ONE OF THE MOST MISUSED WORDS TODAY by A. Craig Troxel for Core Christianity
Most Used Word
Appearing just under 1,000 times, the word “heart” is used in the Bible more than any other for the inner self.1 The Old Testament uses the Hebrew terms לֵב (leb) 598 times and לבֵָב(lebab) 252 times, and the New Testament’s Greek word καρδια (kardia) appears 156 times. 2 Something that occurs that often in the Bible certainly merits a study worthy of its dignity. Think of the fact that the word “holy” is used to describe God more than any other term. Is this significant? Of course it is. In the same way, the frequent occurrences of the word “heart” in Scripture deserve to be taken seriously. The spotlight is often placed on the heart for its crucial role in what you treasure and say (Matt. 6:21; Luke 6:45), in your inner beauty (1 Pet. 3:4), repentance (Deut. 30:2, 10; 1 Sam. 7:3; 1 Kings 8:48; Jer. 24:7), faith (Prov. 3:5–6), service (Deut. 10:12; 1 Chron. 28:9), obedience (Ps. 119:34), covenant faithfulness (1 Kings 2:4), worship (Ps. 86:12; Zeph. 3:14), love (Deut. 10:12; Matt. 22:37), daily walk (Isa. 38:3), and seeking of the Lord (Deut. 4:29; 2 Chron. 15:12; Jer. 29:13)—most of which you are to perform “with all your heart” (Matt. 22:37). To draw near to God “without our heart is to pretend devotion,” since God will not accept anything from us if it is not given from the heart. 3
Most Misused Word
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Os Guinness contends that the biblical understanding of the heart and our modern understanding of the heart are almost opposite. Today, heart is understood to refer to a person’s emotions. Biblically, the heart refers to the whole person, including our capacity to think. 4 Many modern readers probably have the (false) impression that a believer is determined more by feeling than by reason. 5 Greek philosophy has already infected Western culture with too great of a divide between the heart and thinking. The anti-intellectualism of pop culture has also spread to the evangelical church. Many Christians align the heart with the warm and emotional side of spirituality in opposition to the supposed coldness of theology. Some Christians will say they’re “speaking from the heart” in order to defend their genuineness (not to be confused with innocence). Some say things like “How can I deny what I feel? How can I deny my own heart? I must be true to who I am!” Think of all the adolescent nonsense that pop culture has taught us to justify with the inviolable maxim, “Follow your heart.” 6 Such statements are not just common. They have become moral principles etched in cultural granite and are routinely used to excuse all sorts of laziness, disobedience, antinomianism, adulterous mischief, and self-indulgence that freely destroy other people’s relationships and lives. Not much can stand in its wake. Yet the Bible does not approve. And we need its clarity.
