Deconstructing IHOP customs: Jargon

It is everywhere you go on the IHOP Missions Base. Terminology and jargon, completely alien to the outside world. You cannot escape it. You are especially vulnerable to its usage if you have been at the House of Prayer for more than a few months.

On any given day, you may hear a conversation that goes like this (disclaimer: the following depicts a theoretical conversation between two One Thing Interns):

“We had BURN class in the MPR last night. Corey talked about the raising up of apostolic witnesses and messengers for the end of the age. That jacked me up. I was so ruined, dude! I want to be a sent laborer, for real. But I’m so barren right now.”

“No, totally; Sliker was talking about the same thing in End Times class on Monday, remember?”

“Yeah, I was like, ‘Blast you, Sliker!’, because he made it so obvious that I couldn’t figure out how I hadn’t understood it before.”

“For real. And today I was in the PR at the six when Misty’s team was doing ‘dark but lovely.’ It was intense. I was just struck by the wisdom of the Bridal Paradigm in context to eschatology. Like, when the judgment series come, the Bridal Paradigm is the only way some in the Church will not be offended. I’ve got such a burden for the Church. I was travailing all throughout the GBF and the conference and the all-staffs this last week. I really feel I’ve been set on the wall of intercession for such a time as this. So I’ve just been crying out to feel the emotions of the L-rd like a bed of spices. I’ll up on the life lines tonight at the eight, pleading the blood over the Church. I’m going to do rapid-fire and small groups, since another core group is praying on the mic this week.”

“Oh, that’s gooood, that’s so good. I don’t really have a grid for this. I just have the longing to long. My jacked-uptedness is just insane right now; I need the L-rd to break in with power and strengthen me with might by His Spirit in my inner man.”

“Let’s go drink coffee at Higher Grounds and talk about the fasted lifestyle.”

“Okay.”

Now, it is entirely possible that these (fictitious) interns are not serious and are in fact having a jargon contest. Making fun of IHOP’s jargon, even as it slipped into our speech, was an endless source of fun for my internship. There’s just so much jargon!

Some of it’s derived from the Bible: “even now,” “for such a time as this,” “dark but lovely,” “sent laborers,” etc. A lot of terms are specific IHOP terminology: “all-staff meetings” are prayer meetings required for all the staff, and staff refer to each meeting by its time (the evening set that begins at eight is called “the eight to ten,” “the eight o’clock,” the “eight [to ten] p.m.,” or just “the eight”). Other terminology is a result of the senior staff’s vocal quirks: “No, totally” is from Dwayne Roberts, “grid” (meaning paradigm) is used by everyone, and Corey Russell is guilty of “gooood,” “jacked up,” and the killer “jacked-uptedness.”

So … why is jargon used?

The first question is easily answered, actually. IHOP has developed so much jargon because the ideas that are discussed within the group are often unfamiliar to others (or their take on an idea is unfamiliar). I don’t think IHOPers use jargon to be elitist or to pinpoint new members of the group. Rather, it is because most people don’t have language to talk about certain issues. IHOP jargon can be really useful to people who’d never heard of the Bridal Paradigm. In addition, the staff here has had to come up with their own terms for certain things, such as apostolic pre-millennialism (IHOP’s view of the End Times).

Still, the amount of jargon that people often pack into conversations is often ridiculous. Speak plain English whenever you can, especially when you are trying to support-raise. Not everyone understands what you mean when you say, “I’m contending for a breakthrough of Holy Spirit fire to fall on the city of ______ and create a reality of unceasing intercession in the spirit of the Tabernacle of David, that we may move in unity and partner with the L-rd in crying out for the Joel 2 outpouring, weeping between the porch and the altar for righteousness to be established in the earth!”

If you read that sentence and thought that it was eminently understandable to all people, and moreover that you should use it in your support-raising letters…

…well, no. You can pray that prayer on the mic, no problem, but remember: jargon should stay in the group.

What are your pet peeves in the area of IHOP jargon?