Slang and the Church - Do they mix?

Recently, I was having a conversation with some folks about modern slang terms and them being used in the church. Namely, in prayer to God. Long story short, many older (not too much older) folks are just not "down" with the notion of using alot of the new, modern, "urban" slang in church. Such terms that turn them off are as follows:

DOPE (ex: that sermon was dope)

BANGIN' (ex: its so bangin' to see young Christians fellowship regularly)

CHEA (expression of agreement or excitement) Hmmm....is this the new "amen?"

GET IT IN (ex: lets meet after church and get it in with the saints.)

BEEFY (ex: she is a beefy sister in the faith (meaning that she knows alot about the word and/or has an exemplarary walk before the Lord)

BEAST (ex: That cat is a beast on the drums)

There may be a couple more but lets just start here. I must admit that I myself find a degree of discomfort with using slang in the church setting. While I highly doubt its an abomination or anything, I struggle with whether or not we as intelligent beings can simply do better with how we are with our speech.

I particularly remember one time, I was at a HHH event and in a PRAYER the dude said "God, you're such a beast, Lord." Having endured and been fine with slang in the urban church setting for some time now, I felt at this point that a line was crossed. What do yall think?

B

i'm of the school that God is holy... so, i'm going to approach Him as such, and that means (most) of my slang gets left behind when i'm in the church building or in prayer (especially in prayer)... now, if i'm just in casual conversation or doing some kind of teaching, i'll use a bit of slang, but i still try to keep things on an intelligible level so as to give the Lord and His Word the proper respect that they are due

lj.

This topic came up again whilst "gettin' it in" after Fourth Fridays. I agree with everyone who has posted on this topic here. I think there's a certain level of reverence that should be thought of when approaching God or speaking of the things of God.

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simply seth wrote:

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Uhhhhh, would you like to elaborate on that???? LOL

simply seth wrote:

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most profound thing i've read all day

lj.

What up, fam, God bless you

The other day God gave me the opportunity to witness to this dude, he used to be a "cholo", his mom is Christian, and he said he goes to church once in a while.. he lives a few blocks from my house, and there is biblical study center by his house, so he told me he once went there and heard the teacher using slang (mexican slang, of course).. and dude told me "why do they gotta use slang?.. leave that to us (the unregenerate) otherwise, they are not showing any change, how are we going to take him seriously?" and man.. (from my point of view) he is right.. how are we going to show the world the Lord has changed us, if we are not showing it (even in the way we express ourselves) I really never liked hearing preachers or teachers use certain (slang) words.. to me is not reverencing the Lord the way we are supposed to..

Good point, Chema. Everyone nowadays is talking about contextualization, or "becoming all things to all men," but I think it's largely misunderstood as to what Paul meant. I don't think Paul meant we have to dress, talk or act a certain way to reach folks, but that we needed to understand the culture and engage them where they are with their beliefs. A perfect example of this was Paul at Mars Hill. Paul knew what the philosophers believed and reasoned with them from that understanding. But, he didn't become them in the sense that they were relativists.

I think contextualization is important, but we mustn't seek to contextualize to the point where we believe it's NECESSARY, you feel me? We need to preach the gospel and believe in the sovereignty of God.

LaRosa wrote:

simply seth wrote:

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most profound thing i've read all day

lj.

I was finna say sumfin' .. but I chose not to

simply seth wrote:

LaRosa wrote:

simply seth wrote:

..

most profound thing i've read all day

lj.

I was finna say sumfin' .. but I chose not to

Please share with us, bro-ham.

Quote :

Proverbs 17:28
Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise;
when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.

I want ya ta think me smart