Teaching Kids to Think Carefully About Words

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Hello, friends. Today's podcast question says, "How can we biblically teach our children basketball when the words stealing and snatching are endorsed?" Now, this is a question that you may not care about at all and may never have thought about. However, I think that this question represents a deeper question that all of us who are involved with raising children should be concerned with. And this deeper question is: How do we help our children think carefully and biblically about words? And so that's the question that we're going to dive down deep into today on the Foundation Worldview Podcast, where we seek to answer your questions so that you can equip the children that God has placed in your care to carefully evaluate every idea they encounter and understand the truth of the biblical worldview.

The Same Word, Different Meanings

Now, we're going to talk today about helping our children think carefully about words. And oftentimes in our culture, two people may be using the same word. However, the meaning behind that word that they are associating with that word is completely different. For example, in this case that the questioner talked about, the word "stealing" in basketball is pronounced the same as "stealing" out in the general culture. However, there are different meanings to this word.

For example, stealing in basketball is taking the ball from the opposing team. This version of stealing in basketball—taking the ball from the opposing team—is considered fair play in the game, provided that it doesn't involve a foul. And in this case, the ball doesn't belong to the other team. The ball was just in possession of the other team. It is the object that's being used by both teams to score points.

Now, similarly, those of you who are familiar with the game of baseball, the term "stealing" is also used in baseball. And in baseball, stealing means to run to the next base while the pitcher is getting ready to throw the ball to the catcher. And again, this is considered fair play in the game provided that certain rules are followed. And when this person steals the base, this person isn't taking the base with them, but they're trying to place themselves on the next base before getting tagged out.

So stealing in basketball means something different than it means in baseball. And both of those versions of stealing mean something different than the word "stealing" in our regular cultural context. In that context, stealing is taking something that does not belong to you without the owner's permission. And so in this cultural context, stealing—taking something that doesn't belong to you without the owner's permission—is illegal. It's against the law in our society that you will be in trouble for stealing. You might have to pay a fine, you might have to go to prison. Not only is it illegal, but it's immoral. Stealing, taking something that does not belong to you without the owner's permission, goes against God's universal moral law. So it's both illegal and it's immoral.

Helping Kids Think Critically About Words

So we want to help our kids think critically through the meaning of words. So you can, in this situation, as your children are learning how to play basketball, you can ask them, "Okay, what does stealing mean in basketball?" You could talk through how it means taking the ball from the other team and then ask, "Does the ball belong to the other team?" No. "Are you taking this ball without them knowing it?" No, they know what's going on. "Is this a part of the game?" Yes. "When is stealing the right thing to do in this game?" Well, it's the right thing to do when you're not fouling the other team, when you're playing according to the rules.

Then you can talk about, "Well, what is stealing just in the world in general?" Well, stealing is taking something that doesn't belong to you without the owner's permission. And then talk about how this version of stealing—this is against the law, it's illegal and it's immoral.

Now, we want to help our kids always to think critically through the meaning of words because there's so many words that the meanings have just been altered or twisted in our culture. For those of you who have taken your children through our Careful Thinking curriculum here at Foundation Worldview, you know that we have an entire lesson just focused on discerning the meanings of words in their context.

The Example of "Love"

For example, one of the words that we highlight in that curriculum is the word "love." And we tell kids that the classical definition of love, which aligns with the biblical definition, is doing what is best for another person even when it costs you. Okay? So love is doing what is best for another person even when it costs you. And then we explain that there's another definition, a newer definition of love that's used in our culture, and that's making another person feel good, even if what they want you to do isn't best for them. Okay? So it's making another person feel good, even if what they want you to do for them isn't best for them.

And then we give the kids different contexts, different examples of this word. And then we say, "Okay, based on this context, how this person is using this word, can you tell which definition of love they're using, or do you need to ask them some more questions to figure it out?"

So an example would be, "My dad loves me, so he always protects me." And say, "Okay, which definition of love is being used there?" Well, it seems like the classical definition—doing what is best for another person, even when it costs you—that a dad protecting his child will often cost him something, but he's doing what is best for them.

Then we'll give another sentence like, "If you loved me, you would never tell me that I'm wrong." And then say, "Okay, can we tell from this sentence which definition of love is being used?" Well, it sounds like the newer definition is being used—making another person feel good, even if what they want you to do isn't best for them—because sometimes being told we're wrong is what is best for us. If we're, to use an extreme example, if we're about to walk off a cliff, someone telling us that we're wrong, that we're going in the wrong direction, that's the most loving thing that they can do for us.

Then we give the kids some examples where they would have to ask other questions. For example, a sentence like, "My aunt doesn't love me." We don't know what that person means from the sentence. Do they mean that their aunt doesn't do what is best for them, or do they mean their aunt doesn't make them feel good? What are they meaning? So we would say, "Okay, in situations like this, we'd need to say, 'Well, what do you mean by love? What do you mean that your aunt doesn't love you?'"

Again, if you're wanting more training like this for your child and you have a child that is ages 10 and up, I highly recommend that you check out our Careful Thinking curriculum here at Foundation Worldview. This is our least popular curriculum, but it's one of the most important ones—Careful Thinking, equipping our kids to be careful thinkers.

The Fallacy of Equivocation

Now, another thing that we need to do as we're training our kids to think critically through words is we want to teach them to look out for when the meanings of words are twisted or used to trick us. And this is known in logic as the fallacy of equivocation. And basically it's a fallacy where one word is used to mean a certain thing and then in the middle of the sentence or in the same breath, another meaning of that word is inserted to try to trick you into believing something.

For example, I'll give you an example using the word "stealing," okay? So someone might say—now this would be kind of ridiculous, but it could happen—someone might say, "My coach said I am more skilled at stealing the ball than any player he's ever seen. This means I should start stealing at the store as well." Okay. So do you see how that person, even though this is a kind of ridiculous example, that person just first used the word "stealing" to mean taking the ball fairly from another team and then twisted the meaning in the next sentence to mean taking something that doesn't belong to you without the owner's permission?

Another kind of silly example would be using the word "run" because "run" can have a few different meanings. So someone might say, "I can run a mile in just six minutes. This means that if I run for office, I'll win." Okay. So for the first usage of the word, "run" meant for someone actually to physically move their legs back and forth and get their body from one place to another quickly. The second usage of the word "run" meant to present oneself as a candidate for a political office. Those are two different meanings, but the person used the word as if it meant one thing.

A Real-World Example: "Pro-Life"

Now, a popular example in our culture that I hear all the time, that is the twisting of the term "pro-life." Okay. The term "pro-life" means that someone is against the murdering of preborn children in the womb, but people take that term and then they twist it. For example, I've heard so many times—I've read it online, I've read it in articles, I've heard people say it in conversation—where people will say, "Democrats are more pro-life than any other party because they care about the poor and downtrodden." That simply is not true because what they're doing is they're taking the word "pro-life" and they're twisting it to mean something that it doesn't mean. Again, pro-life means being against the murdering of innocent preborn humans, where what this term is being twisted in this sentence to mean is caring for the poor and downtrodden.

Now, biblically, is caring for the poor and downtrodden important? Absolutely. But caring for the poor and downtrodden is different than being against the murdering of innocent preborn children in the womb. So we want to prepare our children to look out for this fallacy of equivocation when a word with multiple definitions or multiple meanings is used to kind of manipulate our thinking.

Now, again, if you are interested in helping the children in your care think critically through the usage of words, I highly recommend you check out our Careful Thinking curriculum here at Foundation Worldview.

Equip Your Child to Think Carefully About Words

In a culture that constantly twists meanings to manipulate thinking, equipping your child with critical thinking skills isn't optional—it's essential. The Careful Thinking curriculum gives your child the tools to discern truth from deception, starting with the very words we use every day. Don't let your child be caught off guard by cultural manipulation. Visit Foundation Worldview today to explore how Careful Thinking can transform the way your child evaluates every idea they encounter.

Well, that's a wrap for this episode, but my prayer for you as we leave our time together is the same as always: that no matter the situation in which you and the children that God has placed in your care find yourselves, that you would trust that God is working all things together for your good by using all things to conform you more to the image of His Son.

I'll see you next time.