Last summer I took a course on philosophical theology and it was just as complicated as it sounds. As someone completely unfamiliar with philosophy, most of the course was spent looking up definitions and trying to memorize the language in the books I was reading. My biggest take away from the course may be something different than what you expect, but it was an idea that the professor drilled into our minds over and over. Define your terms. When you are having a conversation with someone and they throw out a word, even if you think you know what they’re talking about, ask them to define it. More often than not, you may be having a conversation using the same language but meaning two different things. 

            Recently I posted an article about Progressive Christianity and one of the main tactics and subtle deceptions in Progressive Christianity is redefining words. Have you ever had a conversation with someone, maybe even a church friend, but feel like you’re talking past each other? It may be that while you are using the same words, you are actually talking about two different things. Here are some examples of words today that have been redefined to alter their meaning: love, truth, holy, tolerance, justice, unity, violence, and oppression. I am sure there are many other examples but these are some of the ones that seem to be circulating around most frequently. 

What do I mean by redefining words?

As Christians, how do we know what love is? Scripture tells us that God is love. God, the everlasting God IS love. That means that he is the one who defines what love is. So, what does he have to say about love? One of the most famous scriptures on this topic is one that is often read at weddings. “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-6

            This is God’s definition of love and it is beautiful, multi-faceted and it brings true Biblical love for those who follow it. Yet even in the church, this word seems to have changed meanings. In progressive Christianity, love is now seen as fully accepting and embracing someone including the sin in their lives. It isn’t just asking for acceptance but fully affirming sin. This argument is especially used with the LGBTQ community. Traditional Christians who uphold a Biblical belief in marriage are now called bigots, intolerant, and unloving because of their beliefs. The progressive definition of love excludes a very important part of the 1 Corinthians verse, “it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.” Now, it is no longer enough to love your neighbor while not agreeing with their sin, this is deemed unloving and even labeled harmful. Progressive Christianity wants you to accept, embrace, and even say that gay marriage is holy. 

             One word that has vastly changed definitions, even outside of church is the word tolerance. According to Oxford Languages, tolerance is defined as “the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with.” This definition of tolerance is a positive thing. It means that you can believe something different than me and we can still go about our own business, interact, and be kind to each other. This definition is upheld in scripture when the early church held different views on food sacrificed to idols and other secondary issues. Despite differences in tradition, the church is called to unity.

  However, tolerance today looks more like, “being open to everything that aligns with my worldview.” Social media today seems outraged when someone posts an opinion that goes against the cultural narrative. We are living in the height of cancel culture. I am not talking about calling out someone who has done something outrageous but calling for people to be canceled, lives, and businesses ruined because they hold an opinion that is outside the popular opinion of culture. Many people who are calling others “intolerant” for holding conservative beliefs don’t see the hypocrisy. By calling someone intolerant because they believe differently than you, you are being intolerant. As Christians, we don’t have to agree with everyone else’s opinion, there is only ONE TRUTH (God’s truth!). However, we can live peaceably with those who believe differently than we do. Not submitting to falsehood but also not calling for them to be silenced or cancelled for believing differently.

How do we respond when someone changes the definition of a word?

            One thing that can help us discern if something is true, is to ask the person what they are talking about. It doesn’t have to be overbearing, “DEFINE that word!” It can be something simple and easy, “I heard you say social justice is important to you. What do you mean by that?” Ask people to define their terms. Often just the mere pushback may cause someone to pause and say they really hadn’t thought of what the word means. There are so many buzzwords flying around that often people latch on to new ideas without questioning what they really mean. 

            If they do give you a definition, ask where they got that from. Now, more than ever is the time to know what your Bible says. Know what Biblical justice, love, tolerance, and unity mean so that when you hear a secular version of these, you can discern that. One of the most dangerous things I think for Christians right now is that we can easily be swept into someone else’s agenda without even realizing it contradicts scripture because we don’t actually know what scripture says. This is especially true in “Christian” spaces where it’s easy to let your guard down. 

            I remember years ago listening to a Jen Hatmaker podcast where she was talking about holiness. Without my knowledge, she had changed the definition of holiness to something watered down. She said holiness can be a conversation with a friend or redecorating your house. At the time, this didn’t jump out to me as “off” because I don’t think I really knew what the Bible said about holiness. I knew God was holy but now this Christian podcast was telling me I could be holy in redoing my room or having coffee with a friend. Do you see the danger here? Those things can be good and bring us happiness, but they are not holy. My study Bible defines holiness as, “worthy of worship or veneration; sacred; divine; consecrated or set apart for sacred use; living according to a highly moral spiritual system.” God is holy, he is set apart. When we water down what holiness is, we are tempted to believe we are holier and more worthy than we really are. It causes us to have a higher view of ourselves and a lower view of who God is.

            I don’t think the war on words is ending anytime soon. I think it will become more prevalent and continue to confuse people and lead Christians astray. So what do we do about it? The first step is identifying words that are being redefined so that your brain is on alert when you hear them in conversations or on social media. Next, ask friends to define their words. Lastly, dig into what scripture says about these words. If you don’t know, your Bible’s dictionary and concordance is a great place to start. It’s ok to push back against these words with Biblical truth in a loving way. I think these small conversations are where we can begin to point people back to truth and cause them to stop and think. The good news is that God has given us his words to live by. In a culture that is always changing, his word stays the same and is a solid foundation to build your life upon.