Church Words 

By Pastor Jeffrey Smith 

Have you ever heard someone pray in their “Holy Voice?” For whatever reason it seems this voice comes out in the most inopportune moments, like praying over a KFC bucket. You’re with family and ask someone to pray, and in an instant it’s, “Dear Father God, who ruleth and reigneth, from your place of majesty as you looketh upon us, we pray that thine presence drips from the heavenlies onto this humble abode and into these wings.” 

It can be intimidating watching somebody pray like that using words you don’t understand (and, more than likely, they don’t either). Often times, we can hear that “Holy Voice” and think to ourselves, “I just can’t do that.” We leave it to the “professional” Christians who know the words and the concepts and the Scriptures. 

We can get so uneasy thinking about what a supernatural life might look like, so we trade the possibility of the miraculous for a life that makes us comfortable. 

What if we’re failing to radically change the world around us because we’re scared of looking weird? You don’t have to use a “church voice” or “church talk.” You can do it in your own way, as a matter of fact you can only do it your own way, the way God has called you to do it. There’s a miraculous, supernatural-filled life waiting for you and all you have to do is say yes to the Holy Spirit.

Along with saying yes to the Holy Spirit personally, we are commanded to share the Gospel with all people. It is our job as modern Christians to be spirit-contemporary and to show the love of God in a way that people can relate. To be spirit-contemporary is to abandon this idea that we have to use church words all the time. In a generation where we communicate huge ideas in 140 characters on Twitter and the longest word some people use is kombucha, it’s our responsibility to convey the love of God in a relatable way without sacrificing truth. This is the only way we’ll see our communities changed and lives healed.