or convictions of our day that we don’t agree with or that we believe contradict Christian convictions.
But using “culture” as a stand-in for “the enemy” betrays the fact that Christians have a culture too, as this list illustrates.
5. ‘Lift up a Shout of Praise’
Worship leaders, I’m looking at you. We get it. The song is over. You want us to cheer.
Similarly, “Let’s give God a hand,” as a request for applause needs to go too.
6. ‘I’m Not Feeling Called To…’
Listen, I just asked you if you would be willing to volunteer for the facilities setup team, not sell your house and commit the rest of your life to international missions.
I’m not going to guilt you if you’re busy or just don’t want to be on the team. Just don’t play like you had to run it by God first and he said no.
7. ‘Traveling Mercies’
Speaking of international missions, unless someone is about to embark on one, I’m not sure we need to incessantly pray for traveling mercies. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in a meeting or gathering at church where the request for traveling mercies was a feature—despite the fact that everybody in the room lived within four miles of the building.
I suppose that insofar as everything in life is uncertain and we can rightly come to God with even the most minor of requests, it’s okay that we would ask for traveling mercies.
But do we have to say it that way? (Same rhetorical question for “hedge of protection.”)
I guess what I’m trying to say is that if you’re done praying and don’t have anything else to say, you don’t need to garnish your prayer with a traveling mercies request. You can just say “amen.”
8. ‘Fellowship’
“Fellowship” is an interesting word because of its deeply meaningful roots in the New Testament. Translated from the Greek word koinonia, it is used to describe the things that Christians share in common with one another and with Jesus himself: the presence of the Holy Spirit, our shared faith, our shared spiritual inheritance, our shared mission and purpose.
It’s just that we almost never use it that way. When we’re talking about “fellowship,” what we’re really talking about is going to lunch or informally hanging out before or after official church programming.
