“And it begs the question…”
“Oooh!”
I looked at my co-worker, surprised by her outburst. “Is something the matter?”
Embarrassed, she stammered, “No, no.”
I knew she would never react like that unless something truly bothered her, so I persisted. “What’s wrong?”
She hesitated. “It’s just that the phrase ‘begs the question’ is always used incorrectly.”
I was confused. “And you’re saying I used it incorrectly? How?”
She smiled apologetically. “Most people use it to mean ‘raises the question,’ but that’s not what it originally means. To ‘beg the question’ is to assume your conclusion without proving it.”
I laughed. “So all these years…”
“…you’ve been using it like almost everyone else,” she replied.
And she was right.
Strictly speaking, “begging the question” is a logical fallacy. It means assuming the very thing you’re trying to prove. Yet in ordinary conversation, people commonly use it to mean “raises the question.”
I had no idea.
That conversation stayed with me. Not because I suddenly became interested in grammar or logic, but because it reminded me how easy it is to assume we know something simply because we have heard it repeated often enough. Sometimes we don’t examine our words. Sometimes we don’t examine our opinions. And sometimes we don’t examine ourselves.
The apostle Paul wrote:
Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.
2 Corinthians 13:5 (ESV)
As Christians, we should love truth—not merely what is familiar, popular, or comfortable. It is possible to repeat phrases we have heard all our lives without understanding them. More seriously, it is possible to hold spiritual assumptions we have never carefully examined. Why do I believe what I believe? Am I trusting Christ because I truly know Him, or simply because I have inherited certain traditions? Am I seeking God’s will, or merely assuming that my will and His are the same?
My co-worker wasn’t trying to embarrass me. She was reminding me—without realizing it—that humility means being willing to learn, willing to be corrected, and willing to follow truth wherever it leads.
Perhaps that, in itself, raises an important question.
Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.
#faith #trustinggod #christianity #jesuschrist #bible #seekinggodswill #truth #sanctification #godisincontrol #godhearsourprayers #salvation #providenceofGod #begsthequestion #2Corinthians13:5
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