Watch it....

Now, I realize that the Greek word for tithe does not really mean 25%, but this cartoon shows something that I think a lot of us have been exposed to-the overuse, or perhaps the abuse of the Greek or Hebrew language in sermons. (mostly Greek)

As someone who studies Greek, and is somewhat able to exegete passages using grammatical arguments, or flow of thought arguments, I find that the more I know, the more I want to mask. What does that mean? Well, it's like this. Right now, when I preach once a month, I have three audiences which total around 100 people. What do they want to hear? They want to hear the Word explained to them in a simple fashion that speaks to where they are at. There are some passages where I could spend time expounding on the fact that a certain word is a participle, or not a "simple aorist", but it really would be nothing more to them than a show of my knowledge.

I think that those who know, must use their knowledge wisely. Yes, I acknowledge there are times when something needs to be explained because there is the aspect of nuance, and if a person has a particular point of view that, say, is a minority view, it may require defense from Greek or Hebrew. What I am getting at, in particular, is for those of us who use Greek and Hebrew, to use it with respect, dignity, and prudence, so that those who hear us teach or preach do not walk away with the sense of how capable, or smart we are, but with a sense of understanding God's word in a way that makes them feel like they can read their Bible at home and learn something.

I really believe that if someone who is not competant in Biblical languages is exposed to someone spouting off the English meaning from Greek over and over, it can create a sense of frustration on their part. They can be made to feel like they do not know the secret code that is needed to intrepret the Bible. When this sets in, the question comes to mind, "why should I even study anyway, I cannot possibly understand it that well?"

Now another area to consider is that of the abuse of the original languages from the teacher or preacher. I specifically will go with what I know, and that is Greek. Too often there are people with a rudimentary understanding of the language via Elementary Greek in Bible College, or they have just looked at their Strong's Concordance and they believe they have an understanding on par with someone who has spent time, effort and money into learning the language. This creates an allusion of knowledge because the person is quick to point out "this is an aorist which always means ......" (not true), or "this is agape, which is different from phileo" (again, not true), and on and on and on we could go.

I realize that I may sound like I am compaining, and to an extent I am. But moreso, I hope that people read this come away with what I am really trying to emphasize and that is for prudence.

Book of the day, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics by Daniel Wallace