Do we speak the language of Ashdod?  Or do we speak the oracles of God?

The prophet Nehemiah was confronted at finding that God's people had intermarried with the neighbouring tribes of Ashdod, Ammon and Moab, and that "their children spoke half of the time in the language of Ashdod, and could not speak in the language of Judah.  Instead, they spoke in the languages of various peoples", Nehemiah 13:23-24.

Do we, as Christians, speak the language of Ashdod?  The language of our religious neighbours?  Do we speak in a tongue other than that of the New Testament scriptures?

So often, I fear we do.  Instead of Bible names for Bible things, we use the language of other faiths and other groups.

Yet the apostle Peter admonished, "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen" (1 Peter 4:11, KJV).

In this series, we will go back to the scriptures and look at the various words which describe various roles in the church, so that we can truly speak as the oracles of God, rather than using the language of Ashdod in our walk with God.