Imagine that you had a superpower. It's not the power of flight, super-speed, or invisibility, but it is the ability to cut a person down where they stand or raise the downtrodden up. What is this superpower?
It is the power of words on your tongue. It is a superpower that we all have.
Far too often, we cannot tell the difference in the conversations of a Christian and the conversations of a non-Christian. Well, one may say "heck" instead of "hell," but the conversation themes are frighteningly similar.
We even hear the same phrases uttered by either group.
"I'm just telling it like it is."
"If I'm mean/sarcastic/insulting, it's a sign that I like you."
"It's better for you to hear it from me."
"Did you hear about _______?"
"It's just a joke. Can't you take a joke? I'm just kidding; lighten up!"
Frankly, I am sickened by the use Christians have been making with this superpower. We have the power to build each other up, but we are using it to tear each other down instead. Bah!!
I expect depravity and petty hurtfulness from the world and its people, but I expect more of Christians. We who bear the name of Christ are called to be light and salt. Instead of shining light on the path to Jesus and helping to preserve people, we are shining the light on the worst areas of people to ridicule them and then rubbing salt in their wounds. We have become all too fluent in the worldly language of sarcasm. Sarcasm has no place in the life of the believer. It is cruel and is designed to hurt or cut another person down. We use sarcasm to speak rude things to each other with a laugh and a thin smile.
PEOPLE ARE DYING!! PEOPLE ARE TAKING THEIR OWN LIVES!! Why?!?!? Because culture has convinced them that they are worthless, hopeless, irredeemable, and broken. And the church is reinforcing that message instead of speaking truth, life, and hope to people. We speak words of condemnation to those who are already hurting, instead of pointing them to the true source of grace, mercy, and healing. We speak of judgment, but fail to point to the hope people can have in Jesus Christ. We cry out that the wages of sin is death, but fail to mention that the gift of God is eternal life.
The Bible has a lot to say about words and their power.
Proverbs 6:16-19 lists 6-7 things that God hates. They include a lying tongue, a wicked/scheming heart, false witnesses, and conflict stirrers in a community. How many times have we added fuel to the fire by gossiping or saying things that we know will stir the pot? God have mercy on us!
Proverbs 12:18 tells us that "the words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." Are your words piercing people and their souls like swords, or are your words bringing healing to hurting people?
Proverbs 15:4 states that "the soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit." Are your words crushing the spirit of a person, or are your words soothing and a source of life?
Proverbs 18:21 tells us that "the tongue has the power of life and death..." Are your words bringing life or death to those who hear you?
Matthew 12:35-37 is a scary passage. Jesus is teaching that good people bring good things from the good inside them, but evil people bring evil things from the evil inside them. Every person on this earth will give an account before God on the day of judgment for every empty word that they have spoken. Your words will acquit you or your words will condemn you. The danger isn't just speaking evil words, but there is an equal danger in speaking empty words. How have you been speaking?
James 1:26 tells us that if you think of yourself as religious, but yet you have a loose tongue that is not reined in, you deceive yourself and have a worthless religion. Do you keep your tongue reined in or is your religion worthless?
James 3:1-12 is a whole passage on taming the tongue. It is called boastful, corrupting, fire-setting, and a world of evil. It is a restless evil and is full of deadly poison. How can we praise God and curse man with the same tongue? People are made in God's likeness. How are you doing taming your tongue? Are you letting it set fires?
Ephesians 4:29 is a familiar passage that exhorts us to prevent unwholesome talk from coming out of our mouths. Let words that build others up according to their needs be spoken. Speak words that benefit those who listen. Do your words tear others down or build them up?
1 Peter 3:8-12 challenges us to be like-minded, sympathetic, loving, compassionate, and humble. We should not pay back evil for evil or insult for insult, but rather we should pay back evil done to us with blessings. Do you retort with evil/insults/curses or blessings?
1 Thessalonians 5:11 tells us to "encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." Are we in fact encouraging each other and building each other up? Or are we doing something else?
Hebrews 3:13 commands us to "encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness." Do you encourage each other every day?
Your tongue is capable of speaking words of life or death. Which are you using? Which will you choose?
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