Christianese

One of the things that really has been bugging me, and one of the main reasons I went to bible college (www.bcnz.ac.nz), is what I like to call "christianese".

Thats when people say such things as "just give it to christ", "i love you in christ", "rivers of the holy spirit flowing in me", etc. I mean, it really just doesnt make sense, and I feel its alienating to non christians, and worse, to alot of christian people themselves who dont understand it.

It seems to smack of a lack of comprehension to me. I mean, what does "in Christ" mean in the first place? It means to be seen by God as "in the right" on the basis of what Jesus did on the cross.
So when I say "i love you in Christ" I am saying "I love you in the "in the right-ness" that I am seen by God". WHAT?
Goodness... Lets try and confuse people.
I think alot of people when they say this actually mean "I really dont like you but because I am a christian I have to say I do". And that... that.. is.. well.. really insulting.
I think we should be more careful. We do have to love people. And that leads me to another bugbear.

People say quite often such things as "we should love God so much we have tears of joy running down our faces". WHAT?
Honestly, I dont think these people have any concept of what kind of love is required by God.
Sure, our relationship with God needs to be personal and intimate, but like a relationship with a wife (or husband) at the beginning it is all warm fuzzies and so on. After a while though, there are issues and things to be worked through and it can be a struggle.

Love is, you see, a state of being. Its a state of service, a longer suffering, patient, kind, thoughtful, selfless state of being and bears very little resemblance to "crying tears of joy".
Sure, some people might experience this kind of relationship, just as some married couples do, but for the vast majority this is not the case, not reality, and not even possible.

Love, in the God oriented biblical sense isnt about warm fuzzies and feelings of joy and happiness, its about a relationship that some times you might not want to be in, but ultimately you realise is something you can not live without. Its about communication, openness, selflessness, and trust.
Its about being real. Christianese isnt real. Its a load of waffley nonsense and it drives me nuts.

Rom 5:12-17 Sermon

I was hoping to attach this sermon to the post, but I cant so I will link it instead. Its right here