Truehearts
Member
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2005
- Messages
- 512
Read 2 Timothy 2:1-15
In her amusing book Eat, Shoots & Leaves, Lynne Truss bemoans the problem of poor punctuation in today's world. To illustrate, she tells a funny story of a panda who enters a cafe, orders a sandwich, eats it, and then pulls out a gun and starts shooting. When a waiter asks him to explain his behavior, the panda hands him a poorly punctuated wildlife guide and ask him to look up the description of a panda. It reads: "Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."
Having a comma after the word eats is an error that changes the whole meaning of the last sentence. The word shoots and leaves become actions, instead of plants to eat.
This idea of being careful with language is important in Bible study as well. Paul described this process as "rightly dividing the Word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15). The phrase translated "rightly dividing" was used of a skilled craftsman cutting something straight. In the context of Bible study, it means taking the time for diligent and careful study, while prayerfully asking for the Holy Spirit's guidance. It means teaching the truth directly and correctly. Accurately discerning and passing on God's truth must be the priority of every conscientious believer. - Dennis Fisher
P.S.
I posted this here because I laughed so hard about the panda story, but on a serious note, this is a great matter.
One of my high school professor once told a similar story,
A Christian in the middle east was in death penalty for professing his beliefs, after several appeals he was suppose to be saved on account of another believer that has the power to spare his life.
He sent a note "Save, Don't Kill." however that didn't happen when the message was passed as "Save Don't, Kill."
Aren't we all sometimes like that with the use of words?
Trying to help a with a a phrase, "Yes I care, for you!" than "Yes, I care for you."
Don' let the little punctuation emotionally kill someone when you intend to save them.
In her amusing book Eat, Shoots & Leaves, Lynne Truss bemoans the problem of poor punctuation in today's world. To illustrate, she tells a funny story of a panda who enters a cafe, orders a sandwich, eats it, and then pulls out a gun and starts shooting. When a waiter asks him to explain his behavior, the panda hands him a poorly punctuated wildlife guide and ask him to look up the description of a panda. It reads: "Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."
Having a comma after the word eats is an error that changes the whole meaning of the last sentence. The word shoots and leaves become actions, instead of plants to eat.
This idea of being careful with language is important in Bible study as well. Paul described this process as "rightly dividing the Word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15). The phrase translated "rightly dividing" was used of a skilled craftsman cutting something straight. In the context of Bible study, it means taking the time for diligent and careful study, while prayerfully asking for the Holy Spirit's guidance. It means teaching the truth directly and correctly. Accurately discerning and passing on God's truth must be the priority of every conscientious believer. - Dennis Fisher
P.S.
I posted this here because I laughed so hard about the panda story, but on a serious note, this is a great matter.
One of my high school professor once told a similar story,
A Christian in the middle east was in death penalty for professing his beliefs, after several appeals he was suppose to be saved on account of another believer that has the power to spare his life.
He sent a note "Save, Don't Kill." however that didn't happen when the message was passed as "Save Don't, Kill."
Aren't we all sometimes like that with the use of words?
Trying to help a with a a phrase, "Yes I care, for you!" than "Yes, I care for you."
Don' let the little punctuation emotionally kill someone when you intend to save them.
