Vocabulary is Everything...

Words are powerful. How you word things can be even more powerful. (Take for example Barack Obama's constantly spewing rhetoric on everything from health care 'reform' to economic 'stimulus.')

I find the church today has cloaked biblical language and adopted "user-friendly" language in the name of 'reaching' people in love. We have disguised our love of this present age with a false mask of evangelism. Repentance, born-again, sin, hell, and a host of other words are off limits from our pulpits and lecterns today. We have found that sinfulness in the church is easier to deal with by simply looking the other way or sweeping it under the rug.

Instead of trying to restore fallen brothers and sisters spiritually we smile with our eyes shut. Instead of speaking truth to the backslidden we converse about the mundanes and abstract.

The Emergent Church continues to lead the way with refusal to acknowledge the greatest need of our world... the atonement through Christ!

Vocabulary has trumped truth and subtle 'word choice' has eclipsed honesty. With all the talk, in government & church, about transparency I wonder when we will stop deception by the twisting of words.

The following excerpt is from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass.

"...There's glory for you!'

`I don't know what you mean by "glory",' Alice said.

Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. `Of course you don't -- till I tell you. I meant "there's a nice knock-down argument for you!"'

`But "glory" doesn't mean "a nice knock-down argument",' Alice objected.

`When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, `it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less.'

`The question is,' said Alice, `whether you can make words mean so many different things.'

`The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, `which is to be master -- that's all.' Alice was too much puzzled to say anything; so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began again.

`They've a temper, some of them -- particularly verbs: they're the proudest -- adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs -- however, I can manage the whole lot of them! Impenetrability! That's what I say!'

`Would you tell me please,' said Alice, `what that means?'

`Now you talk like a reasonable child,' said Humpty Dumpty, looking very much pleased. `I meant by "impenetrability" that we've had enough of that subject, and it would be just as well if you'd mention what you mean to do next, as I suppose you don't mean to stop here all the rest of your life.'

`That's a great deal to make one word mean,' Alice said in a thoughtful tone.

`When I make a word do a lot of work like that,' said Humpty Dumpty, `I always pay it extra.'

`Oh!' said Alice. She was too much puzzled to make any other remark.

`Ah, you should see 'em come round me of a Saturday night,' Humpty Dumpty went on, wagging his head gravely from side to side, `for to get their wages, you know.' (Alice didn't venture to ask what he paid them with; and so you see I can't tell you.)"

And so goes our wonderland!