Articles
Words Matter
Due to the present flow of our cultural current we are getting a real life lesson on the power of words. Words have long been used to manipulate consumers. Most know to ignore the ad headline and read the “fine print” for the truth. Everyday products are rarely “New and Improved!” in spite of the labeling. A recent article told how to write restaurant menus to make food more attractive: “Tasty pan-seared Kolmar Farms cheeseburger with soft sesame-stuffed brioche bun, delicious roasted garlic aioli, crisp lettuce, fresh tomato, and red onion” = cheeseburger and fries. And “homemade” = cooked in the restaurant kitchen (“home” is a flexible term).
We’ve also read enough public confessions, corporate doublespeak and statistical charts to recognize denial, blame-shifting, excuse-making and PR drivel when we see it. We’ve even coined a word – spin – to describe framing a situation in the most favorable light.
Manipulating language to achieve certain outcomes – otherwise known as “lying” – is nothing new. When Jesus was on trial, the Sanhedrin “sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death … Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward and said, ‘This fellow said, “I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days”’” (Mt 26:59-61). This is not what Jesus had said, but the “spin doctors” twisted the truth just enough to prop up the predetermined outcome of the high court.
(Even as I was writing the above paragraph I received a scam warning from a friend about fraudulent emails).
But we’ve entered a new era of language manipulation in which certain words are prohibited and other specially chosen words are approved. I’m not interested here in a first amendment debate, although I would note that we are beginning to see why the first amendment is the first amendment. I am more interested in the moral and spiritual aspect of this battle, the blatant attempt to stigmatize expressions of moral purity and righteousness and the suffocating pressure to speak or write only what supports the predetermined “narrative.” So rampant and volatile has this become that I suspect most of us aren’t sure what words are “approved” and which leave us vulnerable to accusations of racism, misogyny, hate speech, _________ shaming, etc. The most innocuous or even well-intentioned words can be turned against the unsuspecting, a scene which has been played out in the public arena ad nauseam.
None of this would be an issue if words don’t matter, but they do. And Christians must learn to maneuver in such an ideologically charged age. We must focus on speaking truthfully and judiciously without compromising our convictions or inadvertently supporting false and damaging ideas and practices. Some thoughts:
Falsehood is ubiquitous. At the risk of coming across as an exaggerating curmudgeon, I believe that lying, misrepresentation and spin are the societal norm. But I’m in good company; even Paul felt that way in the first century, and he backed up his observations from a thousand year-old text: “They have all gone out of the way; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness … there is no fear of God before their eyes” (Rom 3:12-14, 18). And if you think it’s bad now, wait until AI gets going full-speed. We won’t have any idea what is legitimate and what is computer-generated fiction.
But the danger here goes beyond being deceived. The deeper concern is that we might take lying lightly because everyone does it. Let us not follow suit by spinning social media posts, using subtle words that mislead people or outright lying to make ourselves look better. Rather, “putting away lying, each one speak truth with his neighbor …” (Eph 4: 25). Everyone doing it doesn’t make it right.
We can be easily manipulated. Lest you think that’s an unfair observation, all sin is based on deceit, and that deception is designed by Satan to manipulate us into disobeying God. He is very good at it, and we are not adept at spotting the lies that play upon our desires and weaknesses. This is a real threat because if we are not situationally aware, we can buy into false notions that are immoral or unspiritual.
The Bible gives us an adequate history of Satan’s antagonism against humanity. In Scripture we see the best of men fall; we see entire nations built upon lies; we see harmful moral and political policies lead both individuals and nations to self-destruct. We must be discriminating and allow God’s word to be our guide: “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies … Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps 119:97-98, 105).
There is a price to pay for telling the truth. Illustrations of this abound – Jesus’ confession of Himself before the Sanhedrin and Pilate, Jeremiah before Zedekiah, John the Baptist before Herod – but perhaps we can more easily picture ourselves in the sandals of the prophet Micaiah (1 Kgs 22: 7ff). The scenario: The kings of Israel and Judah, Ahab and Jehoshaphat, have joined forces to war against Syria. The Israelite city of Ramoth Gilead has been taken by Syria, and King Ahab wants it back. Ahab, his advisors, and 400 false prophets are all on the same page: “Go up, for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king” (22:6).
But Jehoshaphat is not convinced, and he requests the counsel of a prophet of Jehovah (22:7). Ahab’s response is telling: “There is still one man, Micaiah, the son of Imlah … but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil” (22:8). Now, imagine you are Micaiah, and the king’s messenger comes to fetch you and says, “Now listen, the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king. Please, let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak encouragement” (22:13). What enormous pressure to “spin” the truth, to tickle the ears of the king! Anything to go along and not appear to be an extremist or “problematic.”
But Micaiah told the truth, and Ahab declared: “Put this fellow in prison, and feed him with the bread of affliction and water of affliction, until I come in peace” (22:27). Micaiah’s choice is increasingly our own: Will we sell out, or will we tell the truth and eat the bread of affliction?
