Worse Than Child Abuse?

Word abuse can be, and often is.

How we use words is extremely important!  And it’s rather surprising how many people do not understand this; words just exist, in their minds, 

Of course, most people would agree that it’s great to be adding constantly to one's vocabulary.  But to use words properly?  That’s another matter, as too well illustrated in the way we throw religious words around so they can mean anything we want them to mean.

Take, for example, a word, or some form of it that the apostle Paul uses several times in his letters, I refer to “Evangel” and “Evangelical.”  Properly used both are beautiful words that refer to one who pronounces the Good News”  or descriptively, to a positiveaffirmation as in the words of the Paul in the King James Version of 2 Corinthians 5:29: “To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.”

Unfortunately, and sadly, contemporary “evangelicals” have grossly misused the word's biblical meaning. For them, the word is often used negatively; “the unbaptized go to hell.”  Or in contemporary terms, “You are a bad (and evil) person if you have an abortion or advise others to have one.”

Where in such misuse is there Good News for the one pregnant who has been raped or for any number of reasons, whose life is itself in grave danger? 

And to take our question a step further?  What is the Good News for the person on death row, particularly for the one who should not be there because he or she did not have the funds necessary for hiring a good defense lawyer?

So it is, I strongly advocate a return to using “evangelical” properly, to say or write something that is really Good News.

You are a child of a loving and forgiving God!

I have written as an evangelical myself. Pray so.