Language is a fascinating medium. Without it, we cannot effectively communicate with each other. Language is our means for connection with the world, with each other, and also with God. For Christians and many other religions, sacred writings, for us the scriptures, not only give us a history of our faith and the people who came before us, but they also give us a window into what we believe about God, a measuring stick for truth, and a basis for how we wish to live.

That said, language is an imperfect medium. Because language is human contrived, no matter how carefully we use our language, it always remains an imperfect communicative medium. And for most part, that’s okay. We know that. We expect that. And we make allowances for that. Or do we?

Our greatest misunderstandings come from ri…