gengwall

“Based on what I have read and heard, the terms are not contrasted but are used interchangeably and sometimes in novel ways. In reading comp material online, listening to sermons, and in comments on this blog, I have noticed a redefining of terms and misuse of words to accommodate ideology. Effective communication is very difficult when words are not used grammatically and according to their denotations which were decided long before this conversation began.”

I second this. I was recently at a wedding where the families and denominations involved are observably soft-comp. As luck would have it, the sermonette was on Eph 5. Most of what the pastor said was just fine. But he mentioned “biblical leadership” in relation to the husband at one point. It is clear, what he meant, was male authority in the soft-comp sense (he had just finished talking about the husband’s “role” to “guide” the marriage). So, leadership and authority, in this example, were definately interchangeable. It is just that “leadership” sounds much more PC