You Keep Using That Word…

Maybe the best schtick in the cult classic The Princess Bride, besides “Stop that rhyming now, I mean it!” “Does anybody want a peanut?” Oh yeah, and “Wuv. Twue wuv…”, has to be Inigo Montoya’s retort on about the forty-ninth time Vizzig exclaims, “Inconceivable!”

“You keep using that word,” he says, “but I do not think it means what you think it means.”

It’s unfortunate that the word “righteousness” has been flattened today to primarily, if not exclusively, connote some kind of (usually off-putting) personal piety. It’s a word we keep using, but I do not think it means what we think it means. Because the ancient biblical conception of righteousness is far more robust, expansive, and good for our neighbors. In fact, Proverbs 11:22 says, “When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices.” Why?

The Psalm appointed for Sunday talks about the vital importance of this kind of righteousness and suggests three accessible ways to reclaim it.

Oh, also, “As you wiiiiiiiiiiisssh.”

See you Sunday.

Steve+