Semantics?

Lately I seem to be a person who picks apart words. I've always loved words. I love song lyrics. I love poetry. I love a good book. Words have meaning. So what we say and how we say it says a lot and implies a lot.

I had bought some Christian books at Ollie's a few weeks back and I started a mom's devotional book by a familiar author. I struggled with some of what she said but day 6 was the pivotal point. The author said, and I quote, "Jesus partied with sinners." Now, I get what she was trying to say however, Jesus definitely did not party with sinners. He loved them, spent time with them, ministered to them and saved them but partied? The author, who was appealing to the world in her choice of words, implied Jesus joined in with the sinners. Where is the reverence and holiness? Where is the honor? Where is the truth of what scripture says?

Today I heard in reference to Matthew 6 that Jesus was "picking on" the Pharisees. Again, the implication here is outside the nature and character of God. Jesus may have corrected, rebuked, and disciplined, but never did he pick on anyone.

Some say this is splitting hairs. Others say it is just semantics or choices of words. So, do the words we choose matter? Does saying Jesus partied with sinners or picked on Pharisees paint an accurate picture?

It has really been frustrating to me lately to see the irreverent way we as the big "C" church use modern lingo to paint a picture at the risk of being scripturally inaccurate. So, what do you think...hair splitting, semantics, or a scriptural issue to address?