Money may be scarce, and character scarcer still, but words are “a dime a dozen”; or at least so it would seem from the careless way they are tossed around these days.  Observe the following few examples of wasted redundant language: 

“Born-again Christian” – what other kind has there ever been?

“Local congregation” – as opposed to what? an internet congregation? 

“Sooner rather than later” – what other type of sooner is there?

“Baptism by immersion” – isn’t that, by both definition and etymology, what baptism is?

“The consensus of opinion” – a consensus is an agreement of opinion; to speak of an agreement of opinion is nothing but an exercise in tautology.

I know.  In citing the foregoing I’ve strained at gnats, made mountains out of molehills, made much ado about nothing, and missed the forest for the trees.

All of which illustrates at least two things:  (1)  I need to be a bit less critical of the small infractions of others in matters of verbal expression, and (2) like most everyone else, I’m often guilty of the very thing I’ve charged against others.

One final thought:  Could the same be said concerning other areas of life as well?  Take another look at Matthew 7:1-5.