Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in the site oh Lord my Rock and my Redeemer. -Psalm 19:14 ESV
This blog series was inspired by two articles I have read in recent months. The first is by H.B. Charles, Jr. regarding the current state of gospel music (read it here). One of his main concerns is the infection of Word-of-Faith theology seen in modern gospel songs and the negative impact these songs have on churches who sing them. Having taken an interest in learning about gospel music, I can see what he means. Turn on most gospel radio stations and you will likely here some form of the following: “It’s my season…”
“My harvest is coming…”
“Praise him till you get your breakthrough…”
“Speak those things that are not as though they were…”
Remember that last one especially, as it will come back up later. The second article is by Kevin DeYoung (read it here) from a few years ago. It is a short reflection on a quote by J. Gresham Machen (remember him too) on the importance of definitions, particularly in the realm of theology. People are fine using particular words, but ask them what they mean and they get defensive.
Both of these articles have me thinking about words and how humans define them. Words need proper definitions in order to have a significant impact on the world. For example, MLK's famous "I Have A Dream" speech means nothing if the words do not have clear meanings that are known to the hearers. It could be stated that those who define words can rule the world. Just look at the attempts in our modern day to redefine marriage, gender, and sexuality. Jesus talked about the power of words and even stated that "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." But where do the definitions and ideas we assign to words come from? Scripture gives us a clear answer in Luke 6:45,
"The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."
The heart is the origin of the words that come out of our mouth. And the heart is where the underlying ideas we assign to those words ultimately comes from. Those ideas are shaped by what our hearts meditate on (see Psalm 19:14), and so ultimately our words are shaped by what we orient our hearts towards in our inner person. As Christians, we must orient our hearts towards the triune God. We do this by meditating on his revealed and holy word, the Scriptures.
However, because our hearts are wicked, we will try to twist God's word to reflect what we want it to mean. Remember that issue from the first article. Word-of-Faith theology is predicated on the idea that you can "Speak those things that are not as though they were." It boils down to "this word is going to mean this and I am going to keep saying it again and again and then it will happen." That basically turns worship and prayer into incantation and witchcraft (For a great critic of this theology in an artistic fashion, check out this poem by Jackie Hill Perry). Anyone who has actually studied the Word in its proper grammatical and historic context would never derive such a theology from the scriptures. Thus, the point of the second article proves true: "[Theological] Liberalism grows where meanings are assumed and careful definitions are eschewed." Christians must speak truth as it is presented in the text.
However, we must not be as "some of our rigorous 'definers'" who "lack charity", but must speak the truth in love. We need humility in our truth telling, knowing we are prawn to the same flaws as any other person. Remember J. Gresham Machen? He was one of the most prolific defenders of orthodox faith in the early 20th century. Recently however, a letter he wrote to his mother was discovered and showed Machen having a very negative reaction to integration in Princeton's dormitories. You can read a full analysis of the letter here. It is not uncommon for great Christian historical figures to have "feet of clay" and sins that we would rather not talk about. But if we are to be committed to the truth, we must have humility to present it as it is, not how we want it to be.
The point of this series is to present words and ideas that are common "buzzwords" in Christian life and define them biblically. The first article gave me the idea, the second article gave me the right heart attitude from which to write it. I will be covering words that I imagine many of my readers will use on a regular basis and challenging the common usages. My hope is to be wise and present truth but also to be humble and open to God's leading on these matters. My desire is to help my readers speak and focus on the things are pleasing to God, our Rock and Redeemer.
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