Let the Church say “Amen”

What’s in a word?

Amen.

Amen is literally a universal word:

The word “amen” is a most remarkable word. It was transliterated directly from the Hebrew into the Greek of the New Testament, then into Latin and into English and many other languages, so that it is practically a universal word. It has been called the best-known word in human speech. The word is directly related–in fact, almost identical–to the Hebrew word for “believe” (aman), or “faithful.” Thus, it came to mean “sure” or truly,” an expression of absolute trust and confidence. When one believes God, he indicates his faith by an “amen.” When God makes a promise, the believer’s response is “amen”–”so it will be!” In the New Testament, it is often translated “verily” or “truly.” When we pray according to His Word and His will, we know God will answer, so we close with an “amen,” and so also do we conclude a great hymn or anthem of praise and faith.

The word is even a title of Christ Himself. The last of His letters to the seven churches begins with a remarkable salutation by the glorified Lord: “These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God” (Revelation 3:14).

We can be preeminently certain that His Word is always faithful and true, because He is none other than the Creator of all things, and thus He is our eternal “Amen.” As our text reminds us, every promise of God in Christ is “yea and amen,” as strong an affirmation of truth as can be expressed in the Greek language.

It is, therefore, profoundly meaningful that the entire Bible closes with an “amen.” “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen” (Revelation 22:21), assuring everyone who reads these words that the whole Book is absolutely true and trustworthy. Amen! – HMM

Thayers Greek Lexicon says this about the word:

It was a custom, which passed over from the synagogues into the Christian assemblies, that when he who had read or discoursed had offered up a solemn prayer to God, the others in attendance responded Amen, and thus made the substance of what was uttered their own

The most common meaning to Amen is: so be it. This is defined as “Let it be so” or “I accept it as it is”. For example, If you can’t change the reservation, so be it; I’ll travel on Monday. This phrase, often given as a translation of the Hebrew (and Greek and Latin) amen, has been employed in the current sense since about 1600.

I think the word is overused. Way overused and I’ll explain why.

Let the Church stop overusing the word “Amen”

Have you ever felt like a word gets overused so much so it loses it’s meaning? Words have a way of changing meaning based upon the intention of the person speaking it. It’s not that the word has actually changed but that the word loses it’s intensity. Kind of like listening to the same song over and over again…it’s loses it’s original effect. My previous post is in the similar vein to this. We says things without knowing what we are saying.

How many times have you been in Church and hear people say “Amen” after every sentence? Or people are preaching about the horrible things happening in the world and then hear people say “Amen”? Do we know what the word means? Are we saying “so be it” when things are being preached that are not biblical or when wrongs are spoken of? Are we saying “Amen” when the devil is having a hay day with someone? Are we standing in agreement with negativity unawares? Amen is a word of agreement more so than just a reply to a statement given.

Agreements are a powerful thing. We make them and break them all the time. What are you saying Amen to today?

Amen is meant to establish God’s kingdom on Earth with His Truth.