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The phrase come-to-Jesus as a compound adjective is gaining popularity around the office. And fast. You almost always hear it in the phrase "a come-to-Jesus meeting" or "a come-to-Jesus moment." The meeting is an intervention, a dressing down, for some unacceptable or disruptive behavior or attitude. The moment is an affirmation of the desired behavior or attitude.
What I find so strange is that this phrase is gaining steam at a time when and in context where the referent is so foreign and out of place. What could be more removed from a tent revival meeting than a New York City office building? In such a context, any literal reference to Jesus would be inappropriate.
I wonder if someone will have a come-to-Jesus meeting about their use of the phrase "come-to-Jesus."
It's true that the western world has become, to a degree, uncomfortable with Christianity, rather as teenagers go through a phase where they're embarrassed at everything about their parents. It's not not as bad in the US as it is in Europe, and even here it's worse in some regions than others; for example, in some places you can get an awkward pause out of a crowd at work just by mentioning in passing that you first met so-and-so at church.
But Christianity is so much a part of our background that it has become not just a religious but also, to some degree, a sheerly cultural influence. Everyone understands a reference to Goliath, with or without David; most know what Daniel in the lion's den means; "epiphany", "resurrection", "revival", "tent meeting", "baptism by fire" and many other such terms are used in normal conversation without anyone necessarily thinking of Christianity per se. It may be a while longer before "come-to-Jesus meeting" is used commonly in the Bible Belt, but I'm guessing it's one of those cultural uses, religious in origin but not in intention.
Whether it's nevertheless a symptom of something, good or bad, I can't tell. I haven't heard the term much myself, down here in North Carolina.
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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