The word “righteous” is on my mind. It’s not a word I hear in daily life, only in church and then only from the Bible readings and maybe in the sermon. Gathering after worship for coffee, no one uses the word “righteous” in conversation. Yet it’s an important word in the Bible, describing the essence of being a Christian. What does it mean that we don’t use such a key word in our daily conversation?
Actually, “righteous” is used as a slang word. Here are examples from the Urban Dictionary. “Oh, man, that lasagna was righteous!” “Dude! That wave was righteous, man. That so totally rocked.” “Righteous” is on my mind because of 1 Peter 3:18. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous.” Does that then translate, “Dude, Jesus hanging out, so righteous!”
What does the word mean for us who aren’t “with it”? Meriam-Webster defines “righteous” as “conforming to a high standard of morality or virtue.” That meaning goes back to the Greco-Roman world of Bible times. A “righteous” person is “one who fulfils obligations towards men” and fulfills religious duties. Note: that’s human centered. “Righteous” in the New Testament is totally different. First and foremost, God is the righteous One who will judge those who do not live by His standard (that’s Law) and God makes repentant sinners “righteous” through faith in Christ (Gospel). “The justice of the One who is absolutely righteous is demonstrated in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. The new factor (in the New Testament) is the absolute connection with the atoning death of Christ in which shows Himself to be righteous.”
Faithful Christians I know, the ones I talk with at church, at coffee after worship, whom I meet in town, they understand, as Paul puts it, that God is “just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26). I suspect they don’t know the Bible gives a whole different meaning to “righteous” than the world.” I didn’t know it either until my work on 1 Peter. What about people who think lasagna, or a wave is “righteous”? True as it is, old religious jargon won’t communicate to them.
I always struggle to get seminarians out of religious jargon so that they truly communicate the Gospel. Today begins Concordia Seminary’s 184th academic year. Pray that tomorrow’s pastors are both faithful to the Word but also communicate effectively.
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