Do your words have good roots?

A strange title, perhaps, but words do have roots, and we should take care to appreciate what these are.  My wife, Jean, told me this morning about something that she listened to on social media, where the speaker was talking about God’s readiness to forgive – a good subject for a talk, obviously.  However, he stressed this by stating that there is even one place within scripture where God forgives an angel, referring to the first book of Enoch.  This is where alarm bells start ringing, as the three books of Enoch are excluded from both the Old and New Testament writings due to their unreliability.  However, the speaker in question was even more mistaken in quoting this incident, because even this book doesn’t say that the angel in question was forgiven; in fact, quite the contrary.  It turns out that this suggestion of forgiveness of the angel originates from secondary literature, not biblical.  It isn’t even apocryphal, but something even more remote from sound Bible truth.  Perhaps the speaker didn’t do his research conscientiously, or maybe he was not speaking from a position of Christian orthodoxy at all.

Sources

The point is that we can pick up ideas that originate from an unsound source.  There are numerous things that people believe that have no root in truth, in actuality, and this applies to us as well as to those who have no Christian faith.  For instance, many people have strange ideas concerning heaven: who (or even what) gets to go there, the basis for acceptance by God, and what heaven is actually like.  Maybe that is a topic for another week, but for now, I want to look at the words that we use.

Translation

It isn’t uncommon to find that our Bibles use the same English word for more than one word in the original language.  Love is a case in point – we may be familiar with agapé, Christian love, but philio, brotherly love, and eros, romantic love are all translated as ‘love’, with no differentiation in the English language.  Another word that is used to translate multiple original language words is ‘fool’.  We read Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:22b, where he says: “ … whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell.” (ESV).  The reference to insulting is the Greek word ‘Raca’, which also has the meaning of foolishness or stupidity.  This verse tells us that using this form of ‘fool’ to insult someone left the person giving the insult liable to be called to account by the Jewish authorities, whereas the second term for fool had a rather more severe penalty.  The thing is that this second form of ‘fool’, ‘mores’ in the Greek, infers more than stupidity, scorning the person’s heart and character.  To suggest that someone has mental limitations is one thing, but to imply moral deficiency is another matter entirely.

Meaning

I am telling you this because, when frustrated with other drivers, I have been in the habit of using exactly that word, mores, for which the English derivative is ‘moron’.  You might think that this isn’t good, and I have to agree.  God has convicted me about this, and so I now try hard not to use this term, and repent if I still find myself doing so.  We can be in the habit of using all sorts of words and expressions, without knowing, or else without paying attention to what they mean.  I put it to you that perhaps we are being foolish ourselves if we do that, if we say things without understanding what they mean, and from where they originate, their roots.

Roots

Every word and every expression has a root somewhere, and I’m not simply talking about where the word originates from technically – whether they came from the Greek or Latin, from a different European language, or elsewhere.  I am referring to the root meaning.  For instance, when speaking to Jean earlier, I knowingly mentioned ‘consulting the oracle’, to refer to asking something of the AI assistant on my phone, which I find to be a hugely valuable resource.  Most people will understand the use of the term ‘oracle’, but its root isn’t a good one.  The term relates to an ancient Greek priest or priestess who supposedly channelled messages from one of their pantheon of gods.  These legends have no place within our thinking as Christians – you may well consider that the whole idea behind them has demonic roots.

Luck

Perhaps the more common terms that we use, and I suggest should not, are around the idea of luck and fortune (as in fortunate), the two being related.  The whole concept of luck is alien to Christian thinking.  If we are in Christ, we know that our lives are in his hands and we are grateful to him for any blessing that we receive, whether anticipated or unexpected.  Similarly, anything that occurs in our lives that we may think of as negative has been allowed by God; there is nothing arbitrary (Matthew 10:29,30).  I put it to you that, as committed Christians, we cannot be lucky or unlucky; the very idea is alien to a biblical theology.  Fortune has similar roots to luck, being essentially arbitrary, the result of good luck (fortunate) or bad luck (unfortunate).  Fortuitous is similar, meaning leaning towards good fortune (luck).  See Romans 8:28; James 1:17; Proverbs 16:33.

Embedded

Whilst I appreciate that there may be many such words and expressions that are deeply embedded within our language and culture, making it difficult to avoid them, this is no excuse for complacency; we should seek alternative, non-religious options.  I emphasise non-religious because it does not serve the Kingdom for us to appear strange to the people we speak to.  Words and language are powerful things; although they might be seen as mere tools for communication, they are actually more than this.  What we say and how we speak are influential, both for our listeners and also for ourselves.   Have you noticed that other people take note if you avoid using expletives?  They may even reflect this in their own language when in your presence.  This is the passive influence of our language. 

Repetition

Some politicians seem to think that if they say something often enough, then others will believe it, even if it is not correct or true.  The words that we use can also influence our own thinking.  If we adopt a word such as luck into our vocabulary, we will eventually be led astray into embracing the philosophy behind this; we will start to think of ourselves as lucky or unlucky. 

Let’s aim to purify our language.  Is there a word or expression that you use but can see is not healthy?  If so, then think about what alternative would be better, making a start by determining to use this instead.

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”  Psalm 19:14

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