Words are powerful. For such a cliche thesis (“the pen is mightier than the sword”), I figured I’d hear more about it in Christian circles; on top of my weekly church attendance, I listen to sermons from well-known Christian ministers as well as podcasts on theology. In fact, we hear about it so little, that I was expecting I’d have to form an argument from the theology of how humans are different from animals, and what it means to be made in God’s image, or perhaps look for a creative interpretation of John 1.

However, the Bible is riddled with perfectly clear statements on what language can do. There’s so many references, in particular throughout the wisdom books of the Old Testament, that I’m genuinely surprised that the theme takes such a back seat in contemporary teaching. You can find relevant verses in the gospels; letters written by Paul, John, and James; in each of the wisdom books; and frequently through the prophets. Here, I’ve included two excerpts that I think illustrate the point from two different angles.

Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

James 3:4-5 ESV

A soft answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
The tongue of the wise commends knowledge,
but the mouths of fools pour out folly.
The eyes of the LORD are in every place,
keeping watch on the evil and the good.
A gentle tongue is a tree of life,
but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

Proverbs 15:1-4 ESV

The words we speak have effects on us and on others. They show what is in our hearts, and they impact others significantly with their consequences.

So examining my surprise further, I realized there’s two sides to the coin of my confusion. Certainly, there’s ample material to teach out of, but my expectation that there would be more teaching also came from my observations of what our culture needs to hear, and on further reflection there’s plenty of people who will tell you the value of being able to sell your story. So perhaps, rather than words being powerful, my argument could be more to the point:

Words are Defenseless

Put another way, there’s nothing stopping you from misusing words, even to the point that they become ineffective or even confusing in a conversation.

In my post on politics, I’ve already touched on the name-slinging that goes on in that realm, but I think it has enough examples for me to reuse it before getting to the real touchy topics. It’s also an easy target; I don’t think it’s a particularly controversial thesis that political discourse is rife with words whose meaning is completely ignored.

Many of these are words used to paint an opponent negatively, such as how Obama was referred to as a communist, or the definition of “cancelled” bloating to include any online pushback to create fear of some faceless crowd of (implicitly liberal) persecutors. Others are catchphrases, often used as bill titles or policy taglines, with the goal of creating similarly favorable soundbites. It’s easy to stir up engagement when a politician is opposed to something that’s been labelled “common sense” gun control. Similarly, there’s many bills that contain hundreds of pages of legislation that are unrelated to the tagline name; my wife is still upset about copyright law being strengthened in a 5,500 page bill labelled “Covid-19 Relief”. Even phrases such as “human rights” or “fundamental rights” have been used to reframe contentious topics into issues on par with life and safety.

All of these phrases are now charged. Their meanings are no longer contained in a dictionary definition – if their contemporary meaning can even still be concretely defined – but rather their use evokes a whole carousel of baggage. Words that were once useful tools have been beaten into weapons, and communication becomes a practice in avoiding new knives while trying to look for double meanings. I personally don’t use the term “evangelical” because it’s likely to read as a reference to a political bloc, even if my identity is closer to its Greek root of “evangelion”.

And that’s far from the only word that has negative associations. In fact, I think there are words being so beaten today, and I hope we can use the ones with extant associations as warnings.

The Words We Use

Though I think “evangelical” is one of the most heavily affected words, there’s a number of others in Christian circles which have negative connotations in the mainstream dialogue. These words have been associated with the actions of those that use them, often with a bias for the louder voices and the more news-worthy actions. Among these are most of the major denominations, probably a handful of leadership positions, and even ones central to our faith such as “church” and “Christian”. There are active discussions in the Church as to which of these words should be “rehabilitated” and which would require more work than they are worth.

Our Duty Concerning Words

While we don’t have a duty to words, per se, we have a number of responsibilities which imply a duty to use words correctly. I think this duty breaks down into two major categories:

Our Duty to People

As I’ve discussed previously, it is disrespectful of images of God to reduce them to labels or members of a particular group. Similarly, it is harmful, and even an act of iniquity when we discuss identities as if they were a homogenous group. If someone starts describing “inner city” people as violent, or “rural” people as bigoted, those associations will be the first thing that comes to mind when a listener encounters a member of the groups really being discussed. In doing so, we preemptively erect walls between listeners and other images of God by giving them preconceived reasons to avoid them. And perhaps worst of all, the person who listens to you the most – every word you say in fact – is yourself.

Our Duty to God Himself

Setting aside from the fact that all our morality is derived from a duty to God, we actually find in the Bible that there are certain duties to Him directly, such as some of the ten commandments:

“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

Exodus 20:7 NIV

Readers of the blog will know I normally use ESV as my translation of choice. My departure here is intentional, and it’s centered on the verb in the first part of this verse. ESV translates it as “take in vain”, which will be the familiar reading to some.

I personally find both “misuse” and “take in vain” to be somewhat lacking. The Blue Letter Bible entry for the verb being translated here suggests that a translation more consistent with other uses of the word would be to “bear” or “carry” improperly (BLB suggests “emptily” or “falsely”), which I find to be evocative. (While I don’t personally read ancient Hebrew, Tim Mackie of The Bible Project does, and he’s also a fan of this translation.)

To bear the covenant name of the Lord is to identify as His covenant partner. The imagery I picture is an army bearing a king’s banner, or an ambassador speaking on the king’s behalf. This imagery is used in the New Testament as well, such as in Ephesians 6 or 2 Corinthians 5:20.

With this duty in mind, this commandment asks us a simple question: how are we representing God in the world toady? I think it would be difficult to say that we, collectively, are doing a great job. Infighting between and within denominations, much of which is a struggle to handle the ugly truth of human fallenness within the church, paints a picture of discord and division. And as the same fallenness causes some to take a less charitable approach to a society which doesn’t share their views, these points of friction draw attention and shape the public image of the Church.

This compares very poorly with the image of the early Church. While the worst of our persecution – largely self-inflicted – is a judgemental attitude from those who have been wronged by Christians, the Roman government inflicted judgements of capital punishment on those who bore the same identity. Despite this, the early church was bafflingly generous to all in need, regardless of identity – a radical movement at the time. During the plagues that struck the Roman empire, Christians similarly showed themselves to be indiscriminately generous even of their own lives. (I learned about both of these facts from some of Dr. Timothy Keller’s sermons, but I also found this article discussing these acts.)

It is shortcomings like these which are the reasons why the label “Christian” has become downright derogatory in some circles. Though not every individual Christian is directly liable, we all bear the consequences as we bear the name “Christian”.

The Call to Action

Out of respect for God and those around us, we have to be careful with words. When we speak to others, we should be clear, and avoid double meanings or simplifications. In particular, I think it will take effort and time to move our society away from the polarization of flattened identity politics, and I think the Christian Church has a role to play there. Internally, though, we need to also be concerned about our own conduct. If we are to be persecuted, let it be for our unwavering commitment to do right by God and others. Let it be for our baffling mercy and our confounding love in a world trying to impose its rules of judgement and competition on us. When and where Christians fall short, let us have the conviction to hold them accountable rather than deny the reality of sin and iniquity, and let us give the victims of abuse no doubt that they are loved and have a space to heal with God.