This week, Andrew Taylor-Troutman reflects on words that guide people of faith. Find his blog series here.
“Righteous” is derived from the Latin term for “straight,” and the word did have moral implications in ancient Rome. “Right” was contrasted with “left,” a word that meant sinister. This definition lingered into the early-20th century when many children were forbidden from using their left hands if they were naturally dominant.
But in our context, it seems to me that the meaning has changed hands — righteous often has a negative connotation. When I hear people talk about the word, it seems they automatically think of self-righteousness. Since we are quick to make an idol out of being right in our hyper-partisan culture, it was helpful when a guest preacher from Costa Rica pointed out to our congregation that, in the famous parable of the sorting of sheep and goats, no one knows he or she is righteous (Matthew 25:37–39).
And yet, we know a righteous act when we see it, right? Old English had the term “rightwise,” which may have morphed into our word, righteous. In this case, “wise” meant to follow a pattern, as in “clockwise.” As we can follow the hands around a clockface, we know that actions (or inactions) speak louder than words.
Our preacher from Costa Rica described the negative impact of pineapple plantations on the local villages, particularly how the chemicals sprayed on the fruit contaminated the water supply. After several years of petitioning, a government official from the department of health finally visited the area and had the water tested. Just as the inhabitants claimed, dozens of chemicals were found in the water — yet the government official insisted that the water was safe to drink!
As the adults were arguing, a young girl quietly filled a glass of water from the aqueduct. Then she walked up to the government official and offered him the drink!
In Matthew 25, Jesus said that the righteous gave water to those who were thirsty. In Costa Rica that day, a little child defined righteousness as offering a drink of truth to power.
