Preacher on the Run…

It happened around the dinner table during the first week of fall training. I was running cross country and the team had just gotten back on campus after a run. We all got our food and drinks and sat down together to enjoy dinner. Shortly into the meal, one of my teammates got up announced he was going to get some more soda, and asked if anyone else wanted anything. It struck me like a foreign language…”soda”? What is that? When my buddy returned I asked him what “soda” was. He (and most of the others at the table) stared at me like I was an idiot. That is when I realized, what most people call “soda” I refer to as “pop”.

Same substance, different name. It’s interesting how the same exact subject can be referred to people by different names. It reminds me of Romeo and Juliet “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.” Shakespeare recognized the same truth I did as a college freshman – calling something by a different name doesn’t change what it is. Yet that seems to be what many are attempting in regard to sin.

Sin is something that has been around since almost the beginning of time. And attempts to downplay or minimize it go almost as far back in time. Yet James Emery White’s article “A Sin By Any Other Name” details multiple examples of people attempting to rename what is a sin. He starts with an example by the Associated Press and gives a few to follow. White’s article is enlightening and discouraging all at the same time. I think you will enjoy the read and seeing how subtle the changing of a name can be. Even if the substance of what it’s called doesn’t change.

As always I’d love to hear from you. Maybe you have another example of a sin being called by another name. Maybe you can settle the “soda” vs. “pop” war once and for all for me. Either way, I pray you enjoyed the article and are challenged to check your own descriptors for actions in your life and sphere of influence. As always be with the Lord’s people on the Lord’s day.

Until Next Time…

_{Photo by Mohamad Babayan on Unsplash}