The Classic War of Words

I got to thinking last night as I sat down before dinner to catch a few moments of my favorite news-talk cable TV program.  The panel was discussing the upcoming presidential election and were showing different clips from speeches that both candidates had made during the last full week before the election.  The thing that got my attention that I leaned over and told my dog, who was laying on the floor near the kitchen patiently awaiting his dinner, was that this election has become a Classic War of Words.

But… at least to me… there is a distinct difference in the way the words are carried to their perspective audiences.  One side seems to be appealing to the listeners emotions while the other repeatedly appeals to the listeners sense of logic. 

The emotional side looks to be focusing their final presentations on a message of fear by centering entirely on what they perceive to be the opposing candidate’s personal faults and fear-filled tendencies. 

The competing team also points out what they perceive to be the other candidate’s weaknesses… but will reach out to the listener’s sense of logic by presenting tangible evidence of the economic, educational and moral deterioration, as well as the breakdown of law and order that the other candidate’s disorganized leadership seems to have and would continue to cause. 

But contrary to the emotion-based pleas, the logic side presents to their upbeat audiences, a message of hope by offering practical and proven methods to reverse the downward spiral that our country seems to be heading in.

So, as this election cycle comes to an end… it concludes with what looks to be a Classic War of Words.  One side whose WORDS are intended to guide their supporter’s vote with an over-powering sense and emotion of FEAR, while the other’s WORDS spoken to guide their supporter’s vote with a logical decision based on policies that yield HOPE for a better future.

Well… I saw another Classic War of Words that occurred a few thousand years ago, as I read and continued to study the story of the interaction between Jesus and Jairus, the leader of a local synagogue.   This particular version of the event was reported on in the Biblical gospel of Mark, chapter five.*  In the story, we find that Jairus had approached Jesus and asked Him to come to his home where his young daughter was sick and near the point of death.

Jesus had agreed to the request and He, His disciples and the crowd that had gathered around Him began to proceed to the leader’s home… when… Jesus felt a physical draw of power from His body from a woman who was literally bleeding to death and had crawled through the crowd, believing that if she touched His garment, that she would be made well.  So, Jesus stopped and addressed the woman while Jairus patiently waited for the Master to continue on His way to his daughter’s side.

But as Jesus was completing His conversation with the women, a group of Jairus’ friends or family pushed through the crowd and approached Jairus declaring,

“There’s no need to trouble the master any longer—your daughter has died.” (Mark 5:35-God’s Word ©)

And here is where the Classic War of Word’s ensued!  The next verse reveals Jesus’ response to the negative report that was spoken to Jairus.  Mark wrote,

“And as soon as Jesus HEARD the WORD that was SPOKEN, He IGNORED them and looked at the church leader with compassion in His eyes, and said, ‘Don’t yield to fear.  All you need to do is to keep on believing.  Trust Me!  Don’t panic for she will be alright.’” (Mark 5:36**)

As it would turn out… This news worthy incident also had two different sides to it… just like my earlier personal insights on our current presidential election.  One side was basing the conclusion of their WORDS solely on what they thought they perceived concerning the situation that they had observed at Jairus’ house.  They came to Jairus with WORDS of fear, doubt, unbelief, hopelessness, failure and with those of ones who had given up all HOPE for Jairus’ daughter. 

Because they seemed to know exactly where to find Jairus in order to report their negative news, it is plausible (at least to me) that they must have known of the faith of Jairus in his quest to find Jesus and believe for Him to heal his daughter.  It is also obvious that they did not attain to the same level of faith as Jairus.

But JESUS… well… He knew that the bad report from the home front would negatively affect Jairus’ faith and stop the miracle that was about to happen.  He understood that the negative WORDS, dripping with FEAR and unbelief, needed to be ignored!  So, what did He do?  He immediately intercepted the power of the report and told Jairus to not heed the negative (and what would turn out to be a false report), to NOT yield to FEAR and to keep on believing in the power of his WORDS of faith with which he originally had approached Jesus.

The two stories I mentioned of Jesus and Jairus and the current political campaign in the USA demonstrate that WORDS elicit and/or are meant to dictate a certain response.  In both stories, one set of WORDS is meant to dictate a response of FEAR, while the others are meant to dictate a response of HOPE… which is described in Hebrews 11:1 as the substance or foundation of FAITH.

So, it is interesting that according to Greek scholars, the word rendered “HEARD” in Mark 5:36 can mean either to “overhear” or to “not heed.”  For our case in today’s blog post, I believe, that like Jesus… it can describe both of those responses!  Jesus obviously overheard the negative report that was addressed to Jairus, but also made an instant decision to ignore or NOT HEED the reaction it was calling for.  He instead, took control of the conversation,*** looked to Jairus and instructed him to respond by staying in faith and to NOT allow himself to yield to FEAR!

Now, it is also interesting to note that the word rendered “SPOKEN” in that same verse, is defined in the original Greek as “to utter words” and/or “to use words in order to declare one’s mind and disclose one’s thoughts.”  Therefore, for us Christians, we need to know… in order to CORRECTLY respond to the WORDS that are directed to us… if the spoken WORDS are simply someone’s personal thoughts or opinion that they had on their mind or… if those WORDS are based on the mind of Christ in line with the truth of God’s Word.

And just how do we accomplish that?  Well, rest assured that the Lord has the answer for us.  In 1 Corinthians 2:16 the Apostle Paul wrote, that “WE HAVE THE MIND of CHRIST” (God’s Word ©).  Pretty cool right?  Yes, it is!  But it is not something that happened instantly when we became Christians.  It is a font of knowledge that has to be developed over time.  Romans 12:2 teaches us to,

“Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes.” (TPT) 

And… not to sound like a broken record… but… that transformation and total reformation of how we think comes by the regular and consistent study of God’s will… as discovered within the WORD of God that’s printed on the pages of our Bibles!

Simple Right?  Well… actually it is!  All it takes is a decision on your behalf to DO IT… and then follow through on a regular and consistent basis!  And BELIEVE ME… it is a decision that you’ll NEVER regret!

Have a wonderful and blessed weekend… and if your weather forecast is anything like ours… then you’ll have plenty of time to stay inside, stay dry from the rain and study the informative and exciting WORD of God…and thereby WIN the Classic War of WORDS in your life!

 

 

*You can also read about this story in the gospels of Matthew 9:18-26 and Luke 8:40-56

**A personalized combination of Mark 5:36 from the King James Version, The Remedy Bible and The Passion Translation.

***You’ll notice when you read the rest of the story, that those carrying the negative report are NOT heard from again… and in fact, Jesus left them there and only continued on to Jairus’ house with just Jairus and three of His most trusted disciples. And once at the house, He only allowed the five of them and Jairus’ wife to stay with their daughter in the young girl’s bedroom!