Thought for Today

Leviticus 22:32 You shall not profane my holy name, that I may be sanctified among the people of Israel: I am the LORD; I sanctify you,  

Psalm 6:4 Turn, O LORD, save my life; deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love.

1 Timothy 4:7 Have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives' tales. Train yourself in godliness,

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

We normally associate the phrase ‘four-letter-word’ with profanity. Admittedly, there are many profane words in the English language containing more than 4 letters. But, when someone says something is a ‘four-letter-word’ the idea they are probably conveying is that they consider it profane.

This morning, I awoke thinking about ‘four-letter-words.’ Not profane ‘four-letter-words’ but rather some of the most significant and meaningful words we use when talking about Christianity. As is often the case, my train of thought began with my thinking about history and its influence on the world in which we live.

Do you ever think about the history of our faith? I have mentioned before that “As of 2025, there are approximately 2.3 billion to 2.5 billion Christians worldwide . . .” (Bing search). Christianity has grown from the birth of God’s Son to ~ 2.5 billion followers of that Son. It is difficult to accurately ascertain the exact date of the birth of Jesus. We celebrate his birthday on December 25th and our calendar is divided into BC and AD, Before Christ and After Christ, the AD being an abbreviation for the Latin anno domini (or BCE [Before the Common Era] and CE [Common Era]). Differing scholars have argued the inaccuracy of our calendar, arguing that the actual birth of Jesus occurred anywhere from 6 BC to 6 AD. Irrespective of the accuracy of dating Jesus’ birth year, Christianity has grown from that birth to 2.5 billion followers of that Son of God in 2020+ years. Why?

History also tells us that initially the followers of Christ were persecuted following Jesus’ crucifixion by the Roman occupation authorities. The degree and severity varied by location and the whims of the emperor and the local occupation authorities, but followers of Christ were generally suppressed and discouraged. Yet, by the Battle of the Milvian Bridge (312 AD) when Constantine became the sole emperor of the Roman Empire “Most scholarly models suggest there were roughly 3–7 million Christians in the Roman Empire by 312 AD, representing about 5–12% of the empire’s population.” (Copilot Search) Why?

I believe part of the explanation for the explosive growth of our faith is due to ‘four-letter-words’. Christians use a lot of ‘four-letter-words’! Ironically, many of them contain more than four letters in the Greek of the New Testament. Christianity grew and continues to grow because Christianity offers a message of faith, love and hope to a world that does not focus enough on faith, love or hope.

Many of the words we hear in church are ‘four-letter-words’. We talk about our soul, ψυχή. We talk about love, ἀγαπάω as a verb, ἀγάπη as a noun. Our faith, πίστις, talks about hope, ἐλπίζω. So many ‘four-letter-words’, none profane, all importantly foundational to Christianity. Where would we be without those ‘four-letter-words’?

Often as I listen to public discourse, I notice the increasingly common use of profanity. Somehow, we have come to accept the idea that profanity deepens and emphasizes some ideas and emotions. Language that would have been rude, crude and ugly in my youth is uttered aloud all around us today. Even public officials use such language to add emphasis and ‘authenticity’ to their public addresses.

Each time I see and hear such addresses, and during this election year I do see and hear them (far too) often, I remind myself that not all ‘four-letter-words’ are profane, I use a lot of them in my sermons and my Thoughts. But I also realize that there is a substantive difference in my favorite ‘four-letter-words’. I remember Paul’s words, “1 Corinthians 13:13 And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.” Faith is more than 4 letters, but hope, ἐλπίζω, and love, ἀγαπάω as a verb, ἀγάπη as a noun are ‘four-letter-words’. Ours would be a better world were we to pay more attention to these ‘four-letter-words’.

Language matters, use the right ‘four-letter-words’,  trust God,

Pastor Ray