Published: October 23, 2009 07:26 pm         

THE JOY LADY: Five intelligible words — sin, sacrifice, once, for all

TERRE HAUTE — I pulled up to the little black box and waited for a faceless voice to ask for my order. I was fishing around in my billfold for money when I heard, “Welcome to Booger King. Can I help you?” I couldn’t help it. I burst out laughing. Not getting a response from me, he asked again, a bit louder. “Welcome to Booger King. Can I help you?” I was able to control myself long enough to tell him I wanted a large diet coke. No sandwiches for me, please. Not here, anyway. I shuddered to think how a sandwich made of kingly boogers would look, let alone how it would taste! Chuckling to myself, I resisted the impulse to correct the young man’s pronunciation, just in case he sickened some other unsuspecting customer. (It would do well for B.K. employees to remember that burgers come from cows. Boogers most decidedly do not!)

A number of years ago, I sat through an entire Sunday School hour listening to the teacher explain that we needed to set golds for ourselves. The number one gold we should have would be to lead our families and friends to Christ. Another gold we should keep uppermost is to live a Christ-like life. Each time he spoke of golds, I wanted to shout: “Goals. The word is goals!”

Granted, some people say they don’t feel comfortable speaking around me. They know I teach English and writing classes, and most know that I do a bit of writing as well. I must confess, it is rather difficult for me to keep from correcting common grammar goofs that pop up in everyday conversations. I have to bite my tongue when participles dangle, pronouns don’t have an antecedent, and subjects and verbs don’t agree.

Mispronounced words have a different effect on me. They make me laugh. When I hear someone’s rough has a leak, I know they mean roof. When I hear someone ask what is playing at the theeater, I know they mean theater. Ask me for a nakin and I will hand you a napkin. And if you oral the hinge on my backdoor, I know you will need to use oil to get the job done.

There’s a fabulous hymn in most of our hymn books. With meaning, the song proclaims that if we are covered in the blood of the sacrificial lamb, we know that when God sees us, he is looking through the filter of the blood of his son, Jesus. That blood washes away our sin. Washes — not warshes.

People often say that they don’t tell others about Christ because they “don’t talk good.” They say they don’t know how to speak well and get really nervous. So they leave the evangelism up to those who can “talk good” and know what to say.

Paul wrote in 1st Corinthians 14:19, “But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.” Paul knew what was really needed was the instruction, not fancy words that cry out for interpretation. Sure, I know what those churchified words mean. I know what it is to be a transgressor that has been sanctified and redeemed. I can correctly use words like justification and dispensation. But what good would that do me if I could not speak five intelligible words of instruction?

Fanciful religious vocabularies would have no meaning if I could not explain to others that sin is what separates us from God. Romans 6:23 tells us that “the wages of sin is death.” But God sent Jesus to earth to be offered as a sacrifice. 1st John 4:10 says God “sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” Hebrews 7:27 tells us that Jesus “does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.”

Five intelligible words — sin, sacrifice, once, for all. I understood those five simple words when I first became a Christian. So did you. And that’s all we really need to know to teach others about Christ. If we know enough to become Christians ourselves, we know enough to lead others to Christ. So forget the fancy words, the correct pronunciations, the proper subject/verb agreement. Just remember what Jesus means to you and go tell others.

Then we can all sing, “Are you warshed in the blood of the Lamb?”



Verna Davis may be reached at vrdspeaks@yahoo.com.

     

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