The Signifigance of Words

Just recently there have been a number of events, and not just the election, that have given me pause to consider the words that we use and, in fact not just the words, but more critically , the way in which we use them.

I plan to do this as a no names no pack drill exercise. Not to protect the participants but because they have little relevance here and I think that I am sufficient a wordsmith that I can use a real example in a hypothetical way.

Now it is essential that right at the outset I make clear that words have the capacity to build up AND to knock down. They can be constructive, destructive, hurtful, and be loving in the same word: most important they can always be misunderstood. I am aware of this as I write this piece of the unintended consequences of words, I do not intend to hurt but to raise our use of words to a new level: because we can do harm to our credibility as believers if we use words wrongly or badly.

I read a piece the other day where a statement was made that was intended to create an attitude of enquiry into a subject. You know the sort of thing; the question implies a possible duality of interpretation. Now these sorts of topics have the ability to create a dialogue which can lead to an opening up of peoples understanding of the topic. They can also become exercises in polemics where one side will vilify the other and vice versa, or they can be bogged down because someone fails to read the statement properly.

There is a positive outcome of such dialogues when mutual love and respect is the foundation of the dialogue. If that foundation is truncated the dealings become abusive and deprecating and from a Jesus Follower position less than honouring our master.

How many times have you made a joke, and said something that became prescriptive? I remember a while ago considering a new car only to find that in the next few days that the road was suddenly full of them. I don’t think that they suddenly came out of their hidden garages, in all probability it was the fact that I suddenly became aware of them around me. It is often the same with words that we use to our contacts and it is not always in the positive, sometimes we can attribute an idea to a person without even being aware of it.

We can also fail the test of relationship by the words we use within that relationship if we do not build each other up with affirmation. It is so easy. We assume that the words we use toward the other person are, in fact, being received affirmatively. It is only as that assumption is tested that we find whether we have been received as we thought.

As was pointed out earlier the words that we use can build up or knock down. They can also be used in a fun way that creates an awareness of things around us, and they can foster a sense of wellbeing or discomfort. as I read on Twitter the other day from Jonathon Acuff “Twitter is tone deaf. Be careful about trying to speak subtly on Twitter. Words can be misinterpreted very, very easily.”  

The problem for us normally is that we cannot afford to be subtle; else we run the risk of being misunderstood.