Language and the Glory of God

January 29, 2007

Lar,

I’m thinking you are in full swing blogging today brother, but I’ll see if I can get a good word in here.   I don’t have time for John 1:4 although it is my hope and pray that I will get through a few verses in the next few days.  If the Lord wills….I will blog and do this or that.  That’s Scripture right?

Anyhow, I had a thought the other day (just one thought that is) concerning language.  As you might know, I hear a good bit of Spanish these days.  Most of it I don’t understand, but I am picking up on more and more.  It takes time and a great of focus.  Combined with my hearing a great deal of Spanish, I was looking through some notes I had on a Hermeneutics book I have to read for school.  Anyhow, at one point, the author said something to the effect that the point of language was to understand and be understood.  I liked that.  And in light of those two realities, I want to say more.

For what struck me was how central the use of language is to our human experience and to the work of redemption.  Allow me to state the obvious for a second:  we Christians submit our lives and thoughts and conducts to a Book.  Of course, we would call it the book, but either way, it’s still a book.  And it contains words and sentences and verbs and all that good stuff.  We read it and have the way in which we think renewed.  Then we begin to talk and act differently and our conduct and speech somehow–when combined with the conduct and speech of many others doing the same–changes the environment in which we live.  So we respond to speech that has been written in a book with lives that change the world.

But what also must be noted is the centrality of speech in the way in which we change the world.  Look at what you do:  preach the Word–in my opinion the most important thing in all the world (and that is not an understatement).  You look at speech all week (and blog a bunch of course!) and then speak about that speech.  And your speaking (combined with all the other great preaching going on) changes the world.  Or the combined speech of a bunch of preachers who failed to look at speech all week changes the world for the worse.  For then they just get up on their soap boxes with a bunch of shallow nonsense that doesn’t help anyone, but that’s another matter.

Actually, it isn’t another matter.  It’s the same matter.  The speech of the preacher changes the world.  America is now filled with preachers who speak little about ‘Bible speech’ and a lot about ‘whatever people seem to want to hear speech’ (an interesting term I realize).  And what is the outcome but a shallow Christianity and a sinking culture.

Also, and this was in fact, my original thought believe it or not, we must realize the degree to which we shape the world around us by our words.  The whole atmosphere of a room can be changes (for good or ill) with a few spoken words.  There is an incredible degree of power to what we say.  Thus, it is imperative for us to understand and be understood.  And to take seriously the Lord’s warnings that we will be judged for every careless word that we speak.  For by our words we will be justified and by our words we will be condemned.  That is some serious stuff.

There is more of course, but my time is up for now.  Let us labor brother to study the word of Scripture and speak the words of God.  And mind you that this isn’t merely for the preacher (although that’s huge of course), but this is for every human being in every sphere of existence (including pro-basketball players).   It is vital for us to speak in such a way and with such words that we help mold and shape the environment in which we live for the glory of God.  May the Lord have mercy on us and grant us words of power once again.  And may you, brother, be a man who studies speech and proclaims speech in such a way that others cannot help but speak about all they have seen and heard.

Speaking of His riches with you,

Joe

Posted by Joe | Filed Under Random Musings 

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