Jesus and the writers of the New Testament highlight the importance of how we use our words. In fact, the biblical parameters stand in stark contrast to the common ways of speaking about one another in modern life. As followers of Jesus, we are called to embrace an alternative way that is driven by love, not slander and gossip.
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Verbal Pollution
• Greg Boyd
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Words can change the course of a person’s life, for better or for worse. They can heal, or they can wound, build up or tear down, unite or tear apart. In this sermon, Greg Boyd expounds on three foundational passages on the importance of our speech, followed by two passages that address specific patterns of speech that pervade our world.
The first foundational passage is the one quoted in the focus passage above. If you learn how to master the behavior of your tongue, you’ll be able to master all your other behavior. The tongue functions like a bit in the horse’s mouth and the rudder of a ship. When we use our mouths to speak blessings on people, it directs our lives in a blessed direction. As we speak, so we become.
The second passage is found in Matthew 5:21-22. It reads: “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” Raca is a meaningless insulting expression, equivalent to flipping the bird at someone. Jesus is teaching that harboring anger toward another, and using words to insult them, is on a par with murder!
The third passage goes like this: “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:36-37). Here Jesus was saying that on the day of judgment, we will have to account for every empty, careless or useless thing we have ever spoken. A good heart is expressed by good, uplifting, useful, loving words. A sinful heart, on the other hand, is expressed in slander, gossip and mean-spirited language.
At this point, Greg turns to two passages that address specific sinful speech patterns that are prevalent today. First, in Titus 3:1, we read that we are to slander no one. To slander is to tarnish a person’s reputation by speaking ill of their character. We do this when we speak of someone in a way that is inconsistent with love. There are no exceptions to this command. No one is to be devalued.
In Romans 1:29-30, Paul says, “They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful….” Gossip is slandering someone behind their back, where we get that buzz from belonging to team ‘Right and Righteous’ by tearing down the opposition. One of the Greek words for “gossip” is diablos, which means devil.
Verbal pollution pervades our world. Careless, useless words, slander and gossip are the bread and butter of the modern news entertainment industry. In addition, it drives social media as everyone is trying to say what they think in the way that they want to say it. The escalating slander and gossip creates a reinforcing, perpetual cycle. People frequently say things like, “I have a second amendment right to speak my mind.” As Jesus followers, we have a higher calling on our life that supersedes our “right” as Americans. We are to break that cycle. Our higher calling is to slander no one, to avoid worthless, foolish talk, to abstain from all gossip and to do everything in love, including talking politics.
Hide Extended SummaryTopics: Judgment, Love, Politics
Sermon Series: Political Distortions
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Focus Scripture:
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James 3:1-6
Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check. When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
