What a Difference a Preposition Makes

By Tim Wilkins

Of the eight parts of speech, the seemingly insignificant preposition may be the most crucial part of a sentence.

“A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence.” Simply put, whatever an airplane can do to a cloud is a preposition-a plane can fly through, over, in, around, behind a cloud. You get the idea.

While most people may not know the actual definition of a preposition, most know the idiom that a preposition should not fall at the end of a sentence.

It has been said that when Winston Churchill was corrected for ending a sentence with a preposition, he remanded the person by saying, “That is something up with which I shall not put.”

As a former homosexual who talks openly about what Christ has done in my life, I often catch myself saying that I used to struggle with homosexuality. I hear other Christians use similar terminology “A gossiping tongue is what I have wrestled with.” or “My besetting sin was with pornography.”

Over time I have come to realize that ‘with’ is not the correct preposition; the correct preposition is ‘against.’

The Apostle Paul did not address our struggle with evil–rather he addressed our struggle against evil. In Ephesians 6:12, he wrote, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Not only did Paul use the appropriate preposition, he used it five times in one verse.

As I reflect on my journey out of homosexuality, I wonder if it might have hastened had I mentally applied the correct preposition; the journey out was every bit a wrestling match. Note Paul’s use of wrestle alludes to ancient Greek games, but should in no way be compared to what is today called Professional Wrestling in which every move is choreographed with great precision. On the contrary, these wrestlings come unplanned and unannounced. This is spiritual warfare versus physical warfare.

Henceforth I will use the correct preposition-”I used to struggle against homosexuality.” Though it sounds odd and someone may correct me, my reply will be “That is something up with which I will not put.”

What a difference a preposition makes!

© 2004 Tim Wilkins/Cross Ministry

(Permission granted to reprint contingent on citing Cross Ministry http://www.crossministry.org)

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