Lakeside Visitor December 2010

 

Last month I dealt with how motives are not slicked over by glossy words. Inevitably people will get hung up on the jagged inconsistencies between our words and their underlying tone. All the speech we’ve talked about this year has been about keeping free of harming others with our words, what our words should do, and the consequences when words are not used wisely. But it’s not quite good enough, is it? It seems like another Do/Don’t List that, quite frankly, makes religion a little tiresome, doesn’t it? Is there another reason to curb our speech?

Look at Ephesians 5:1-4 with me, and take a moment to meditate on what you read there. Believers in Jesus are given a rule, not a suggestion. Brothers and sisters, we are encouraged in God’s word to be imitators of Him! This goes for our speech as well as our actions? Can you see Jesus cussing someone out or telling a vulgar joke? Then should we? We are to walk in love, sacrificially, in the example of Christ whose name we bear. Do you know that when we stand up for Christ–no matter when we do it–those outside our ranks take notice? And when we choose to slack off and carryon like the world, they notice that too, and the name of Jesus is maligned. Do others say, “Why would I need to accept Jesus? You have, and you’re just like me” because of us?

Paul’s admonition in 1 Timothy 4:12 is for the young, but we would all do well to heed its warning. We are to be examples of those who believe in Jesus now, not cautionary tales for our grandchildren. We need the rebuke and power of the Holy Spirit to be that imitator of God. It does not come naturally to us. We must work at it, and we must be willing to use our speech to keep each other in line. In verse 5:20 Paul calls us to rebuke publicly those who continue in sin, so fear of sin will spread. I wonder what Jesus would say when we shrug off a timely rebuke with, “Don’t judge me.” We are not to judge, for there is only one Lord and judge of all, but we are missing the mark if we do not hold each other accountable for our sin.

Our speech can be sinful, and it can hurt others as well as us. We must do our part to be formed in the image of Jesus–yes, by His power and, yes, in a continual process. It’s a process that demands progress, not apathy. We are called to a higher standard, to be ambassadors for Jesus on earth. We will fail if we do not curb our tongues and take our speech captive to Christ. It’s not about works, or religion, but imitating the God we follow. If it ceases to be about Jesus, then–really–we’re nothing more than a self-help club for the inwardly mobile. But that, my friends, is a topic for another year.