Growing up in an area where religion wasn't discussed much in school, I was unprepared for the theological conversations I encountered when I went to college. Religion was a major topic of conversation at mealtime and during other informal gatherings. My attempts to explain concepts from my own denomination, Christian Science, were often met with blank stares. I found that I was using religious terms in a slightly different manner, and that I spoke words that other people were unaccustomed to hearing in a theological context.
Each Christian denomination and world religion seems to have its own vocabulary and special connotations related to religious terms. Part of the process of understanding others is learning something about these different language systems. Otherwise, we're listening or speaking through our own religious filter and not really communicating with each other.
My first roommate in college was a junior—who had accepted Jesus as her personal saviour. She and I spent hours sharing our religious beliefs. And she became quite adept at helping others understand what I was trying to say in theological conversations. She would translate words that I used into terms that were more familiar to our friends. It was a valuable lesson for me in communication. I realized how important it was to my fellow Christians that I be able to answer questions in ways that were meaningful to them.
