When you share your testimony and you end up talking about yourself more than about God, it’s called a “bragimony.”
Christians love to come up with new blended words: from vacationary (vacation + missionary) to sanctinasium (sanctuary + gymnasium), and with plenty more in between.
In the opinion of a lot of Christians, especially evangelicals and fundamentalists, telling one’s personal story of becoming a Christian is a basic part of sharing the gospel with others. Sure, evangelism can often be as simple as quoting John 3:16 and explaining the Four Laws and the Romans Road, but theological concepts like those can come off as abstract and unrelatable to a non-Christian with no Bible background. On the other hand, if a Christian evangelizes by sharing his or her actual autobiographical story of becoming a Christian, then that real-life testimonial can often be a much more compelling reason for a non-Christian to believe that the gospel message could actually be true.
Each Christian’s personal story of conversion is called a “testimony.” In its simplest form, a testimony explains what a person’s life was like before becoming a Christian, how the person’s conversion happened, and what life has been like living with Jesus ever since. The idea of the testimony is that if God can change one person’s life for the better, then he can change anyone’s life. A lot of Christians practice telling their testimony over and over until they can deliver it to a complete stranger in just two or three minutes.
A bragimony, by comparison, is a testimony that has slipped into the fast lane without using its turn signal. A bragimony is less of a story of what God has done and more of a story about the good things the Christian himself or herself has done. There is an honest way to talk about one’s accomplishments while still giving credit to God, but sometimes that balance is hard to find, especially if the person sharing their testimony is nervous about public speaking and starts rambling.
What other Christianese blended words have you heard? Feel free to share them in the comments.