Christian Terms in a Post-Christian Culture

There is a not-so-obvious disconnect between those who have grown up in the Church and the culture at-large.  That disconnect revolves around our language - the terms we use and the meaning behind those terms.  Most Christians, as part of our everyday vocabulary, use words that we assume are universally understood.  But, I have found that most everyone else has no idea what we're talking about.  

That has not always been so.  It used to be that when a "Christian word" was used, even lost people would have a sense of what the word means.  But, it was also true that the larger culture was radically influenced by Christianity.  So, "Christian words" were the culture's words.  No more.  

Now, I'm not talking about words like sanctification or propitiation.  True, the lost world doesn't have clue what these words mean.  But, neither do many Christians.  I'm talking about the little, common words that are the most basic and essential words in the Christian's vocabulary.  

I'm talking about words like sin and grace and faith.  We use these words all the time without ever wondering if the lost world has a clue what the words mean.  Even worse, the lost world can often have a false understanding about what their meaning.

So, if we really want lost people to know the truth, we have to explain what we mean when we use words like sin, grace, faith, hell, repent, etc.  We must remain extraordinarily careful not to remove these words from our vocabulary.  For, they are the very words of life to the dying. However, they are useless and even harmful if we don't ensure that their meaning is clear.

Make sense?