A cliché is “an expression so often used that its original power has been drained away.” If you spend any amount of time around church you will hear expressions that are unique to Christians, aka,”Christianese.” Phrases like, “what would Jesus do?” or “don’t worry, God is in control,” and the grand daddy of encourager’s, “everything happens for a reason”. Now there is nothing wrong with clichés but there is a problem when we know all the right things to say but lack the power behind those words.
When we look at the person of Jesus we don’t see a man who just smiled a lot and spouted catchy sayings like, “I’m Jesus and I love you.” And we never see Him tell a sick person, “I can’t heal you but know that God is in control and everything happens for a reason.” No, this is not who Jesus is. And as disciples of Jesus Christ our lives should to resemble His.
If you want to be more than just a nice person who doesn’t do bad things then this may be the place for you. My heart for this blog is that we can move beyond cliché Christianity and step into the reality of God in our lives. We are not expected to do this alone and that is why we have the Holy Spirit and each other to help. I’m looking forward to meeting my readers so please feel free to leave comments or send me an email.
About Josh Monen
Josh is a Christian entrepreneur who lives in Central Texas with his wife and 4 kids.
Hey brother, I’m excited about this new blog of yours and, as usual, am impressed by your writing. I love your paragraph about Jesus – definitely didn’t go around spouting clichés which might just imply that us Christians shouldn’t reduce Christianity to a bunch of clichés, even if they do express a certain degree of truth. May the Lord use you and speak through you on this blog for the good of His people and for His great glory!
Hey Matt, thanks for the encouraging words. I’m excited about this new blog too and I plan to post at least once a week now. Yeah, Jesus has got to be the most non cliché person who has ever lived. We have lots to learn as His disciples!
Hi Josh , Just typed in the question this morning about :How can a spirit filled believer be so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good and came across your website. The answer you gave sure cleared up what I had already believed. Only curious because I have been accused of being that.Thanks for your remarks!!
Hi Janice. Thanks for the comment and nice to meet you! I plan to start posting regularly again in 2013 (shoot, that’s tomorrow! I better get busy writing). 🙂
Jesus demonstrated the power of God… It wasn’t word only! When we demonstrate the power of Jesus working in us the father is glorified….