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Anita is having surgery Wednesday

June 21^st - SYS at Sugargrove

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July 5^th - SYS at Watters Road

"Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for believers in speech…" (1 Timothy 4:12).

We use words to communicate with each other and those words mean things. We have dictionaries that define words so that we can use them correctly. But good words are sometimes overused and abused almost to the point of becoming useless. One such word recently used in this way is atrocity. It has been used rather widely in the abuse situation in an Iraqi prison. What was done there was equated with what was done previously by the former dictator. While it affected our sensibilities, and could be considered abuse, an atrocity it was not. There are reasons for using this word in that context, but it is a misuse of a word. That is something that we see all too frequently in our society.

Awesome is a word that has been misused. "That was awesome!" What was? Anything that one wants to attach it to such as an outstanding play in a sport or a popular song. Jim McGuiggan tells an incident that happened to him after a speaking engagement. He was invited to a home for a little rest. It was the son’s birthday party. At the party a chocolate cake was served. After taking a bite of the cake, the boy said that "This is awesome!" Jim thought to himself that he liked chocolate cake just as much as anyone, but never thought of attaching the word "awesome" to it. When we think of awesome we think of God: "Our God is an awesome God." In using adjectives to describe something, let’s chose our words carefully.

Another word that has lost its meaning because of overuse and abuse is love. There are four Greek words for love, two used in scripture. Agape’ love meaning the seeking of the best of another and is the most used word for love in scripture. It is "our" word in Christian service. The second word is phileo which means brotherly love. The third word relates to family love and the fourth word is eros and is sexual love. Today the word ‘love" is used for an array of things such as loving good food, a good movie, a car, a sport, a craft, a television program, even an idea. Its overuse has rendered it almost useless and now requires us to define "love" in order for people to understand what we are saying.

Consider this word: liberal. This word is also overused and misapplied. We here it a lot today. In politics it is used to describe one political party or a certain mindset. What many do not realize is that the word ‘liberal" has changed over the last fifty years and though the one party is still liberal, there are two different definitions at work. In Christianity, the word liberal has remained the same. It means one who denies God’s sovereignty, that the Bible is inspired, and the miracles occurred, and that there are standards of right and wrong, sin and salvation (this is a basic definition). There are theological liberals out there of which there is no doubt, the Jesus Seminar being the most recognized. However, people use this word indiscriminately and misrepresent people. They take the definition and attempt to apply it to those who do not fit the definition. People are label liberals who believe that God is sovereign, that the scriptures are inspired, that miracles occurred, and that there is right and wrong. So why do some attempt to label people something they are not? While I’m sure there are a number of reasons for this, the basic reason is that it is a disagreement on an issue, a position on scripture, or an opinion. Simple? Yes but that is the way it is used. This is a careless use of a good word.

Of course, conservative fares no better. It is a good word and we are conservatives theologically. But it too has been misused. Many equate Bible conservatives with extremism and intolerance. Standing for right and wrong may be intolerant in the eyes of some, but there is truth and that needs to be emphasized. But in defining conservative, let’s not equate it with traditions or legalism. There is nothing wrong with traditions, we all have them. One is neither liberal or conservative because one does or does not do things in a certain way. Traditions are not law. A legalist is often thought of as an extreme conservative. That is only partially true because the politically correct movement, often identified as liberal, is very legalistic as well.

We all used words but we must be careful in the choice of our words. They do say things and people hear with preconceived definitions in mind. Sometimes people use words deliberately to cause a certain definition to be used and cause doubt about the person spoken about. Others are just careless because it sounds good or someone else has used them. It is frustrating for those labeled. I find it interesting that those who claim to want to be very careful to represent scripture can be so careless in the use of words. Communications is a difficult process. We must define words when used and cannot always assume that the one hearing understands what I am saying. Even in reading this article, you might not understand everything that has been said. Rather than attaching a label however, we need to attempt to understand what definition each is using and then understand what is being said.

There was a recent illustration of this in the cartoon strip "For Better Or Worse." The teen daughter is talking on the phone and uses a word "foob." The mother overhears this and asks what that word means. The daughter said it is a combination of fool and boob, "and it means like useless." Let’s be carefully on are use of words. We have enough problems without adding to them because of careless use and misuse of words. It ends up being a foob.

George B. Mearns