Humor,  Theology/Bible

You Might Be an Evangelical If . . .

Common Grounds Online is running a hilarious blog-entry titled, “You might be an evangelical if . . .” All of the following is an excerpt. I’m laughing out loud!

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If you say the word “just” more frequently than the word “Jesus” when you pray…you might be an evangelical. . .

(See John Stackhouse’s Books & Culture review of Paul Bramadat, The Church on the World’s Turf….

There is . . . a hilariously sober account of evangelical prayer practices that involve both the frequent use of the modifier “just” (as in “Lord, we just want to ask you”) and what Bramadat calls the typical evangelical mouth-click. He tries to interpret the latter remarkable mannerism:

Its location in the rhetoric is similar to and often follows the word “just”: “God, we just [pause.. click] want to thank you for your son and to ask you…” By implying that the speaker is unable to finish a prayer because he or she is overwhelmed by the opportunity to communicate with God, this sound softens the believer’s petition [which otherwise might sound arrogant].

2 Comments

  • RosieBoo

    Those are hilarious!

    Here’s my contribution…

    If a waiter asks you if you’d like dessert, and you reply, “Let me pray about it”, you may be and evangelical.

    Thanks to Dr. Moore’s wonderful post on Evangelical Effeminacy

  • Kevin

    That is so funny.

    I had to think about it for a moment, but I realized that I say the word “just” all of the time when I pray. I will “just” have to watch it, and I will probably laugh in the middle of a prayer if I do it publically.

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