From the beginning, the use of language has been fundamental to what it means to be human. Other creatures communicate, but it is clear that only human beings do so with the intellect, insight, and awareness that expresses the deep things of God. As creatures, human beings are made in the image of God, unique to the other creatures that God made to creep and swim across the face of the earth. Both male and female were designed in God’s image, which is to say that man was created for the purpose of reflecting his glory throughout all the earth. In keeping with this concept, one of the ways this is done is through the use of language. As creatures, our blessed duty is to think the thoughts of God after him, engaging in what we might call “reverent reconstruction”. This means that we are not taking on ourselves the impossible task of creating out of nothing, because we simply cannot do so. We are only able to discover the meaning of what has already been made and reflect God’s infinite worth by using the existing material he has provided. Therefore, we receive his communicative revelation through nature and His Word and we, in turn use language as part of our reflective duty as image bearers.
Intelligible speech was present in the Garden. God spoke rationally in commissioning Adam and expected him to rationally respond (Genesis 1:29-30). This unchanging call of mankind to take dominion and creatively cultivate extends to the use of language and how we use our words to make much of God. And so, as Christians, we put our words to work for the King. We draw our strength from his written word. We are saved and renewed by His Incarnate Word made flesh, and we work as those who know that one day we will give an account for every careless word we speak. We must realize that our words inherently possess the characteristics of our God and there is a proper way to employ them. The words we use carry within themselves a meaning bestowed upon them by the one who speaks the cosmos into existence. He is the author of all meaning, communicating at one time through the spoken word, but now from this time forth and forever in the full and final revelation of Jesus and the written word (Hebrews 1:1-2). As we see in the examples of Babel and Pentecost, God is the only one authorized to give meaning to the use of language as well as take it away.
As we see all around us today, there is a way in which language can be used in a way that defies our Creator and seeks to usurp Him. This happens when words are not used objectively and truthfully, but in a utilitarian way. The modern redefinition of words is the indictable culprit for much of the demise of Western society today. Words are consistently and relentlessly prostituted, and their true meaning changed in order to accomplish the ideological ends of a zealous minority. Here are a few examples:
“It’s not subversion of the family, it’s gay marriage.”
“It’s not killing a baby, it’s reproductive freedom.”
“It’s not genital mutilation, it’s gender reassignment.”
“It’s not entitlement, it’s the demand for equality.”
In the midst of this redefinition, the Church has sat by idly and allowed the proper use of words to be ripped away from us by those who want their own definition of reality instead of God’s. Their universe is not about discovering a meaning that already exists, but a desire to create a new meaning and ultimately a new reality that sees them as the sovereign gods of their own destinies. The true perversity of this theft is that while we are the only ones licensed to properly use words that bring about the New Creation God has envisioned, we have allowed the postmodern/neo-marxist crowd of Nimrods to sneak into the theater of God’s glory and bootleg our material in a vain attempt to build their own utopia.
Enemies of God in their idolatrous hijacking of language don’t even give God the glory in the use of language itself. Their usage of words is illegitimate at best, and is an attempt to live outside the reality of God and the scope of His purpose. It’s time for Christians to take back language, and to reclaim the true and honorable use of the word. While man foolishly attempts to manipulate the spoken and written word to advance his own purposes, God accomplishes His will in the person of His Son, who is the Incarnate word, and He empowers his people for the task of Dominion through the means of his written word.
It is only when the church moves to begin changing the conversation by taking back the use of proper language that we will end abortion. Abortion is not a right. Abortion is not reproductive freedom. Abortion is not healthcare. Abortion is not terminating a pregnancy. Abortion is the murder of unborn children in the womb. It’s time to cut through political rhetoric and obfuscation of the real issues. Tell the truth, Christian.
