Learning the Language

    Am reading a book titled "Less Than Words Can Say," by Richard Mitchell, a Professor of English. He decries meaningless jargon, emphasizes that we normally think with words or the underlying things that they represent, and that vague usage of words and how they fit together in sentences and paragraphs reflects fuzzy thinking. Written in 1979 with many then current examples, it helps to clarify why people indoctrinated rather than educated in our public educational system cannot think rationally. Of course this is by design because people who think clearly are more resistant to propaganda and biased information.
     One of the many ramifications of this is found in the preaching by pastors in conservative evangelical churches. I have personally found it difficult to find preaching or teaching centered on the Bible. Much of it is more properly characterized as efforts to entertain or to relate. Some pastors tell stories. Others tell jokes. Many use modern technology to show things on screen or use examples from current culture like the most recent blockbuster movie. Perhaps i am incurably anal but i want to hear what the Bible says. I want to hear the truth of the Word of God.
    I suspect that the difference between my desire and that of many church-goers is that by the grace of God, i have read and studied the Bible intensively for many years. I know the language. I can interact with what the speaker is saying. In my head i am mentally cross-referencing with other verses. For most people I think listening to a truly Scripturally based sermon sans entertainment is like listening to Turkish or Japanese. They simply do not understand the language.
     This takes work. I am trying to learn Portuguese. I need to study every day. I do a half hour computer program and then repeat it later in the same day. I am listening to the Bible in Portuguese, watching videos in the language, speaking to people when i can, reading etc. If I just listened for thirty minutes once a week i would never learn. We must  read and study for ourselves. Sadly, this is not common.
"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth." ( 2 Timothy 2:15 ESV)