How You Say It Really Matters

Judges 12:6

Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.

People often think that terminology does not matter, but it does matter because it tells who you have been spending time with. In Jephthah’s battle with the Ephraimites, the one way they could tell who was on which side was by how they said the word Shibboleth. For whatever reason, the Ephraimites could not say that word the same way that the rest of the armies did. They left the “h” out and pronounced it, Sibboleth. The pronunciation revealed where they were from.

How we say things as believers is important to who we are. I am afraid that too many believers are trying to sound more like the world to be more inclusive. However, they are saying that they have been spending more time with the worldly crowd than with their own heritage. I am an old-school type of guy who just believes that we are not to change the terminology of our heritage or of the Scriptures. Let me share several thoughts about the importance of terminology.

First, your terminology dictates who you belong to. I am an old paths, independent Baptist, and I have no quarrels with identifying with my heritage. I am not trying to correct my heritage, but in fact, I am embracing it. It was my heritage that has given me the pure Gospel. It was my heritage that taught me to live a pure and holy life. It was my heritage that has brought me this far. Therefore, I want to speak like the heritage of an old paths, independent Baptist. For instance, I go soul winning and not on visitation. We have Sunday school and not small groups. We have visitors cards in our church, and not connection cards. We have a choir and not a praise team. I believe the King James Bible is the inspired and preserved Word of God, and not just the best translation that we have for the English language. We have a preaching service and not a worship service. The other terminology may not be sinful, but it is not who we are; you ought to own your heritage and its terminology.

Second, when you change your terminology, you are telling who you have been spending time with. Why is it that we think the old paths terminology is so bad? When you change your terminology, you are telling us what books you have been reading and which groups you have been running with. When you start changing your terminology, it is only because you have been running with the wrong crowd.

Third, your terminology tells us the direction that you are headed. One way I can tell the direction that a pastor or a church is going is by the terminology they use. When they have forsaken the terminology of our heritage for newer terminology, I know that they will soon change to become like the entertainment churches of our day. A change of terminology is a change of direction, and a change of direction will change your destination.

My friend, terminology absolutely matters to who we are. Let us be careful not to change our terminology to be inclusive to all the others who are changing. Let's embrace our heritage and its terminology, and we will have a better chance of staying an old paths, Independent Baptist.