Vocabulary Problems

W. Carl Ketcherside

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     "Abuse of words has been the great instrument of sophistry and chicanery, of party, faction, and division of society."--John Adams (March 31, 1819).

     Jesus did not come to earth merely to create an institution, composed of folks who are nice to be around. The tears which coursed down his cheeks when he bade Jerusalem farewell, and the sweat and blood which caked with the dust on his thorn-lacerated brow as he died on the cross give silent witness that there was more to it than that.

     Actually, his advent marked another decisive stage in a cosmic conflict. It was not the last event in the battle of the ages by any means, but it set the stage for it, and guaranteed that when the final trumpet blast dies away, victory will be on the side of the forces of righteousness. It is difficult for mere mortals to realize that there is a realm of darkness, inhabited by demonic forces, a kingdom of conspiracy engaged in a malevolent plot against all who have chosen to march under the crimson banner of the Messiah.

     In our sophisticated age it is popular to deny that there are intelligent beings in either a celestial realm or an infernal region. When man becomes his own god he has no need of angels or heaven. The concept of evil spirits antagonistic to a world of peace and order is regarded as a relic of an age of fantasy and superstition. It is a myth from the misty past unworthy of notice by enlightened moderns.

     Allow me then to announce that, in spite of all the arguments set forth by brilliant theologians and philosophers, I am unmoved in my conviction that there is a prince of the power of the air, and that he has at his command malignant legions who are desperately concerned with what is transpiring in our world today. We are not wrestling with flesh and blood. There are principalities and powers, a hierarchy of rebel spirits cast out of heaven because of anarchy. There are world rulers of darkness. There are malicious spiritual forces in the heavenly places. They operate according to the strategy devised by the evil one, responding to his orders and commands.

     The war which resulted in defeat for the insurrectionists in heaven has been transferred to earth. We are engaged in it, wittingly or unwittingly. No one who is rational escapes involvement. No one can "sit this one out." Jesus took upon him the form of a slave and was made flesh, that by means of death he might destroy him who had the power over death, that is the devil. He laid down his life that he might take it again.

     Although the ultimate decision is certain, the struggle goes on in unabated fury. Only man has a low estimate of it. The angels know the stress and the strain. The demons also know. It is war to them, war to the hilt, war in all of its stark reality, war in all of its destructive power and force and tragedy. The prince

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on the black horse is a master strategist, capable of plotting the end of a world made by the Creator himself. His slavish minions follow unquestioningly in his train.

     I have neither the time nor the inclination to set down here all of the means which I believe are employed by the forces of the Dark Brigade. But I do want to mention a few things of which all of us should be made aware "lest Satan take advantage of us." We must know something about the tactics of the foe if we are to acquit ourselves with honor in the struggle.

     After the second great world war it was revealed that Germany had printed millions of pieces of counterfeit currency to be bootlegged in the allied countries and placed in circulation. This is a device which has been utilized many times in the past. It is intended to demoralize the economic structure of a nation and create panic by destroying confidence in the government.

     This ruse is also applied in the spiritual realm where Satan's emissaries upset values by alteration of the terminology used by the Spirit. Language is the currency which is the medium of exchange in the domain of thought. To attach meanings to words which are foreign to their original implications is to undermine God's purpose. When God wanted men to scatter in order to populate the earth they sought to remain together in defiance of his purpose. It was necessary to bring about a confusion of tongues to separate them.

     It is now the desire of God to gather his people, but Satan, taking a cue from the episode at Babel, has kept them from all speaking the same thing by again causing a confusion of tongues. There is hardly a word of any significance which was coined or employed by the Spirit that has not been counterfeited or devalued. One of the most essential things in our day is the recovery of the vocabulary of the Spirit. This means more than merely speaking where the Bible speaks. It also entails speaking as the Bible speaks. Such words as church, faith, repentance, baptism, predestination, atonement, bishop and priest, have all been warped or twisted and made to represent a different set of values than that intended by God. They should be recaptured and restored to their proper place. Instead of that, well-meaning individuals contribute to the confusion by their injudicious usage of expressions which are alien to God's word.

     It is not my intention here to examine the wisdom of bringing pressure upon those who are entering puberty and are beset by strong internal feelings involving doubt, fear and developing idealism. To take advantage of pliable and plastic minds which are under the trauma of turmoil and force upon them a grave decision of vocation which they are not prepared to make does not appeal to me. One reason that it does not is because I have talked to too many who have grown older and feel that they were "conned" into something by undue persuasion.

     Some of these have come to suffer a guilt-complex because they found that they were not temperamentally or otherwise equipped to carry out an impulsive decision made in immaturity. And this is intensified by the thought that their emotional response constituted a covenant with God and they do not want to "go back on God" by entering another occupational field for which they are much better adapted.

     However, my chief concern here does not relate to the personal or psychological angle, important as I consider it to be. I

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am rather disturbed by the false concept of the kingdom of heaven exhibited by those who promote such things. To imply that Christians must do something additional to being born again to become "lifetime recruits" is to imply that those who do not do that something else are not lifetime recruits.

     The fact is that every child of God is a recruit for life and the initial pledge of allegiance to Christ, validated by baptism inducts all who obey into "full-time service." To have some Christians step forward and "enlist for full-time service" is to leave the impression that those who do not engage in such a public demonstration are not obligated to serve the Lord full time. I can think of nothing which will create more apathy in the hearts of the majority than to relegate them to the status of second-rate Christians by such methods as are employed.

     Every psychologist is aware that there are always some who will come forward at any appeal and volunteer for any task. Sometimes these are the least qualified. Others more modest and unassuming may have greater potential, but will shrink from any exhibition. But this is not the chief objection. It is simply that every Christian surrendered his life to Jesus upon acceptance of him as Lord and Christ. It is harmful to the life of the body to make it appear that some members only function on a part-time basis. Indeed, such a thing would disrupt bodily functions and paralyze the organism.

     To this it is objected that the call is only made for some to volunteer for full time "church work." And I answer that there is no such thing. What we call "the church" is the community of saints, and whatever I do in word or deed as a member of that community in the name of Jesus, is a response to the Spirit. Not only is the expression "church work" not found in the sacred scriptures, but there is nothing equivalent to it. The very idea is pre-Christian and stems from Judaism, under which one tribe constituted the priests who ministered unto God while all others were limited in service.

     Jesus died to remove such differences and distinctions. In Him we are all members of a royal priesthood, a chosen generation, a holy nation, and a purchased people of God. There is no distinction between clergy and laity. The word for clergy means "lot, or portion," and all of us are God's lot or portion. The word for laity means "people," and we are all God's people. All of God's laity are his clergy, and vice versa.

     It is true that we have varied talents and functions but one is no more important than another. The man who goes to Africa to teach black children to become literate, and to bring glad tidings to native villages, is no more valuable to God's purpose than one who labors all day at desk or lathe to support his family, and spends a night each week in the inner city ghetto teaching school drop-outs how to read and bringing the Presence into such an environment of dark despair and abject hopelessness.

     I know women who teach all day in a school room, and men who work many hours in service stations, and who take a part of what they earn from tiring and exhausting labor and contribute it to the support of families on mission fields. The apostle calls such assistance "a lovely fragrance, a sacrifice that pleases the very heart of God." He designates it as "the fellowship of giving and receiving." Those who give are "fellow-workers whose names are in the book of life."

     There is an idea extant that God calls men to the pulpit or to mission fields, and that this is "the high calling." Such an idea is without scriptural foundation. It was to the whole body of "God's people at Ephesus, believers incorporate in Christ Jesus," that Paul wrote, "I entreat you, then, as God has called you, live up to your calling." Our call is to be reconciled to God, to pledge allegiance to Christ. How we implement that call is up to us. All of us are called.

     We cannot all do the same things because we are not all adapted or gifted to do the same things. But whatever we do in honor to his name is part of our calling and we all need each other. Priscilla

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and Acquila were serving God as much while making tents as while teaching Apollos. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, "Let it be your ambition to keep calm and look after your own business, and to work with your hands, as we ordered you, so that you may command the respect of those outside your own number, and at the same time may never be in want."

     This instruction is sandwiched in between an admonition on brotherly love and a brilliant revelation about the resurrection from the dead. It is evident that manual labor and gainful employment occupies a high priority in heaven's thinking. The point is that all of us are God's ministers and we are ministers all of the time. A man who operates a garbage truck all week and speaks to a little country congregation on Sunday is not just a minister on Sunday. He is a minister every day and may actually contact more people out of Jesus while on his route than while in the pulpit.

     We make a mistake when we think that the only way to reach men for Christ is to deliver "a sermon." The word "sermon" is not in the Bible. Origen was the father of "the sermon" and the president of the first theological seminary. We overlook the fact that people may be won simply by observing how we behave. "In the same spirit you married women should adapt yourselves to your husbands, so that even if they do not obey the Word of God they may be won to God without any word being spoken, simply by seeing the pure and reverent behavior of you, their wives."

     It is true that the wife has a more constant and intimate relationship with her husband than one has with other clerks in a store, or with other mechanics in a shop, or with customers on the route. But the pure and reverent behavior can be observed anywhere and it is affirmed that men may be won to God by seeing it, even when no word is spoken. We are to be as lights in a crooked and perverse generation. Lights do not make a noise or call attention to themselves. They simply shine.

     Peter puts it this way, "After all, who in the ordinary way is likely to injure you for being enthusiastic for good?...You need neither fear their threats nor worry about them; simply concentrate on being completely devoted to Christ in your hearts." To be enthusiastic for good is the real need for our day, but this is not necessarily the same as going all out for some specific method or program of doing good. Let me illustrate the point.

     In these days of organized activity a special "calling night" may be set up and pressures brought to bear to get as many as possible to come to the meetingplace and go out in pairs to call upon unsaved persons in the neighborhood. Often those who feel unqualified for such activity do not show up, and there may be a tendency to think of them as slackers. This may not be the case at all.

     It is not my intention to speak derogatorily of such efforts. I rejoice at every person who may be won to Christ by whatever means. Yet it remains that a formal program may not be a proof of faithfulness but an admission of weakness. When men do not assume their responsibility naturally we seek by organization to coerce them into doing something through a sense of duty. However, neighbors may resent being disturbed in the evening by those who come simply because they want to make a report and add them to a statistical chart.

     And it is true that those who do not appear for a structured calling program set up by the chairman of an organization designated for the task, may do more good by simply being a neighbor all of

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the time. When a lawyer asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?" the answer in the form of a human interest story was simply that it was one who helped another along the road when he was helpless. It is possible that more good may be done by sharing in the burdens and problems of others than by calling on them because you drew their file card and they unwittingly became your clients by remote assignment.

     It is the very essence of our life in Christ that we be constantly concerned about humanity and the needs of those about us, regardless of race, creed or color. This concern cannot be turned on one night per week because that is the announced time for calling. Instead of setting up a program for a few who are already overworked why should we not rather instill in the whole company of the saints an unselfish commitment until they will automatically and spontaneously respond with compassion to every need in whatever way they can? In one place of which I know the man who had charge of the calling program would not speak to one of his fellow-elders.

     Certainly there is nothing wrong about a systematic canvass of a neighborhood to solicit opportunities to talk with others about the meaning of Jesus in our lives, nor is there anything wrong about having a calling program. But to go reluctantly to engage in such work simply because of a fear that one will be thought disloyal, and to regard as unworthy those who may seek to influence others in a different way and at other times, is not an especially Christian attitude.

     We need to be cautious about activities dreamed up and drummed up by men in authority and saddled upon all of the saints without their previous knowledge or consent. It is very easy for men who are extroverts to promote a scheme which they think will "enhance the image of the church," and to make those who are not qualified to push it, feel like second-class citizens of the kingdom if they do not actively participate. Some of the most effective service is rendered to our Lord by those who simply go on quietly sharing daily with those who are burdened by the demands of life.

     As I view it, one of the most unspiritual manifestations of the institutional church is its crass manipulation of human beings in such a manner as to promote the ends of the organization. Man was not made for the church, but the church was made for man. Too often this is reversed and men are valued according to what they contribute to the power structure. The "church" forgets that it is on earth to serve, and becomes imbued with the idea that it exists to be served.

     We live in an age of rivalry and competition. We are part of a success-oriented society. This is a time when that which counts is limited to the data which can be fed into a computer. We are caught up in "the numbers racket." In such a culture men are reduced to statistics. The nose count becomes more important than the heart throb.

     We are becoming accustomed to the pranks played by those on the college campus who seek to overcome their boredom by devious methods involved in getting "the most" into something. Once it was seeing who could swallow the most live goldfish, then who could pile the most persons into a telephone booth, and finally who could cram the greatest number of people into a Volkswagen. It is apparent that our own image-formers are

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not wholly anti-intellectual. They are willing to learn at least some things from those on the college campus.

     Along the same line may be noted the current procedure in holding what one segment calls "revivals" but which another carefully designates "gospel meetings." A good case may be made out that both are mistaken in their designations. It is a frequent procedure to engage in an intensive visitation program a week or more in advance and get the prospects to commit themselves to "go forward" at the invitation on the first day. This "saving up" of converts creates a mass appeal and makes the visiting preacher look good.

     Actually this amounts to skillful manipulation of men for whom Jesus died in order to adorn the organizational image. There is some indication in our day that people are tired of being pawns. In our age of increasing knowledge they can see through the schemes devised to make the church and the preacher appear to be something which they may not be. I am not a prophet but I predict that it will become increasingly more difficult to get people "down the aisle." For those who become discouraged at such a prospect we point out that this has no real relationship to getting them into the Christ.

     The burden of our message in this article may be summarized in the following points.

     1. Almost every word employed by the Holy Spirit through the envoys of Christ has been abused and given a misleading connotation in our generation. It should be one of our tasks to rescue the terminology from error and restore it to its proper place so that it will once more communicate the thought of God.

     2. We need to emphasize that every Christian is a life recruit in real service for Jesus. Every one is a member of the body, a living part of a vital organism, in whatever circumstances he finds himself. Jesus was the Son of God while attending weddings, visiting friends, presiding at a fish fry, walking through a wheat field, or riding a donkey into town. And we are God's children wherever we are.

     3. We must abandon our unscriptural and misleading distinctions which perpetuate the idea that life is compartmentalized into tidy little boxes called "secular" and "spiritual." No labor is secular labor when performed by a Christan, for God is there. And his presence sanctifies the place. A man who works with his own hands is obeying God as surely as one who spends his time preaching, supported by those who engage in manual labor.

     4. The "high calling of God" is not to a special few to enter a pulpit and talk down to those who sit in orderly pews before them. Instead, it is the call to all to come into Christ and then go into a disorderly world of sin and shame as He did. It is not to shut ourselves off from all temptations, but to be tempted in all points as he was, and yet to be without sin.

     Our "churches" are too often "heavens" of our own construction where we imagine that we can dwell with God aloof from the world. But Jesus left heaven to penetrate the world of mankind. If we will follow him we must get the salt out of the shaker, the dynamite out of the box, the leaven out of the refrigerator, and the bushel off the lampstand.

     5. There must be a recognition that we cannot all do the same thing in the same way, but that whatever we can do we must do, and we are all important to the body. The hand cannot do the work of the foot, nor the ear the work of the eye. We tend to emphasize and even glorify the speaking function, but Paul might ask us, "After all, if the body were all mouth, for example, where would be the sense of hearing? Or if it were all tongue where would be the sight?" He would no doubt remind us that "God appointed each limb and organ to its own place in the body, as he chose."

     6. We must avoid the conclusion that the only way men can function is through organized activity or by a program conceived in the minds of a few and then "sold" to the congregations. A program is a tool, and it may or way not be a good one. It always appears good to its inven-

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tor for one loves a brain-child as he does a natural child. But programs, like all other human expedients and devices, are expendable. They are not absolutes. The essential thing is to get the job done for the Master. No one else can do the work which I am obligated to do, nor can I do the work of any other. We can plan and work together in many areas but one need not join me in every enterprise to be faithful to God's design for his life. We must allow freedom for all to work as they are able to do so under his authority.

     7. We should examine our hearts constantly and very carefully to determine if we are motivated by a spirit of sectarian rivalry. This is one of the most subtle weapons in the arsenal of Satan. There is ever a danger that we will use the church, the gospel, or even the souls of men, to elevate ourselves into positions of prominence. I am sure that this temptation gripped me during a lot of my earlier life. I rationalized that I was serving Jesus when really I was concerned about my own image in the faction which constituted our miniature universe and which we conceived of as exhausting the possibilities of the kingdom of heaven.

     I have come to realize that the sectarian spirit breeds dishonesty and cowardice. The party elevates one into prominence because it can glory in his ability, which often is very insignificant when seen objectively. Most of us are egocentric and selfish, and we can be easily led to prostitute our talents if others fawn upon us. We deceive ourselves and project a false image, even concealing our real feelings, in order not to jeopardize our standing. Our braggadocio and strutting may serve to conceal our own emptiness and insecurity.

     What a thrill it is to be knocked down by the light and arise to realize that all of your past values are flushed down the drain by a crimson stream of blood. When the scales fall from your eyes and you can see men as God sees them, you are free from your crying human need to be sure that your mask is on straight and that your halo rides at the right angle. You do not even need to smile if your heart is breaking. You can cry and not be ashamed.

     One of the greatest things we can do for our brethren is to lift from their backs the yoke of sham and pretence which the factional spirit with its masquerade and mummery forces them to wear. Let us free men to be real, to love and cherish as their hearts yearn to do. "Why do you now provoke God by laying on the shoulders of these a yoke which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear?" I want to dedicate my life to lifting and smashing yokes hewn by men to saddle as burdens upon their brethren, for "God who can read men's minds, showed his approval of them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, as he did to us" (Acts 15:8). Turn God's people loose!

     8. Finally, we must cease to think of our brethren as cogs to keep the wheels turning. While it is true that by love we are to serve one another, it is not true that God intended for men to become serfs or vassals of a mere institution. There is no indication that service is to be commanded under threat. We are not puppets dangling on a string which can be yanked from a remote office. We are not expected to dance to the tune of self-appointed pipers.

     The fact is that the welfare of man is the chief concern of heaven. All ordinances, orders and arrangements have been given, not as ends in themselves, but because they contribute to this greater end. Man was not made for the sabbath, but the sabbath was made for man. And the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath. This means that we must think of the body of Christ as having come to serve and not to be served. Jesus did not suffer to create an institution to provide authoritative positions for a chosen few. He died for men, for sinners. And whatever offices and functions are among us must be utilized for the common good.

     The apostles were first in God's arrangement, yet Paul wrote, "Do not think we are dictating the terms of your faith; your hold on the faith is secure enough.

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We are working with you for your own happiness." He asked the question which all of us should ask. "For what point is there in my depressing the very people who can give me such joy?" (2 Corinthians 2:2).