Why words are life and death

Christians know the first few lines of the Gospel of John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us… (Gospel of John 1:1-3, 14).

Our English “Word” comes from the ancient Greek Logos.

That ancient Greek is a key that unlocks a treasure for us.

The world in which the Gospel of John made its first rounds was a Greek-thinking world. The Greek mindset was the common mindset.

That mindset held that words are not marks on paper or sounds that come from the voice.

Rather, words are alive. As if every word that proceeds from the mouth is living and active in the world. As if every word is a baby born to grow and make its dwelling among humankind.

Imagine a fable in which the main character has the power to make things so just by speaking them. Every word that comes out of her mouth becomes the real thing. If she says “bread,” a loaf of bread appears! If she says “gold,” she finds her hands overflowing with gold coins. If she says “love,” she finds herself wrapped in a feeling of intimacy and safety.

Like all fables, though, this one has a dark side. If she tells even a small fib, it becomes her truth and deludes her from reality. If she complains, the complaint warps the whole world for her. If she tells someone in traffic to “go to hell…”

You get the point.

We tell our eight-year old son a version of this fable. We say: “You become the words that come out of your mouth. You are the words you use.”

This is what the Bible means when it talks about words. Every time we speak, we are giving birth either to an angel or demon that we are setting loose in the world. Our words are either creating or destroying, giving life or taking life, illuminating or turning out the lights, making oxygen for others to breathe or sucking the air out of them.

You have heard it said that “words mean things.”

This falls short of the biblical teaching on words.

The biblical teaching is: Words are things.

The words you use every day in casual conversation.

Yes, even the words you post and share on social media.

Every single word is life or death.

This is why Jesus taught:

“I tell you that everyone will have to give an account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted and by your words you will be condemned” (Gospel of Matthew 12:36).

Think about the words you are using these days.

Think about the words you are choosing to believe and defend and repeat.

Are you ready to give an account for them?