Why the 2023 Word of the Year Is More Meaningful Than You Might Think
2023 has been a year full of ups and downs, but one of the more unexpected events from this year is that the word “rizz” was chosen as the word of the year by the Oxford University Press.
While rizz is used largely by Gen Z as a slang for having “style, charm, or, attractiveness, and the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner,” as the BBC reported, it is the root of this word that has true meaning.
Rizz ultimately comes from the word “charisma.”
Charisma, often something appealing, eye-catching or something that sounds delightful. But charisma is about more than just charming someone or something for romantic appeal. Instead, charisma can also describe our passion for Jesus. After all, the charismatic movement has been all about knowing God’s Holy Spirit on a deeper and more intimate level. It’s about expressing our love for Him and coming to know Him in a meaningful way through the gifts of the Spirit and a deeper understanding of the Scriptures. Charisma isn’t just about attracting people romantically, but rather it’s about being pulled in by something—or rather someone—at a deeper level.
So, did Jesus have charisma? Did the Savior of the world have rizz?
In this context, yes. Because He was fully God and fully man, Jesus had a way of drawing in people that no one else could or would ever be able to. He could identify with our needs because He knew what it was like to be hungry, lonely and pressured by temptation. He knew what it was like to experience pain. And in the same manner, He also had the full power of God to cast out demons, cleanse the lepers and raise the dead. People were drawn to Him and His words because only He could offer the full hope of the world. Only through Him could people experience what it felt like to have living water (John 4:14, 7:38).
And just as He was able to draw people in with His charisma—with His rizz, so to say—He has given us this same charisma through His Holy Spirit. And it is by the Holy Spirit that we are able to follow the path that God has intended for us. It is through the Holy Spirit that we are able to draw people in to know God through our own gifts and talents. We can use this very charisma to share the gospel with the people who otherwise would never have heard. By us knowing God, by us following Him in the purposes and callings that He has given us, we have the opportunity to attract people to the message of truth.
When we at Charisma Media think about what this word means, we believe it is about bringing people to a new level in their understanding of the Holy Spirit and who He is. It is about shining a light in the darkness so the lost may encounter Christ. So if that’s rizz, then we are happy to have it. {eoa}
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Abby Trivett is a marketing copywriter and coordinator for Charisma Media.
