By Steven Norris
Words matter. In a world full of misdirection, spin, and outright lies, words matter. The New Testament book of James forcefully warns about the danger of using words carefully. The spark of a word (or its interpretation) can create a warming fire as well as a destructive blaze.
Take the following exercise as an example. It comes from a resource on effective writing. By changing the emphasis on different words, the sentence takes on multiple meanings.
“I never said she stole my money.” Someone else may have said it, but it was not me.
“I NEVER said she stole my money.” I did not make the claim at any point in time.
“I never SAID she stole my money.” I may have implied or thought it, but did not say it.
“I never said SHE stole my money.” Someone else may have stolen it, but it was not me.
“I never said she STOLE my money.” She may have borrowed it or had been given it by someone else.
“I never said she stole MY money.” She stole someone else’s money, but not mine.
“I never said she stole my MONEY.” She may have stolen something else, but not my money.
One of my seminary professors used to tell would-be preachers and teachers, “It is bad enough to be understood, you definitely do not want to be misunderstood.” Most of the pastors I know are very careful about the words they speak. They agonize over ways to communicate the truth of God’s love in a way that will inspire people to walk more closely with Jesus and to embody his love to our neighbors.
Most of these pastors take seriously the Apostle Paul’s charge to his protege, Timothy, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”
Similarly, all students of the scriptures should recognize that meaning lies deeper than reading the words on the page. We must always read and listen with intention and curiosity, recognizing that the full meaning may take time to reveal itself. I would recommend looking up Billy Collin’s poem, “Introduction to Poetry,” substituting “scripture” every time Collins uses “poem” to understand what I mean.
Do not rush through morning devotions, but meditate on a passage, savoring each word and allowing your imagination to play with the language. Love the Word enough to see if there are deeper meanings than a surface reading allows. Pray, asking the Spirit to guide you to God’s heart. Then, to fully understand what you are reading, you must be willing to put those things into practice, for it is only in living the Word that you begin to understand its true meaning.
Words are a vital piece of the Christian tradition. From the opening chapter of scripture where God speaks to the world into existence to its climactic moment when the “word becomes flesh” in Jesus, words reveal something of the Divine love that holds the world together. Therefore, let us treat words — those coming in and those going out — with tender care, reverence, and awe.