Daily Devotional

Recently, Dictionary.com announced that its annual “Word of the Year” for 2025 was 67... not the number sixty-seven, but the phrase “six-seven.” Depending on your exposure to teenagers, your response is probably somewhere between mild amusement and total bewilderment. You may have seen a teen react with a chuckle whenever these two numbers appear in sequence... or maybe you’ve heard these two numbers repeated SO often to the point where you now count by saying “five, six, the number after six, eight, nine.” Confused? Let me explain, as best I can.

“Six-seven” is, like most of Gen Alpha’s slang terms, sourced from viral videos on the Internet. The exact genesis of the phrase is unclear, but it has something to do with a rap song called “Doot Doot (Six Seven)” and TikTok videos of NBA players. Regardless, the “meme” has permeated youth Internet culture to the point where ANY conjunction of these two numbers is obnoxiously humorous (and demands a verbal response).. For example, when I tell the students on Sunday morning that they have “six or seven minutes” to finish their discussion questions, the entire group responds with a monotone “six seven!” (That’s a true story.)

Yet “six-seven” goes a step beyond other Gen Alpha slang terms, like “skibidi” (a adjective with a mostly negative connotation) or “rizz” (a shortened form of “charisma,” describing the force of one’s personality). “Six-seven,” by definition, has no meaning. It’s a thing teenagers do for no other reason than that other teenagers do it. In Dictionary.com’s own words, the phrase is “meaningless, ubiquitous, and nonsensical.”

Now, I could discuss the implications of “six-seven” for the spiritual and social condition of today’s youth. That to celebrate meaninglessness qua meaninglessness is only possible within the postmodern epistemology that Gen Alpha breathes unconsciously. That young people’s need to interrupt anytime the numbers 6 and 7 are put together reflects their prioritization of self-expression over traditional authority structures. That the trend demonstrates the Internet’s ability to spread social contagions (if a meaningless conjunction of two numbers can be adopted by virtually every teenager, imagine the speed and force with which truly evil ideas can be transmitted!). And maybe most importantly, that it betrays the desperate desire of every Gen Alpha heart to be known and accepted, which they believe is only possible if they’re “current” with the right trends and vocabulary.
 
But to take a page from the apostle Paul’s book, I suggest we take the meaninglessness that is “six-seven” and redeem it, baptize it, infuse it with biblical truth. Paul told the church in Corinth to “take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). Last I checked, “every thought” would include even things like “six-seven.” Nor was Paul above using the thought-forms of his culture to express biblical truths: he quoted pagan poets in a sermon (Acts 17:28)! So here are a few of my suggestions for repurposing the 2025 Word of the Year, “6-7:”

For students: In Matthew 6:7, Jesus tells his disciples not to “heap up empty phrases” when they praying, hoping that God will pay attention because of the many words they use. I think “six-seven” would qualify as an empty phrase (though probably not one used in prayer). Students, are your prayers boring, contentless, endlessly repetitive like the phrase “six-seven?” Maybe use “six-seven” as a reminder to evaluate your prayer life.
 
For parents: In Deuteronomy 6:7, Moses commands the people of Israel to teach their children diligently... specifically to teach the shemah (“Hear, O Israel; the LORD our God, the LORD is one) and the Great Commandment (You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might) (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). May the times we hear our children utter the phrase “six-seven” be a reminder of our responsibility to “bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).
 
For pastors and ministry leaders: Acts 6:7 is one of the “summary statements” in the book of Acts: “And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.” It’s a reminder that in a culture of hashtags, trends, and Internet algorithms, the good news about Jesus is still the most viral message in the history of the world. Do we preach like we believe the Word of God still has that power?
 
For teachers and those who work with youth: In Proverbs 6:16-19, Solomon uses a literary device from Hebrew poetry to describe “six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him.” Among these are verbal sins: “a lying tongue,” “a false witness who breaths out lies,” and “one who sows discord among brothers.” As irritating as the “six-seven” trend can be, it’s a reminder that the words our students use matter. God cares about what they do with their words, and so also should we.
 
A final word: trends are temporary; the word of God is forever. Anthropologists a hundred years from now will scratch their heads, wondering what on earth this “six-seven” business was all about, while a hundred billion years from now, the Word of God will still be “living and active” (Hebrews 4:12). If we spent as much time memorizing and applying Scripture as we did memorizing and applying the latest slang terms, how much better might our lives be?

"English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers."