Extending Our Elbows
The positive side is simply just that: We should strain to say truth fresh. I don’t mean we replace (or contextualize) obscure words with words that are more culturally sensitive. That is well and good and necessary. Sin is sin and grace is grace. We don’t drop those words or swap them out, but we need to go the extra mile to incorporate new words and concepts in order to crisply articulate truths that fly under the radar of a noisy world. The truths don’t change. The content is unshakable. But our communication should be infused with life. Bright-eyed, soul-soaring life.
The Bible gives us a great example of this. Consider metaphors such as, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver” (Proverbs 25:11). (Thanks to John Piper for these examples.)
We should extend our elbows to gulp up whole systems of thought, spit out the bones and swallow the good for our speech. We should swallow whatever is true and honorable and just (Philippians 4:8). We should tap into our senses and really feel what we say. We should say it fresh in hopes of seeing it fresh.
And even if someone were to say, “Here we go again,” we know the story we tell is more than a rerun. In fact, it’s good news. And good news isn’t jargon.
