As believers in Jesus Christ, we desire to be truth tellers and light dwellers. As much as possible, we aim to be clear and factual, avoiding falsehood and lies (Ephesians 4:25). Despite our best efforts, though, a trend has developed over the last couple of decades that our collective culture has willingly participated in. It is something that began innocuously enough but which has given birth to a recent expression of evil that has left many of us reeling: the seemingly respectable sin of exaggeration.
The Roots of Exaggeration: Unchecked Superlative
We’ve all been there. Someone does something banal, such as remembering to bring an umbrella when rain threatens, and our response is, “You’re a genius!” Merriam-Webster defines genius as “extraordinary intellectual power especially as manifested in creative activity” or “a person endowed with extraordinary mental superiority”. Does bringing an umbrella match this definition? How about resharing a “life hack” from TikTok? The standard for genius has apparently been lowered so precipitously that it has been rendered almost devoid of any real meaning. Is it telling the truth (accurately describing reality) to label someone a genius, even in jest or out of a desire to encourage, when they do not actually match the definition?
Or how about the word “hilarious”? Again, the dictionary defines it as “extremely funny”. Is that Dad Joke hilarious (perhaps to the dad who told it, but even then, would the adjective “extremely” rightly define it)? Or what about that face your pet supposedly made?
One final example. The word awesome is tossed around lightly in our culture, describing everything from our favourite food to our trip to see Niagara Falls. Awesome means “inspiring awe”, and awe is defined as “an emotion variously combining dread, veneration, and wonder that is inspired by authority or by the sacred or sublime”. Did that movie you just watched cause you to worship or hold it as sacred, filling you with an overwhelming sense of your finitude and causing you to be humbled by the depth of your smallness? How about that meal you just had at your new favourite restaurant? Did the steak or lobster render you speechless, unable to process the vastness of its glory? I doubt even the best cut of Alberta beef or the freshest catch of Atlantic Canadian seafood could ever, or should ever, be put in the same category as discovering another facet of the thrice holy God which impacts you deep in the core of your soul.
Perhaps at this point you are asking, “What’s the big deal? Is exaggeration sinful?” There is nuance here as always, so consider three realities as we further probe this idea of using exaggeration.
Three Considerations Regarding Exaggeration
Exaggeration Robs Words of Their Meaning
This has been covered somewhat already, but reaching for superlatives when they are not called for reduces their original meaning from something excellent, superior, and notable to that which is ordinary, everyday, and routine. If everything is hilarious, nothing is. If everyone is a genius, no one is. As individuals called to speak truth (Colossians 3:9), it is incumbent on believers to moderate their responses, so that the words uttered match the reality experienced.
One way we have attempted to respond to this is the overabundant use of adjectives, but that is simply pushing the issue further down the line. Now even our adjectives are becoming flatlined in the same way our nouns have become. Have you written an email and thought that saying you were grateful wasn’t enough? To properly express your thanksgiving, did you feel the need to add “deeply”? Or even “eternally”? Having bled our descriptive nouns dry we are well on our way to doing the same with our adjectives and are moving on to using multiple adjectives when a single word, properly used, would do. Part of telling the truth is accurately expressing ourselves and our experiences.
Exaggeration Applies an Inappropriate Ceiling to Language
If excellent was meant to be a “ceiling word”, like best, greatest, etc., what is the practical ramification of reaching for those words too frequently to describe lesser realities? When the top has been utilized to communicate the bottom, where can we go in our messaging? We have committed the linguistic equivalent of the boy who cried wolf. Now when something awe-inspiring occurs, we have so completely emptied our verbal shelf of superlatives we find ourselves unable to properly describe our experience. We have collectively agreed to lower the linguistic bar, and the result is the desecrating of our speech. It is no accident then that our culture has no language for the truly spectacular, amazing, or fantastic, since those words have already been taken to apply to, for instance, a level completed in a video game, the latest book series being enjoyed, or the most recent movie watched.
How does this impact our relationship with God? One result is that words that should only properly be used to characterize God, when used regularly to depict lower things, rob God of the exclusivity due him. When the latest creation at our favourite coffee shop has been consistently labelled “divine”, where do we go and what word do we reach for when we speak about our heavenly Father? When the sleep we had last night was “heavenly”, how do we process the wonders of our eternal rest? Part of telling the truth is leaving room for the greater and reserving the greatest for God, who alone can be accurately described as such.
Exaggeration Is Lying in Disguise
Finally, we know that exaggerating is purposely telling a falsehood, whether for dramatic purposes or to intentionally mislead. While Scripture doesn’t have an abundance of material on exaggeration, Numbers 13:33 comes to mind. While the giants among the inhabitants of Canaan were imposing, the fearful spies recounting their experience to the people of Israel as having made them feel like grasshoppers certainly had its intended effect.
Exaggerating per se may not be directly addressed much, but perjury is, as in Exodus 20:16 and 1 Timothy 1:10. Perjury has become so common in our society we may not give it much thought, but overstating reality is a lie, even if employed in what is perceived as a good cause. Jesus himself says in Matthew 5:37 that our speech should be simple, without the necessity of oaths to establish its veracity (Leviticus 19:12).
Of course, lying is repeatedly and emphatically condemned throughout Scripture – Proverbs 6:17 & 19, 12:22, 14:5 & 25, and 26:28. Exaggeration, whatever else we may call it, is exactly that – lying. It is, by definition, a distortion of reality, and therefore cannot be the truth. Part of telling the truth, then, is only recounting what we have verified and neither speaking nor sharing that which overstates our case, even (or especially) if we feel it makes it stronger.
The Potential Deadly Impact of Consistent Exaggeration
There is one final result of the pervasive use of exaggeration in our culture. When we broadly employ the improper labelling of those we disagree with, it can be thought that actual violence is justified in ones dealing with them. What then is the cumulative impact of labelling someone your favourite -ist, -phobe, or the ever-popular Hitler? If Hitler has attained the status of the worst, most evil human in our collective consciousness, what happens when we repeatedly label our opponent as such? We may believe we are employing exaggeration for effect and assume everyone perceives it that way. But what damage is done when these labels are consistently applied, especially when they are untrue and grossly out of proportion?
Our culture seems to have accepted this use of exaggeration as not only acceptable but perhaps even necessary. As followers of Jesus Christ, we must be better. Regardless of how we feel towards someone, especially if we view them as our enemy, we must see them as God does. First, he sees them accurately, without hyperbole, and second, that even if they are an object of his judgment, he does not delight in their destruction (Ezekiel 18:23 and 33:11). To live out the gospel is to heed the call of Jesus, and he was very clear about how we ought to interact with our enemies: we are to love them and pray for them – Matthew 5:43-44 and Luke 6:27-36.
A Final Word
A commitment to eliminate exaggeration should be standard amongst believers in Christ, especially when our culture has made it seemingly ubiquitous and thereby almost unrecognizable. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. I trust this article helps all of us begin to see exaggeration wherever it appears and to do our part to resist using it, stop repeating it, and hold our fellow Christians accountable when they employ it.
Before you share that post, especially the one that really “gives it” to the other side, ask, “Is there any exaggeration in this?” If so, reconsider passing it along.
Before you share that story or statistic you heard, again ask, “Is there anything exaggerated in this? Is this completely factual? Is it from multiple reputable sources?” Consider how to recount the information accurately.
Before you engage in exaggeration, either in conversation, text, a social media post, etc., ask, “Is this fully legitimate or have I embellished, even with good intentions?”
God, may our communication reflect your character, and may a part of that be our repudiation of exaggeration.
