The Rectification of Names
When we call things by their true names—their God-ordained purposes—reality snaps into focus. When we accept the world's definitions, we participate in the rebellion against divine order.
Twenty-five centuries ago, the Chinese philosopher Confucius identified a profound truth: social disorder stems from the failure to call things by their proper names. When asked what he would do if he were governor, he said he would "rectify the names" to make words correspond to reality. He understood that when a ruler doesn't truly rule, a father doesn't truly father, yet we still use these titles, language becomes divorced from reality and society crumbles.
Confucius glimpsed something fundamental—that proper naming is essential for proper living. As he taught: "If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success." This ancient wisdom recognized that words aren't merely labels but formative powers that shape how we understand and interact with reality.
But Confucius, brilliant as he was, only saw shadows on the cave wall. The full truth he intuited but couldn't fully grasp is this: Every misnamed thing is rebellion against the Logos—Christ who orders all reality.
The rectification of names that Confucius sought through human wisdom and social ordering, Christ provides through divine revelation and spiritual transformation. Where Confucius saw the need for proper relationships between ruler and subject, parent and child, Christ reveals the ultimate relationship that orders all others—Creator and creation, Redeemer and redeemed.
"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness." — Isaiah 5:20
From Confucian Insight to Christian Fulfillment
Confucius was right that the rectification of names is fundamental to social order. His five basic relationships—ruler to subject, parent to child, husband to wife, elder to younger sibling, friend to friend—capture real patterns in human society. He correctly saw that when these relationships function according to their true nature, society flourishes.
But without knowledge of the Logos who created these patterns, Confucius could only describe the shadows, not the substance. He could identify that fathers should act like fathers, but couldn't fully explain why fatherhood has a particular nature. He could see that names should correspond to reality, but couldn't identify the ultimate Reality to which all names must correspond.
This is where Christ as Logos completes what Confucius began. The Chinese sage asked the right questions; Christ is the answer.
Understanding Logos and Logoi
To understand why names matter at the deepest level, we must understand the relationship between Christ as Logos and the logoi of creation.
Christ is the Logos—the divine Word, the rational principle that holds all reality together. As John declares: "In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God" (John 1:1). Through Him all things were made, and in Him all things hold together (Colossians 1:16-17).
Every created thing has its logos (plural: logoi)—its divine purpose, its reason for being, its proper place in God's design. A tree has a logos. A family has a logos. Science has a logos. Government has a logos. Each individual purpose (logos) finds its meaning and unity in the supreme Logos, Christ Himself.
St. Maximus the Confessor taught that sin is fundamentally the misuse of things—disconnecting them from their logoi. When we use something contrary to its divine purpose, we create falsehood and destruction. When we name things according to their true logoi, we participate in divine order.
This is why the rectification of names isn't just semantic precision—it's spiritual warfare. Every proper definition aligns us with Christ as Logos. Every corrupted definition aligns us with the father of lies.
Confucius intuited this battle between order and chaos, between proper naming and confusion. But he lacked the revelation of the One who spoke creation into being, who is Himself the Word through whom all words find their meaning.
The Catastrophic Consequences of Misnaming
We live in an age of systematic misnaming that would have horrified Confucius. We call baby murder "reproductive healthcare." We call sexual mutilation "gender-affirming care." We call greed "ambition," lust "love," and cowardice "tolerance." Every corrupted definition pulls us further from God's design, deeper into the confusion that comes from rejecting divine order.
When Politics Forgets Its Purpose
Modern politics calls itself "public service" while serving private interests. It claims to "represent the people" while representing donors. It promises "progress" while progressing toward civilizational collapse.
Politics properly named: The creation of physical and legal substrates that enable communities of believers to pursue their God-given callings, protect families in their formation duties, and facilitate collective works of kingdom advancement that individuals cannot accomplish alone. "Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established" (Romans 13:1). "Seek the peace and prosperity of the city" (Jeremiah 29:7).
When politics disconnects from this logos, it becomes idolatry—the worship of power rather than service to God through governance.
When Education Abandons Formation
We call it "education" but it doesn't educate—it indoctrinates. We measure "achievement" by test scores while producing spiritually dead, mentally ill children who can't build anything real.
Education properly named: The formation of human beings who can recognize their divine nature, understand their gifts, develop wisdom about the fallen world, and channel their abilities into vocations that honor God while serving genuine human needs. "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6). "These commandments...impress them on your children" (Deuteronomy 6:6-7). See: The Formation Crisis for why current systems fail our children.
Modern schools teach facts divorced from meaning, skills divorced from purpose, and success divorced from righteousness. They've forgotten that "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge" (Proverbs 1:7).
When Science Denies Its Calling
Science claims to seek "truth" while denying Truth Himself exists. It promises to explain reality while refusing to acknowledge reality's Author.
Science properly named: The investigation of how God designed every element of reality—both the layers we can observe and those we cannot. It's the systematic exploration of divine craftsmanship, revealing God's genius in quantum mechanics and galaxies alike. "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands" (Psalm 19:1). "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities...have been clearly seen" (Romans 1:20).
When science pretends to be its own god rather than exploring God's creation, it becomes scientism—a false religion that worships creation rather than Creator.
When Art Glorifies Ugliness
Contemporary art celebrates degeneracy, ugliness, and chaos while calling itself "provocative" and "boundary-pushing." Museums display crucifixes in urine and call it "challenging traditional values."
Art properly named: The practice of using God-given creativity to illuminate and embody divine truth, beauty, and goodness. It's participating in God's creative nature by making beauty that points back to the Ultimate Beauty. "He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers" (Exodus 35:35). "Whatever is true, whatever is noble...think about such things" (Philippians 4:8).
When art disconnects from divine beauty, it becomes propaganda for chaos—training souls to mistake ugliness for sophistication.
The Modern Tower of Babel
Today's systematic misnaming represents a new Tower of Babel—humanity's attempt to construct reality apart from God. But instead of building with bricks, we're building with corrupted definitions.
Consider how the enemy has weaponized language:
"Love" now means affirming whatever someone wants rather than willing their highest good. Love properly understood means desiring someone's sanctification even when it requires difficult truth. "Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth" (1 Corinthians 13:6). "This is love for God: to keep his commands" (1 John 5:3). The world's "love" enables destruction; God's love enables transformation.
"Freedom" means the right to self-destruction rather than liberation from sin. True freedom is the ability to become who God designed you to be, not permission to become your own god. "For freedom Christ has set us free" (Galatians 5:1)—free from sin's bondage, not free to embrace it. "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Corinthians 3:17).
"Tolerance" means accepting evil rather than patient endurance of others while speaking truth. Biblical tolerance bears with others in love while maintaining standards of righteousness. "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love" (Ephesians 4:2). "Speaking the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15). Modern tolerance demands silence about sin.
"Progress" means moving away from God's design rather than toward His kingdom. Real progress moves toward divine order, not away from it. "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness" (Matthew 6:33). "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal" (Philippians 3:13-14). Every step away from God's design is regress, no matter what we call it.
"Faith" means blind belief without evidence rather than trust built through relationship. Biblical faith (pistis) meant warranty, guarantee, assurance in the ancient world. It's the accumulated confidence from experiencing God's faithfulness repeatedly—relational proof, not wishful thinking. "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). See: What Faith Really Means and How to Walk in It for correcting the catastrophic modern misunderstanding of faith.
"Identity" means whatever you feel rather than who God says you are. Your true identity is image-bearer of God, not whatever current emotion or desire dominates. "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" (1 John 3:1).
Why Language is Spiritual Warfare
When God created through speech—"Let there be light"—He demonstrated that words create reality. When Adam named the animals, he participated in God's ordering of creation. Words aren't just labels; they're formative powers that shape how we understand and interact with reality.
Satan understands this. That's why his primary weapon is deception—corrupting definitions to corrupt understanding. When he told Eve "you will not surely die," he redefined death. When he tempted Jesus with worldly kingdoms, he redefined power.
Every corrupted definition is a foothold for demonic influence. When we accept the world's definitions, we're agreeing with lies about reality's nature. This is why Paul commands us to "take every thought captive to obey Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5)—including the very definitions we use to think.
The Divine Pattern for Human Roles
The confusion reaches its peak in how we've corrupted the definitions of human roles and relationships. The world tells us these are "social constructs" that can be redefined at will. But Scripture reveals divine patterns that reflect heavenly realities.
Man and Woman
Man properly named: Image-bearer of God called to sacrificial leadership, protection, and provision in the family structure. His headship reflects Christ's relationship with the church—loving leadership that serves rather than dominates. "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her" (Ephesians 5:25). "Anyone who does not provide for their relatives...has denied the faith" (1 Timothy 5:8).
Woman properly named: Image-bearer of God called to nurturing strength, wisdom, and partnership in the family structure. Her role reflects the church's relationship with Christ—responsive love that multiplies rather than diminishes. "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come" (Proverbs 31:25). "A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies" (Proverbs 31:10).
Both are equally valuable, equally made in God's image, but with distinct and complementary callings. Modern confusion about gender stems from rejecting these divine definitions.
Family
Family properly named: The foundational unit of civilization where God's image is transmitted across generations. A covenant community where children learn divine patterns through observing their parents' marriage and experiencing unconditional love within defined structure. "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). "As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD" (Joshua 24:15).
Not a "lifestyle choice" or "social arrangement" but a divine institution that images the Trinity's relational nature.
Children
Children properly named: Divine gifts entrusted to parents for formation into their God-given callings. Not property, not accessories, not burdens, but sacred trusts requiring faithful stewardship.
"Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him" (Psalm 127:3). "Let the little children come to me...for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these" (Matthew 19:14). Every child bears divine purpose that parents must help them discover and develop.
The Wisdom of Ancient Observers
It's remarkable that across cultures and centuries, wise observers have recognized the importance of proper naming. The Mohists in ancient China developed their own version emphasizing objective standards. Greek philosophers like Heraclitus spoke of the Logos as the hidden harmony behind all things. These weren't Christians, yet they glimpsed fragments of divine truth.
This demonstrates what Paul taught in Romans—that God's law is written on human hearts, that creation itself testifies to divine order. Confucius's insight about rectification of names wasn't wrong; it was incomplete. He saw the problem clearly but lacked the full solution that comes only through Christ.
Reclaiming Territories Through Renamed Realities
The path forward requires aggressive reclamation of language for the Kingdom. This isn't about being pedantic—it's about refusing to participate in rebellion against divine order.
In Your Personal Life
Start with how you think and speak about your own life:
- Replace "my career" with "my calling"
- Replace "my goals" with "God's purposes for me"
- Replace "my identity" with "image-bearer redeemed by Christ"
- Replace "my rights" with "my responsibilities before God"
- Replace "finding myself" with "dying to self"
In Your Family
Restore proper names within your household:
- Call sin "sin," not "mistakes" or "poor choices"
- Call obedience "blessing," not "restriction"
- Call discipline "love," not "harsh treatment"
- Call prayer "conversation with our King," not "religious activity"
- Call church "the body of Christ," not "Sunday obligation"
In Your Community
Be willing to stand against corrupted definitions:
- When others celebrate rebellion, name it as destruction
- When others normalize perversion, name it as corruption
- When others promote "progress," ask "toward what end?"
- When others demand "tolerance," ask "of what exactly?"
This will cost you socially. The world hates having its false definitions exposed. But Christ promised persecution for those who stand for truth (John 15:20).
The Power of Creating New Language
Sometimes existing words are so corrupted—so overloaded with contradictory meanings—that using them creates more confusion than clarity. Take "love" for example. When you say "I love you" in modern culture, do you mean Hollywood romance? Sexual desire? Emotional attachment? Or the biblical agape love that wills another's highest good even at personal cost? The word has become so diluted that Christians and secularists can use the same word while meaning completely opposite things.
This is why creating new language becomes necessary. Not out of novelty or pride, but out of practical necessity for clear communication and spiritual coordination. When every word you use requires a paragraph of clarification to distinguish God's meaning from the world's corruption, it's time for fresh vocabulary.
Consider what I've attempted with terms like:
"Sinfrastructure"—Systems designed to make sin easier and righteousness harder. Dating apps, social media algorithms, gambling platforms. Infrastructure that promotes spiritual destruction. See: Recognize and Resist Sinfrastructure
Why not just say "bad systems"? Because that doesn't capture the intentional, systematic engineering of temptation. "Sinfrastructure" immediately communicates that these aren't neutral tools being misused—they're purpose-built for spiritual destruction.
"Christofuturism"—A vision for technology and society that maintains proper hierarchy: God reigns supreme, humans serve God, technology serves humans. Not rejecting advancement but ensuring it serves kingdom purposes.
Why not just say "Christian technology ethics"? Because that sounds like adding religious rules to secular progress. "Christofuturism" declares a complete reorientation of how we approach the future—not as progressives or conservatives, but as kingdom builders.
"Truth Economy"—Economic systems that fund kingdom advancement rather than satanic causes. Business as ministry, commerce as discipleship.
Why not just say "ethical business"? Because secular ethics shift with culture. "Truth Economy" anchors commerce in eternal reality, not temporal trends.
The Challenge and Opportunity of Linguistic Leadership
The challenge with new language is obvious: education. Every new term requires explanation, repetition, and patience. You become a teacher whether you intended to or not. But this challenge contains profound opportunity—especially for leaders building new communities committed to following God's will.
When a community agrees to adopt new language together, something powerful happens. You create a shared vocabulary that:
- Instantly identifies insiders who understand the deeper meanings
- Builds group cohesion around precisely defined concepts
- Protects against infiltration by those who use familiar words with corrupt meanings
- Accelerates spiritual formation by eliminating linguistic confusion
- Creates accountability through shared understanding of terms
Think about how the early church used words like "ecclesia" (called-out assembly) rather than existing religious terms. Or how they transformed "agape" from a rarely-used Greek word into the definitive term for divine love. They weren't just borrowing language—they were creating a new linguistic framework for a new spiritual reality.
When Communities Coordinate Through Clarified Language
If you're leading a faith community serious about rectification of names, you have unprecedented opportunity. Your community can:
Develop a common lexicon that everyone learns during onboarding. New members study not just doctrine but the precise language you use to describe it. This isn't legalism—it's clarity.
Create linguistic boundaries that protect spiritual concepts. When everyone knows that "love" in your community specifically means "willing another's sanctification," you've eliminated entire categories of confusion and manipulation.
Build faster and deeper because you're not constantly clarifying terms. When everyone shares precise definitions, spiritual conversations can go deeper faster. You spend less time explaining what you mean and more time exploring what God means.
Resist cultural corruption more effectively. When the world redefines marriage, gender, or justice, your community has already established uncorrupted terms that anchor understanding in divine reality rather than cultural drift.
Train children properly from the beginning. Children raised with precise, uncorrupted language don't have to unlearn worldly definitions later. They grow up with clear categories for understanding God's design.
The Biblical Precedent for New Language
Scripture itself demonstrates this principle. Jesus constantly created new definitions and categories:
- Calling His followers "born again"—a phrase that didn't exist before
- Describing the "kingdom of heaven"—a new concept for Jewish listeners
- Redefining "neighbor" through the Good Samaritan parable
Paul invented theological vocabulary that didn't exist in Greek:
- "Fellow heirs" (συγκληρονόμος)
- "Transformation" (μεταμόρφωσις) in spiritual context
- Compound words to describe spiritual realities
The apostles weren't bound by existing language when it failed to capture divine truth. Neither should we be.
Creating new language helps people recognize patterns they couldn't see before. When you name something properly, you gain power over it—the power to resist, reform, or build alternatives. But more than that—when a community adopts clarified language together, they gain the power to coordinate their understanding, accelerate their spiritual growth, and build God's kingdom with unprecedented clarity and unity.
The Ultimate Rectification
The ultimate rectification of names comes through encounter with Christ as Logos. When we align with Him, every other definition snaps into proper focus. Apart from Him, even our best attempts at definition drift into confusion.
This is why Jesus could make seemingly absurd statements that were actually perfect definitions:
- "Whoever loses their life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 10:39)
- "The last will be first" (Matthew 20:16)
- "Blessed are the poor in spirit" (Matthew 5:3)
He was revealing reality's true structure, which appears inverted to those operating from corrupted definitions.
A Call to Linguistic Reformation
The reformation our generation needs isn't just theological or political—it's linguistic. We must reclaim language for the Kingdom, restore proper definitions, and refuse to participate in Babylon's confused speech.
This starts with you. Today. In how you think, speak, and teach your children.
Every time you use a word, you're either aligning with Christ as Logos or participating in rebellion against divine order. There is no neutral ground in the war over definitions.
The question is: Will you speak reality as God designed it, or will you echo the world's confused babble?
Will you call things by their true names?
The Rectified Dictionary
A growing collection of terms restored to their God-ordained meanings.
Art — The practice of using God-given creativity to illuminate and embody divine truth, beauty, and goodness; participating in God's creative nature by making beauty that points to Ultimate Beauty.
Career — A secular distortion of calling; properly understood as vocation: the particular way God has equipped and positioned you to serve His kingdom through work.
Church — The living body of Christ on earth; not a building or institution but the community of believers indwelt by the Holy Spirit, called to manifest God's kingdom.
Democracy — A governance system that enables the free exchange of ideas; valuable only insofar as it protects religious freedom and enables gospel spread; not an end in itself.
Education — Formation of human beings who can recognize their divine nature, understand their gifts, develop wisdom about the fallen world, and channel abilities into God-honoring vocations.
Faith — Trust leading to unshakable confidence, built through accumulated experience of God's faithfulness; not blind belief but warranty and assurance based on God's proven character; the process of God nurturing trust in our hearts that grows through obedience and witness.
Family — The foundational unit of civilization where God's image is transmitted across generations; a covenant community imaging the Trinity's relational nature.
Freedom — Liberation from sin's bondage to become who God designed you to be; not license for self-destruction but empowerment for righteousness.
Gender — The divine distinction between male and female, each reflecting unique aspects of God's image with complementary callings; not a social construct but a creation ordinance.
Government — God-ordained authority structure meant to restrain evil and enable human flourishing; legitimate only when recognizing its authority comes from God.
Identity — Who God says you are: image-bearer, beloved child, redeemed sinner, royal priest; not self-determined but divinely declared.
Justice — Alignment with God's righteousness (dikaiosune); not equality of outcome but rendering to each what is due according to divine law.
Language — Tool for understanding and conveying divine reality; meant to clarify truth, build relationship with God, and enable kingdom work; not arbitrary labels but formative powers.
Literature — Written works that illuminate deeper truths about God's reality and human nature; properly helps readers understand their place in God's story.
Love — Willing the highest good of another according to God's design; not affirming desires but desiring sanctification; not emotion but commitment to another's godliness.
Marriage — Covenant union between man and woman imaging Christ's relationship with the church; not a contract but a sacrament; not self-fulfillment but mutual sanctification.
Philosophy — The love of wisdom that helps people understand God's design, answer ultimate questions, and come to Christ; properly leads to theology; becomes destructive when divorced from divine revelation.
Politics — The creation of physical and legal substrates enabling communities to pursue callings, protect families, and accomplish collective kingdom works impossible individually.
Progress — Movement toward God's kingdom and righteousness; not technological advancement or social change that moves away from divine design.
Reformation Systems — Institutions meant to reform people who have fallen away from right relationship with God; not punishment but restoration; successful only when pointing back to divine order.
Religion — Organized means for members of Christ's body to support each other in walking the fullness of faith; becomes corrupted when replacing relationship with ritual.
Rights — Properly understood as responsibilities before God; what God commands us to respect in others, not entitlements we demand for ourselves.
School — Institutions for formation, developing people who can live up to their divine calling; not information factories but transformation centers.
Science — Investigation of how God designed reality's observable and hidden layers; exploration of divine craftsmanship; becomes idolatry when claiming to explain reality apart from its Creator.
Success — Faithful obedience to God's calling regardless of worldly outcomes; not achievement, wealth, or recognition but alignment with divine purpose.
Technology — Tools meant to serve humans who serve God; becomes idolatrous when elevated above humanity or used to avoid spiritual development.
Tolerance — Patient endurance of others while speaking truth in love; not acceptance of evil but Christ-like patience with sinners while maintaining righteousness standards.
Truth — That which corresponds to reality as God designed it; ultimately personified in Christ who declared "I am the Truth"; not relative but absolute; not constructed but discovered.
Wealth — Resources entrusted by God for kingdom advancement; not personal property but divine stewardship; meant to bless others and fund God's purposes.
Work — Participation in God's creative and sustaining activity; not curse but calling; not merely earning money but cultivating creation and serving others.
Worship — Proper response to God's worth; not just Sunday singing but entire life oriented toward glorifying God; whatever receives your highest devotion.
"In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God... All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made." — John 1:1,3
When we name things according to their true logoi, we participate in the divine ordering of reality. This is the beginning of wisdom.