You and Y'all

TRANSCRIPT: Good morning, Five Minute Families! Do your kids ask you to tell them jokes? What about riddles? Riddles are especially fun because of the play on words. How do you make a library bigger? How? Add another story.   English grammar fascinates me. Word use and history, sentence structure and syntax. All of it. And, recently, we have read a few articles that dive into the history and use of the word y’all and its regional siblings of ‘you ‘uns’ and ‘you guys.’ The study of these words and their usage is fun. And, since the word ‘you’ is the technically correct word for both the single AND plural in English, applying these regional plural uses of the word ‘you’ can help us better understand biblical texts because the original Greek used in what became the New Testament Scripture had both a singular and plural version of ‘you.’ As Ryan Martin of The Gospel Coalition points out, Philippians 1:6 says, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” and 1 Corinthians 3:16 states, “Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?” In both of these passages, the ‘you’ is the plural form in the original Greek, not the singular, though we often apply them in singular contexts. In Corinthians God is addressing the divisions within the Corinthian church and how they are not properly witnessing about the oneness of God. You and y’all, him and them, she and they. Individual or Community focus. When you take a look at some small details, it can make a big difference. From an individual perspective, Jesus specifically demonstrates in Luke 19 how we are each held accountable for our own actions. Another person’s sin may affect us but it will not condemn us. Likewise, the Bible celebrates the one when Jesus tells the parable of leaving the 99 sheep to find the one. From a community focus, we see in Acts 2 how the believers shared all they had willingly with one another. There are also well over one hundred o