For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, in St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt
As a musician or as a computer-geek (I’ve done rather a lot of both in my nearly-forty years) as soon as I start using jargon I tend lose people.
If I say “We’re starting on the dominant first-inversion with an anacrusis on the third beat into sixteen bars of half-time and then we’ll double-up into the chorus” or “Check the boot order in the BIOS is set to CD/DVD first, and you’d better check the CPU temp while you’re at it” no doubt some people will understand but many people will glaze over, and grin, and call me something uncomplimentary. It’s happened rather a lot to me but I’m slowly learning that, if I don’t want to lose people, I have to speak their language, not mine.
Ok, there are times when I’m with other musos who speak my language and using the correct terminology is the quickest and most effective way to get on. And, sometimes, computer nerds talk to each other too. Using words. From their mouths.
Believe me, I do find the dumbing-down of language quite sad but, ultimately, I’d rather be understood than merely correct.
A missionary friend of ours is working on a translation of Galatians. He’s trying very hard to keep the jargon out.
I’m not going to give you a list of words I find particularly unhelpful, but tell me – can we avoid the jargon in our worship song-writing?
Should we bother?
Does it matter?
