cli·ché (n.)
1. A trite or overused expression or idea.
2. A person or character whose behavior is predictable or superficial.

When I was in law school, I wrote a paper regarding the dilution of the Miranda warnings (you know..."You have the right to remain silent," etc.). My point was that the warning itself has become such a cliché that it's now just a fancy way of saying "You're under arrest." I argued that, at the very least, a detailed Miranda warning should be required. The original point of requiring the Miranda reading was to ensure that citizens are aware of their constitutional rights. Pretty important point. And if the words used to relay that information are no longer serving that original intent, then something has to be done to make sure that problem is rectified.

Clichés start out life as wonderfully informative concepts packed into bite-sized morsels. They serve a hugely important purpose. But over time, they can become diluted, they can pick up different connotations, or even begin to mean things that were never originally intended.

When that occurs, we need to take steps to re-appropriate the original intent, the original meaning.

The Christian vocabulary is littered with clichés.

Here are 7 of them, followed by my humble suggestion on how they might be re-appropriated. See if they work for you.

Cliché: "The Lord works in mysterious ways."
How 'bout: "The Lord works in cross-and-resurrection-shaped ways. Those ways are mysterious."

Cliché: "Can I pray for you?"
How 'bout: "What can I do to help? And if you don't mind, I'll be praying about it, too."

Cliché: "Just ask Jesus to come into your heart."
How 'bout: "Start getting to know this guy called Jesus. And just to let you know...it's a lifelong process. But along the way, He will become so real in your life that it'll almost feel like He's living inside your heart."

Cliché: "Satan is trying to X"
How 'bout: "I don't think there's enough Love going on vis-à-vis X. It's therefore bound to get ugly."

Cliché: "God is calling me to X"
How 'bout: "I can look back on my entire life and see clearly how it's all pointing me in the direction of X." (If you can't honestly say that, then God's probably not calling you to do it.)

Cliché: "The Bible says X"
How 'bout: "The guy who wrote X was so in tune with the truth of God in the world that a whole lot of really, really smart and God-loving people have given his words a special, elevated stature when it comes to expressing that truth. So it may be worth giving X some consideration."

Cliché: "Jesus loves you."
How 'bout: This one's a way-too-overpacked statement. There's really no good way to communicate this grandest of all truths with words. I mean, you can recite John's Gospel in its entirety, but that might take a bit of effort. In my humble opinion, the only way to relay this concept is to actually and actively love the person. If you do that properly, the words won't even be necessary.

Got any others?

Grace and Peace,
Raffi