The Word became flesh. But Christ used words to explain. Do you not understand? he asked. They could not understand his actions. So he explained and we have the benefit of the Gospels.

Don’t knock words. Words are eternal and encapsulate doctrinal truths. God uses words to pierce hearts and judge conscience.

It is not what you say but how you say it, how you weave the words to create the message and make your point. Sin,judgement, heaven, hell, salvation etc are as relevant today as they were 2,000 years ago.

Without words and language there is no Christianity. In fact without words and language there is no civilization.

We place way too much emphasis on language, when in reality… communication comes through many forms, not least our actions… the love we are expected to display.

The other difficulty is that one cannot live without word. Words are symbols. The Gospel is to be shared both through words and in our living because words are an important part of living. Of course, if the entire world went through one full day of silence, we mnight be astonished at how much peace we would create

I’m not arguing that we should not change our language; although I am not so afraid of words like sin or salvation or redemption when they are placed in the context of appropriate Christian living. Jesus and Paul certainly used their own versions of those words/ideas, but it was backed up by their living. Of course, the cross did not ultimately convince many people either. The difficulty is finding a language that communicates these ideas without losing the Biblical truth that exists within them.

All that said, I like your approach and it is an approach that I have been teaching in my own preaching and trying to model in my own living. Our actions must first give credence to our words.

I asked my self the same questions when I worked as a server in Center City Philadelphia and continue to ask myself the same questions working at a community center in West Philly: how do I best reflect Christ to my co-workers?

Sometimes people hear the word “Christian” and get freaked out because of the associations they have with that term. I completely understand why they would be freaked out because I’m often freaked out by the behavior of some of my brothers and sisters.

The approach I took is that I did tell my co-workers that I was a Christian, but also made it a point to tell them that I didn’t/don’t agree with many things that go down in the name of Christ and that I don’t agree with the way many Christians go about their lives (i.e. threatening evangelism and telling people they’re going to hell). I then made it a point to work hard, be nice to all my co-workers, ask them about their lives, talk to them about their problems, and show them that I really care.

Because of this, many of them have said that they never met a Christian like me. After a while they would approach me about questions concerning God, philosophy, morals, and/or ethics. Because I wasn’t a dick like most Christians are, they came to appreciate my opinion.

I’m not saying this to pat myself on the back, because God is the one who did this through me. I could have never done it on my own. I just wanted to give you an example from my experience of asking myself the same questions.

Whatever you decide to call yourself, I pray that your co-workers will not see you or your “title,” but, rather, see Jesus.