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Re: [Worship] On Semantics
On Tue, 30 Sep 1997, Ken Davis wrote:
> Dear listers, as a brother rightly pointed out, we need to be careful about
> our debates in the area of semantics. May I just add that I believe this is
> an area crucial to our relationships with each other and with God. Heres
> why.
>
> God is a God of Words. He is THE WORD. By His WORD, all creation came to
> being. With a WORD He brings His will to pass.
>
> He exhorts us to watch our words, because they are powerful agents.
>
> When He wanted to disperse humanity, He used the agent of languages.
>
> Even now language is a barrier to human unity, not because they are bad,
> but because of our own sinful natures.
>
> I believe one of the biggest attacks of the enemy on the world is in the
> area of language. Many Christians are concerned about demonisation,
> spiritual warfare and the like. I believe a bigger battle is taking place
> in the area of language. Through relativism and political correctness, the
> enemy is working to rob language of truth and meaning. As words are the key
> to the gospel (Jesus' command was to preach and teach) we must not lose
> this battle.
>
> When we argue semantics, we are arguing meaning. Meaning is all about
> communicating truth. Truth is about knowing God, knowing each other, and
> making God known.
>
> Therefore dear brothers and sisters, keep struggling with the area of
> semantics (meaning). Try hard to understand what we each are really saying.
> Struggle to communicate clearly. Do not be afraid to grapple with the
> issues, for through understanding God's WORD, we understand God, in our
> limited capacity.
>
> Such understanding brings awesome responsibility, for that which we
> understand, we are committed to either obey or disobey, to submit to or to
> rebel against. Perhaps that's why sometimes it is tempting not to do the
> hard work of turning our thinking and world views upside upside down.
>
> It is true that the Spirit works to help us worship God in spite of our
> inadequacies, but let us never use this as an excuse for sloppy thinking.
>
> I hereby step down from my high horse and await you responses.
I heartily support Ken's call. We especially need to heed it in our own
"religious" talk. I have been dismayed at seeing words and phrases such
as "anointed", "authority", "spiritual warfare" and even "worship leader"
being tossed around as lexical spaghetti. They sound very impressive and
"super-spiritual": there is a temptation to use them to show that I am
part of the "in crowd", "one of the boys", "part of the club". But I
would suggest that every word we use should be one that we would know how
to define and how to explain, if asked.
Indeed, often when we use the word "authority" in a Christian context,
its use thinly veils a meaning which is the opposite of the "authority"
of Christ. A second example: the term "worship leader" is often used
about my "leadership" (power, rights over other things or people): the
very opposite of the servant model of Christ. We might even wish
to re-consider what "worship" means: see Amos 5:20ff!
Just a couple of though-provokers...
David Lee, Direcotr of Music,
St. John's, Nevilles Cross, Durham, UK
http://www.dur.ac.uk/~dcl0tdl/tdlmus.html
--
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