Semantics, Social Justice and the Gospel in the 21st Century – Part 1
"I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.“
John 6:35b (ESV)
While in college, way back in the last century, I took a class on semantics. No class before or since has had a more positive bearing on my desire to properly communicate the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I must be up to the semantical challenges on a daily basis. Allow me to illustrate: I have a dog. I tell three people I am taking “my dog” to the vet. When I say “dog,” Mary thinks “poodle.” When I say “dog,” Mark thinks “blood hound.” When I say “dog,” Larry thinks German Shepherd. I own a beagle. When I say “dog,” I mean beagle. Four people, one word, four “meanings.” In order for me to be semantically correct and an effective communicator, I should say; “I’m taking my beagle to the vet.” Precise words with precise meanings, commonly understood, are the key to effective communication. And…no communication is more urgent than that of the gospel message. This point is soberly important for it is God Himself who has chosen the spoken word as the primary vehicle of the gospel! (Romans 10:8 – 18)
In the spirit of semantical precision, just what is the gospel? There is no need to wring our hands, circularly converse towards consensus or speculate with our imaginations! God has revealed the singular and everlastingly true definition of the gospel in I Corinthians 10:1 – 6;
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. (ESV)The gospel consists therefore, without addition or subtraction, these four components; 1) Christ died for our sins, 2) Christ was buried, 3) Christ arose on the third day, and 4) Christ established the fact of his raising by appearing to over 500 witnesses before returning to heaven. THAT is the gospel!
In times past, effective communication was the goal of nearly everyone. Not so in our world! In our day and time, more and more people communicate with un-clear words and phrases…on purpose…in order to perpetuate one agenda or another. We call this practice “spin.” Spin is defined by the Miriam Webster On-Line Dictionary as, “…to evolve, express, or fabricate by processes of mind or imagination.”(1) “Spin” is the cumulative term. “Spin” is made up of what we call “buzz words.” A “buzz word” is defined as, “an important-sounding usually technical word or phrase often of little meaning used chiefly to impress laymen.”(2) The term “social justice” is a buzz-word. It takes noble sounding words to promote an agenda that is anything but noble. The term is not found in the Bible, neither Old or New Testaments. In fact, the term “social justice” is a mid 19th century concept coming out of the radicalism of the 1840’s that culminated in the revolutions of 1848(3). As Michael Novak observes;
The term "social justice" was first used in 1840 by a Sicilian priest, Luigi Taparelli d'Azeglio, and given prominence by Antonio Rosmini-Serbati in La Costitutione Civile Secondo la Giustizia Sociale in 1848.(4)What caused the revolutions of 1848, societal upheaval and the advent of “social justice?” Novak further observes;
The birth of the concept of social justice coincided with two other shifts in human consciousness: the "death of God" and the rise of the ideal of the command economy. When God "died," people began to trust a conceit of reason and its inflated ambition to do what even God had not deigned to do: construct a just social order. The divinization of reason found its extension in the command economy; reason (that is, science) would command and humankind would collectively follow. The death of God, the rise of science, and the command economy yielded "scientific socialism." Where reason would rule, the intellectuals would rule. (Or so some thought. Actually, the lovers of power would rule.)(5)Nature abhors a vacuum. When God was “shown the door,” the satanic surrogates came in. Those surrogates were Charles Darwin and Karl Marx. Society was no longer governed by “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It was now “from each according to his ability to each according to his need.” True justice was supplanted by “social justice.” [To Be Continued]
END NOTES:
(1)http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spin
(2)http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/buzz+word?show=0&t=1291827233
(3)For more information on the Revolutions of 1848: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutions_of_1848#cite_note-3
(4)http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/civilization/cc0081.html
(5)Ibid.
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