Pass the dictionary! ................ Parables 552

April 18, 1997

Confucius, the ancient Chinese philosopher, said if he could make the world right, he would do it by “insisting on the exact definition of words.”

What a task that would be! Many words and their meanings come to us unconsciously while we are growing. Each carries with it shades of understanding depending not so much on an exact definition but on such criteria as who first presented it, how it has been used, and the circumstances we associate with that word every time we hear it.

For instance, someone asked me if I had “met any Arabs on the beach recently?” He was referring to an incident in a novel, “L’Etranger” but my first thought was a story of the Godolphin Barb, one of the three stallions in the lineage of English thoroughbreds. My connotations for Arab did not match his mental pictures for the same word.

Another example is how we describe snow. Canadians use adjectives such as wet, dry, white and powdered to explain how a particular type of snow looks. However, Inuit who live in far more snowy conditions, have over twenty words for snow. For them, being precise is important. Their survival may depend on it, while ours does not.

Perhaps the greatest challenge for finding an exact definition would be the word “God.” How do we define Him? Do we use the concepts we were taught as children? Do we stick to what Webster says? Or does the Bible describe God in a meaningful, exclusive way?

Some would be quick to say that it is impossible to use mere words to define someone so huge, so complex, so much “other” than we know or can understand. That may be true, but the Bible does give us words and collectively, they do paint a picture of God. By themselves, they are not quite so complete.

For example, one of the most familiar is “Father.” Anyone raised by loving parents will attach positive mental pictures to this word, but where abuse is found, people may draw back from God simply because He is sometimes called our Father.

Adjectives sometimes help. One is “holy.” It means apart, separate, distinct, and carries connotations of being pure, wholesome, good beyond description. Yet there are segments of our culture that hear this word and think “holy rollers” or “holier than thou” and are turned off.

Another adjective is “Almighty.” This word describes a God that can do anything, a God of power that cannot be overcome. While this is true of God, some think of earthquakes and other violent natural disasters. If these are associated with an Almighty God, some will pull away from Him in fear or anger.

A third category for defining God is in His titles. One of them is the word “Jehovah,” a name reverenced by the ancient Jews to the point they feared pronouncing it lest they blaspheme Him. Because of that, the actual vowels between the letters and proper pronunciation have been lost. By its biblical usage, Jehovah refers to the “self-existing One” who is Lord of all, a sovereign God. However, some groups have adopted this name for their own title and thereby limited our mental associations when we hear it.

Perhaps the best way to describe God is referred to in Hebrews 1:1-3. It says: “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.”

If we take a good look at Jesus, we will know how to define God.

Culture Shock .............. Parables 267

May 15, 1991

Ordering in a restaurant is risky -- if the menu is in a foreign language. Shopping is confusing -- if the price tags are in currency other than dollars. Finding an address is perplexing -- if the streets have unpronounceable names. Culture shock happens, even on vacation!

Culture shock happens in the church too. Even exploring the Christian faith can be frustrating -- if the terminology is bewildering. Anyone who is new might be afraid to ask the meaning of some words that older Christians use all the time. Here are some examples:

LOVE OF GOD: not an emotion but a love that has no conditions or strings attached. It is expressed by sacrificial giving. God loves people because He is love, not because we are loveable. His love is an “everlasting love” that cannot be earned or deserved, only rejected. We reject it when we sin...

SIN: any thought, words, or deeds that violate the laws of God or His holy nature. (Holy means free from sin and without fault.) The Bible says: “There is not a just man upon earth, that does good and sins not (Ecclesiastes 7:20). That is, everyone is guilty...

GUILTY: the condition before God of anyone who sins, regardless of whether or not they know it, or feel bad about it. “For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet offends in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). Romans 3:19 says everyone is “guilty before God.”

CONDEMNATION: God’s justice demands that sin be punished. “The wages of sin is death...” (Romans 6:23) God cannot be holy and still allow sin... but He still loves us and wants us to be in a right relationship with Him.

GRACE: The love of God expressed through unconditional kindness towards sinners. It can be rejected or received through faith. Both grace and faith are gifts freely given by God. “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). This faith is in Him and in His Son, Jesus Christ: “...looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith...” (Hebrews 12:2).

FAITH: Trusting, relying on, believing in -- all to the point of acting according to what is believed and trusted. That is, faith is not a static “I know so” thinking but an active “because-I-believe-I-will-obey-God” lifestyle. “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). When such faith is placed in Jesus Christ, believing He died for their sins, was buried and rose again from the dead, the sinner discovers he has been redeemed...

REDEMPTION: The activity of buying or redeeming, such as a slave from its master. In the Bible, it means the action of God that sets people free from the power of sin that controls them and their destinies. This purchase was made by God with the blood of His Son. In other words, freedom from sin’s power comes at a high cost. His blood also purchased our justification...

JUSTIFIED: The action whereby God declares a person free from sin before Him. He can pronounce the sinner NOT GUILTY (even though he is guilty) because the penalty has been paid. Then He works to remove the sin so it no longer governs the sinner’s life.

BORN AGAIN: When a person has FAITH in Jesus Christ and is redeemed and justified, they also have been given new life. They are spiritually re-born. “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:5).

SAVED: Sinners who receive the life of Christ are rescued from sin’s condemnation. Christ took the punishment we deserved when He died on the cross, setting us free so we can enjoy a forever-friendship with God.

This is only a basic dictionary of “Christenese” but it gives enough to know what is necessary to become a child of God and a citizen of His Kingdom.