Mozaic Ministries
Right Words for the Occasion.
It is said that confession is good for the soul. So, here goes. “Hi, my name is Julie and I am a ‘Word-Nerd’”. From a young age, I have loved reading dictionaries and thesauruses. I am fascinated by the evolution of words and the morphology of their meanings over time and culture changes. For instance, when I was growing up in the 1970’s, the word ‘gay’ still meant bright, cheerful and colourful to a larger extent than its connection with homosexuality.
From my reading of dictionaries, I knew that the word ‘bloody’ had 2 interpretations. One was literal – something covered in blood – and one was more expletive. I clearly remember the day I noticed that my grandad’s bandaged finger was seeping blood onto the newspaper that he was reading. I was about 7 or 8 years old at the time. I stopped myself from saying “Grandad your bloody finger is messing the newspaper” – a statement that was true but open to misinterpretation as me swearing at my grandad. Instead, I said, “Grandad, your finger is bleeding on the newspaper”. Using the right words for the occasion – and the people present - is so important.
When I was 19 years old, I took part in a 1 year voluntary youth work scheme run by British Youth For Christ. I was part of a 4 person team based in a church in North London. One Sunday morning, Godfrey, the retired minister who was looking after the church whilst a new permanent minister was being appointed, preached from Matthew 5: 1-12. This teaching of Jesus is commonly known as The Beatitudes. Godfrey enlightened the congregation that morning by telling us that the word ‘Blessed’ at the start of each statement is an ‘ejaculation’! He even repeated that statement for emphasis. I am sure that you can imagine the looks of shock and surprise shared amongst members of the congregation. After the service, I took out my trusted dictionary and looked up the word ‘ejaculation’. Lo and behold, one meaning of the word ‘ejaculation’ is to ‘cry out or shout’. So, technically Godfrey was right to use this description for the word ‘blessed’ in Jesus’s teachings. However, realistically, it was not the most appropriate choice of language to use in a church service.
In these times of faceless communications – email; text; social media apps – it is more important than ever to chose the right words for the occasion and people we are talking with. An email to a colleague should have a different tone, including language used, to a text message to a partner. Shoving a tract in the hand of a stranger and telling them they are going to hell when they die if they are not a Christian is at best rude and at worst insulting - to them and to God. Your message may be accurate but your method is aggressive.
“The one who guards his mouth [thinking before he speaks] protects his life; The one who opens his lips wide [and chatters without thinking] comes to ruin.” Proverbs 13: 3 (Amplified Bible)