Defining Terms

We’ve all experienced conversations where we’re talking about one thing with someone and they think we’re talking about something totally different.

A couple of months ago, I was going to help someone at our church move.  We agreed to meet at the Name Brand Storage in town at 10:00.  I was at the storage place on time, but no one else was there.  I waited for some time then decided to check.  There were two Name Brand Storages in town.  I was at the wrong one.  Had I listened more closely to where we were going to meet and heard the correct address, I would not have ended up late and red faced.

Sometimes talking with someone about the Lord is the like that.  We think we both understand what the other is saying, but the truth is we don’t.  When you ask a cultist, “Do you know Jesus?” you’ll often hear, “My church teaches that we have to know Jesus to have eternal life,” or something similar.  That sounds very mainstream, but the truth is they define Who Jesus is as Someone very different than the Bible does.  There is another Jesus, a another Spirit, and another gospel.  Paul warns us of this in 2 Cor. 11:3-4.  If you have the wrong Jesus, you’re wrong enough to lose your soul.

To Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jesus is the Archangel Michael who is God’s first and greatest creation.  To Mormons, He’s one God among many gods.  To the United Pentecostal Church, He’s just one Hat that the one Person called God wears.  So, be careful how you define your terms.  A simple, “Who is Jesus to you?” will often reveal the difference, but not always.

When I talk with someone like I’ve described and they tell me they worship a different Jesus, I’ll ask them a series of short questions:

  • If a man were to worship a tree, would you call him a Christian?
  • If a man cut down the tree and carved it into the shape of an idol and worshipped it, would you call Him a Christian?
  • If the man brought the idol into his house and worshipped it, would you call him a Christian?
  • If he renamed the tree, “Jesus,” would he be a Christian?

Of course, the answer to each of these is, “no,” but it helps focus on the problem.  Just because you worship someone or something called, “Jesus,” doesn’t mean the Jesus you worship is the Jesus of the Bible, The Almighty God, second Person of the Trinity.

So, it’s good to check out what you’re talking about.  Define terms early in your discussion, and you are much less likely to walk away red faced.

 

2 Corinthians 11:3-4 (ESV)
3  But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
4  For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.