Words Have Lost their Meaning

31 Mar Words Have Lost their Meaning

There seems to be an unsettledness that has gripped the hearts and minds of people in the world and certainly in America. Foundations that have been certain for so long have become unstable. Like walking on slippery river rocks in the smoky mountains, our footing is unstable. People don’t know what they can say, what they can do, and many are being super careful in what they are saying, even Christian leaders.

            I think some of this uncertainty is brought on by the redefining, or subjectivity, of specific words. There was a time when words had objective meaning. Its definition was clear and for the most part universally accepted and understood. It seems there is a plethora of words in our American culture that were once clearly defined and objective, that have now become unclear and subjective. Even words like boy and girl. Because of the increased subjective meaning of some words I find myself asking more questions than giving answers. For example, when someone asked me a question like, “Todd, what do you think about_______?” I usually respond with “what do you mean by ________?” I want to be clear of their definition before I give my answer.

            C.S. Lewis gives a great example of this in his book Mere Christianity. He tells the story of the word, “Gentlemen.” He writes, “the word gentleman originally meant something recognizable; one who had a coat of arms and some landed property. When you called someone ‘a gentlemen’ you were not paying him a compliment, but merely stating a fact. If you said he was not a ‘gentleman’ you were not insulting him, but giving information. There was no contradiction in saying that John was a liar and a gentleman; anymore than there now is in saying that James is a fool and an M.A. But then there came people who said—so rightly, charitably, spiritually, sensitively, so anything but usefully—‘Ah, but surely the important thing about a gentleman is not the coat of arms and the land, but the behaviour? Surely he is the true gentleman who behaves as a gentleman should? Surely in that sense Edward is far more truly a gentleman than John?’ They meant well. To be honourable and courteous and brave is of course a far better thing than to have a coat of arms. But it is not the same thing. Worse still it is not a thing everyone will agree about. To call a man ‘a gentleman’ in this new, refined sense, becomes, in fact, not a way of giving information about him, but a way of praising him: to deny that he is a ‘a gentleman’ becomes simply a way of insulting him. When a word ceases to be a term of description and becomes merely a term of praise (or criticism), it no longer tells you facts about the object: it only tells you about the speaker’s attitude to that object. (A ‘nice’ meal only means a meal the speaker likes.) A gentleman, once it has been spiritualised and refined out of its old coarse, objective sense, means hardly more than a man whom the speaker likes. As a result, gentleman is now a useless word.”

            I love Lewis’ explanation and of course he is right. Once a word loses its objective meaning and becomes subjective, the emphasis is placed on the speaker, not the object. And when you live in a narcissistic, self-absorbed culture, that is exactly what people want. They want the emphasis to be on their opinion on any given subject or person, rather than the clear objective facts about any given subject or person. This is what happens when people start thinking with their feelings, instead of thinking with their mind. The outcome becomes potentially divisive as words become defined based on the interpretation and feelings of the individual.

            There are words that have become divisive words as their definitions have become more subjective: justice, injustice, equality, equity, gender, race, church, Christian, marriage, sin, pandemic, history, conservative, liberal, politically left, politically right, freedom, truth, and many more.

            The subjectivity and redefining of words has tremendous implications for the church and the individual Christian. This cultural dynamic seems to have the church off balance. While these times may be exposing the lack of true disciple making in the church, it is certainly demanding a new conversation with how we teach and equip followers of Jesus Christ to stand firm in the midst of this cultural onslaught. We need our Christian leaders and pastors to define these words through the lens of Biblical Truth.

However, here lies the challenge for many followers of Jesus. We are seeing among orthodox evangelical leaders a division in how they are interpreting words and culture. The politically and racially charged environment that our culture finds itself in has created great confusion for the church. Politics, Covid, racial, and justice issues have divided orthodox evangelical biblical leaders like nothing I have seen in my lifetime. Respected Christian leaders can share very different opinions on some of these flammable cultural issues.

When you study Scripture and understand the strategy of the enemy, we see one of his top weapons is distraction. The devil knows the gates of hell cannot prevail against Jesus’ bride, but he can create distraction and chaos to divert the energy and attention off the bridegroom. Throughout history the church seems to struggle to stay focused when it comes to culture. It can easily get distracted and become like the dog in the movie UP, ‘Squirrel!!!’ And we go chasing after the wind.

The apostle Paul had to deal with many cultural issues in his day. The Gnostics wanted to overly spiritualize life, the Jewish leaders wanted to add circumcision to the gospel, the Romans were concerned about this new King challenging Caesar, and the Greek intellectuals argued the Truth. With all of the cultural noise, Paul stayed focused. “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).  “We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles” (1 Cor. 1:23).  Jesus also gives us great clarity and specificity of mission, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:19-20).

If you want to preach, teach, or talk about equality start with Romans 3:23, “for ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Red, yellow, black and white, we are all condemned in His sight. And yet, “God shows His love for us in that while we were ALL sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8) And, “EVERYONE who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” And how they are to preach and teach and make disciples of Jesus if they continue to be distracted and try to ride every cultural wave. ‘SQUIRREL!!!’ (Romans 10:13-14, sentence in italics is not Paul)

Jesus made it very clear that there is a distinction between people, but it is not on the basis of race, gender, nationality, language, or tribe. He made it very simple and plain in the parable of the net, Matthew 13:47-50. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

The many kinds of fish are a description of the many kinds of people: Germans, Irish, Chinese, Japanese, Tajiks, Italians, Greeks, Indians (from India), Africans, Brazilians, Spanish, Americans, etc. But in reality, there are only two kinds of people: evil and righteous, lost and saved, darkness and light, spiritually dead and alive. The lost will be thrown into a fiery furnace and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. That intense reality should matter to us (disciples of Jesus) and be enough to keep us focused on the mission. We have responsibility in both groups of the parable: Evangelize the Lost, and Disciple the Saved.

Words do matter and have real meaning, especially the words of Jesus. And we need to take Jesus’ words seriously. What He meant when He said them is still what He means today.