Every group or culture has their own set of code words, lingo, and group-speak. But sometimes I’m genuinely baffled by Christian euphemisms. This is especially true in relation to all things sexual.
When someone says that “Steve and Stacey are struggling with purity issues,” what they really mean is that Steve and Stacey are sleeping together.
When someone says “Ron is grappling with sexual integrity,” what is really being said is that Ron can’t stop masturbating to porn.
Most confounding of all is when someone says that “Pastor _____” is stepping down because of moral failure.”
Moral failure? Wouldn’t moral failure also include things like gluttony, out of control anger, people pleasing, being a workaholic, or just plain selfish? Wouldn’t moral failure include my own too frequent apathy toward social injustice?
Euphemisms make an uncomfortable fact more comfortable. So porn shops become “adult book stores” (what is an “adult book” anyway–War and Peace?). Prostitution becomes “escorting,” and strip clubs become a “Gentleman’s Club.”
What euphemisms end up doing is numbing our soul. When we replace the raw facts with an airbrushed, sanitized version of reality, we suppress the truth.
And suppressed truth can never set us free (John 8:31).
What are some common Christian euphemisms you have heard or used? Have these euphemisms contributed to numbness where there are uncomfortable realities?