It's inevitable that languages change over time. Often we don't actually learn the definition of a word -- we infer its meaning by its usage and the other words around it. So we're often a little fuzzy on the precise definition of a word. Sometimes the process can completely bungle the meaning: my learning cohort was surprised last semester when we looked at the dictionary meaning of prodigal.
I heard one time that English has something like a quarter of a million distinct words, but the average adult only has a vocabulary of approximately 50,000 words. How does that affect us when we're trying to convey something so important as the Gospel? I think this can create some real hurdles. I wonder how many people sitting in churches this Sunday will get the meaning that the pastor intends? It's so important to define words like holy, sanctify, grace, etc...
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