Written by Van Yandell
John 3: 16-17 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
Deacons in our church were assigned a deacon family. Each of the twelve deacons had one-twelfth of the congregation to support spiritually and in varying situations that might be encountered.
A lady in my deacon family was about ninety years old. She was in a local hospital and Margie informed me of her situation and she should be visited. As per Margie’s request I knew I’d better get moving. That afternoon, we were in the hospital visiting that very sweet lady.
We had just arrived when a nurse came in and told us we should leave because it was time for the patient’s “occupational therapy.” I was shocked to say the least. What were they going to train her to do? The words occupation and vocation are so similar in meaning I had trouble separating the two.
Was she a future truck driver or welder? Perhaps her training was in the culinary arts or computer repair. I was envisioning her as a carpenter or brick layer. As a former industrial educator, my imagination began to run wild.
The vision I couldn’t get out of my mind was her sitting in a Kenworth 18-wheeler, double clutching and shifting a thirteen-speed transmission with a two speed rear axle.
I knew this hospital had a good reputation in the area but to make a tradesman (woman) of a ninety year old patient was nothing short of miraculous! I was so impressed I was speechless (which is unusual in itself).
When I asked what her future occupation was to be, the nurse said, “No, it’s nothing like that; it is teaching her to hold her fork for eating and similar small objects.”
I like to learn new things but when the terminology is so abstract, I’m not sure that falls into the category of “need to know.”
Another term I heard in a hospital was “ambulate.” Am-bu-what? I wonder if that’s anything like amputate? Let me out of here right now! Ambulate means to walk or move. Perhaps you can tell that I haven’t spent much time in a hospital.
Terminology is specific and almost a trade secret or language in many professions. Having worked in the construction industry for many years, I find myself using words not commonly used in general conversation. A recent article described the carpenter’s use of the word “square.”
Attorneys, cooks, computer programmers and others have a language all their own. Words may not necessarily be different, but the meaning is.
In the church we often use wording that confuses those of the unchurched. The word “saved” is an example. If I was a non-church person, and someone asked if I was saved, I’d probably look behind me and ask “From what?” If told I was “lost,” I’d probably respond, “No, I know exactly where I am.”
We were hiking in Ocala National Forest recently. Bear droppings are referred to as “scat.” About nine miles into the hike we came upon a very fresh pile of scat. He was close (or of greater concern, she). A momma bear with cubs is a greater danger even though humans do not taste good (so we’re told).
Her purpose would be to protect the young and that means to Mrs. Bear, eliminate the threat; us! To “save” ourselves, we moved on out of the area rather quickly. “Saved” in the church means to be saved from sin by believing Christ Jesus was crucified for the remission of sin and resurrected.
While we could save ourselves from the bear by quickly moving out of the area, we cannot save ourselves spiritually. Eternal salvation is only accomplished by Jesus’ shed blood on the cross (1 John 1: 9).
Another example of church terminology is “give your heart to Jesus.” A missionary we met once told us the story of a little boy in St. Louis that came back with a knife the day after becoming a Christian.
When asked why he had the knife, he said, “I’m ready to give my heart to Jesus.” This young boy was an example of total commitment if one ever was.
“Fellowship” is another such word. In Christian terminology, fellowship basically means having a social time with or associating with other Christians. Fellowship is believed by Christians to be an essential part of the Christian life in that we reinforce each other in the faith.
“Faith” is a word used in Christianity that is a somewhat different. Faith basically means believing in something that in reality we have no way of knowing or cannot prove. Believing my car will get me from point A to point B is such a case. Even to believe my car will start is based on faith by the world definition.
“Faith,” to the Christian mind does not mean unprovable. We believe the Holy Bible offers substantiated proof of the reality of God and the existence of Jesus Christ as being the Savior of the world. There is another word. “Savior” has a totally different meaning in the secular world.
Prophesy fulfilled is verification of the legitimacy of the Bible. By the finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls we know the Bible is as old as we previously believed. The scrolls have been carbon dated to between 1900 years and 2300 years old.
No person could have known many of the scientific, dietary, medical or many other types of knowledge written in the Bible 2,000 to 4,000 years ago. Only our creator could have known. If you find this an interesting topic, run search on “Science in the Bible.”
Even the word “believe” takes on an extended meaning. To believe in Christ Jesus as our Savior and Lord is an emotional bonding not realized in one’s physical existence? Believing is an expressive response to our Savior’s sacrificial, voluntary death on the cross to redeem mankind. Ephesians 1: 7 “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.”
Redeem or redemption is an addition to these examples. The blood sacrifice is foreign to the unchurched world. A natural proclivity of mankind is to stop bleeding, not glorify it.
A Christian once asked me the question, “Are you being fed?” At first I thought he was asking if our church had potlucks. This was asked with the meaning of, “are you receiving what you need from the church and the sermons? Are you needs beings met/fulfilled?”
Such statements as “be on fire,” or “plant a seed,” simply do not compute in the minds of many. The list is long and this one is not nearly complete.
Jesus’ last words on earth instructed us to “Preach this Gospel.” Oops, there’s another word. Gospel means “good news.” In such a case, it is imperative, those to whom we present the Gospel, know what we are talking about.