Lynn Jones: Improving our Christian vocabulary
By Lynn Jones
A commercial on the radio talked about how to have a great vocabulary. According to the commercial, a poor vocabulary is very harmful. A poor vocabulary can cause others to question your background, education, and even your intelligence. To alleviate this problem, you were encouraged to send money for a CD/book which could teach you 100 new, impressive words that could immediately assure you of a great future.
The commercial reminded me of a Bill Thorn story. Jack was home from college visiting his folks in their little mountain cabin. As he sat in the front room with his father, he asked, “May I tell you a narrative?” His father asked, “What on earth is a narrative, son?” Jack replied, “A narrative is a tale.”
Later that evening, just before bedtime, Jack said to his father, “May I extinguish the light?” His father asked, “What do you mean by saying ‘extinguish’?” Jack replied, “It means ‘to put out.’”
The next evening Jack’s fiancé and her family came to meet his family. Jack’s father wanted very much to make a good impression on these important visitors. Halfway through the evening, the old dog walked into the cabin and stretched out on the floor. Jack’s father raised his voice and said, “Jack, will you please take the dog by the narrative and extinguish him!”
All of us ought to work on our vocabularies, especially Christians. I’ll tell you a word that ought to mark our vocabularies. It is the word “love.” We live in a world that communicates with words and actions that are often abrupt and abrasive. The one who is the most aggressive often gets his way. Or, often it is self-interest that calls the shots in our lives. We often communicate with words that will advance our own selfish interests.
The Christian is under the mandate of Christ to come at it from a different angle. It is the angle of love. Jesus said, “By this shall all people know that you are my disciples—if you have love for one another.”
Or, it may be that we should dust off another old word—“forgiveness.” A seven-year-old girl wrote this letter to God. She said, “Dear God: We studied in Sunday School that we should love our enemies. I am only six, and I do not have any enemies yet. I hope to have some by the time I am seven. Love, Jennifer.”
Jennifer probably does not need to worry about such a detail. Given time and the nature of things, she will probably have more enemies than she needs by the time she is grown. The antidote for such a process is forgiveness. Paul wrote, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you.”
Love and forgiveness—now there are the beginnings of a great vocabulary!
Lynn Jones is a retired pastor who lives in Oxford. He does supply preaching for churches in his area and often serves as an interim pastor. Jones is also an author, has written two books and writes a weekly newspaper column. He may be contacted at: kljones45@yahoo.com.
