Word Power

 November 25, 2024

Tonight’s post goes back about a month.

When I was growing up, it was called Columbus Day, a remembrance of when Christopher Columbus discovered the New World. I can’t remember exactly when the name changed to “Indigenous People’s Day,” but the new appellation has been the darling of whoever has the ear of the powers that be. To call it Columbus Day now is to subject yourself to charges of racism, colonialism, and worse. 

I don’t have a real preference one way or another, but the change is significant in that it demonstrates the power of language to define our reality. We Christians should have known this, because “the Word” is central to our theology. People often say they want to see Jesus, but the predominant Christian revelation is auditory, not visual. God spoke, and the world came into existence. The prophets thundered, “Thus saith the LORD,” and John says of Jesus, “The Word became flesh.”

In everyday life, pay attention to words. Remember that whoever defines the terminology controls the conversation. Is the craziness of our world simply social and political operatives gone awry, or are there as the Bible says, demonic entities behind it all? Is the confusion and bondage of addiction merely medical and psychological, or is there demonic activity behind it all? And the unexpected kindness of a stranger—might it be the work of the Holy Spirit in them? 

Pay attention to how you and others use language. Words have power for good or evil. “May your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one” (Colossians 4:5-6).