...Speech & Words
Last Sunday, during our worship service, I began marvelling at the miracle of communication and words. In our songs, prayers, readings and testimonies; we use an assortment of sounds and patterns, a shared spoken and written language, so that our community can join in common purpose – to pour out praise before our God.
This human ability to communicate through words is inherited, a divine gift, as we are made in the ‘image of God’ (Gen 1:27). Like all inherited gifts, words can be utilised to celebrate and reveal the one that bestowed the gift, or they can be employed to obscure and rebel against the giver.
The book of Proverbs continues to remind us that we must make a choice, that our choice will be lived out in our behaviour, and that our behaviour will inevitably have consequences.
Will our speech & words lead us into Godly wisdom or worldly folly?
Words of Creation…
‘Let there be light’...
(Genesis 1:3)
Like a baby’s first cry filling a delivery room with joy or an announcers voice shattering the stilled silence of a waiting theatre; these words echo out into the darkness of Genesis 1. The Eternal One has spoken and all of heavens hosts look on in eager anticipation to see what will happen…
When I was a teacher, misbehaving children would often be sent to ‘Mr Greenow’s Classroom’ to be disciplined. Using my deep voice to utter some carefully selected words would often give a disruptive child enough of a shock to make them consider the wisdom of their choices. However, once in a while there was a child that would’ve remained unmoved by even the fiercest of Viking war cries…and everyone in the classroom, including me, was left wondering ‘What happens next!?’.
In the creation account we witness the power of God’s voice. His commands carry such energy that atoms, particles and forces that ‘were not’ now ‘are’. Nothing resists or refuses God’s decree – as Benjamin Rhodes puts it:
" …the universal Lord,
by whose almighty word
creation rose in form complete." *1
God uses words, His creative tools, to wonderful effect. When His work is done, He records that it is ‘very good’ (Gen 1:31) – There isn’t a ‘snagging list’ or jobs to come back to - the task is complete!
We need to understand that because God’s words are perfect and true (Ps 18:30); all words are powerful. Proverbs repeatedly tells us this:
– Proverbs 12:6; 12:18; 14:25; 15:4; 16:24; 16:27-28; 18:21.
Words of Anti-Creation…
‘…did God really say?’...
(Gen 3:1)
It should come as no surprise that Satan twists words, their message & meaning. This is his main weapon to destroy all that God has created as good - after all, he is the father of all lies (John 8:44). This is why God hates lies and liars (Pr 6:17; 12:22) because by misusing and abusing His good gift, they tear down what He has created.
Proverbs also identifies other harmful patterns of speech:
-
Boasting about ourselves (Pr 27:2)
-
Showing off in front of others (Pr 12:23)
-
Speaking hastily (Pr 18:13; 29:20)
-
Sharing in gossip (Pr 11:13; 26:22)
-
Speaking behind people’s backs (Pr 25:23)
-
Using words to seduce others (Pr 2:16; 6:24; 22:14)
and more…
There are many places today where these foolish patterns of speech are practised and even celebrated. Prideful boasting, swift judgement and seductive talk all contribute to the toxic atmosphere that poisons almost every social media platform – and our destructive words have far reaching consequences.
Extremely loud voices are now trying to convince us that the answer to all this is to be ‘open-minded and tolerant’ of ‘everyone’s truth’. Words are simultaneously robbed of their meaning whilst being used as reductionist labels to divide us into smaller and smaller identity groups.
The Word of Life…
"Merely having an open mind is nothing. The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid." *2
I think G.K. Chesterton said it rather well - an open mind, flapping in the breeze isn’t an achievement. We were created as communicating creatures because our creator wanted to communicate with us. We’ve been invited into a conversation with the Eternal One – Wrap your open mind around that!
The Psalmist encourages us to desire God’s word (Psalm 19:7-11). In Hebrews we learn that God has ‘spoken to us by His Son’ (Heb 1:1-2). John begins his account of Jesus’ life by explaining that the ‘Word of God’ is now visible (John 1:1;1:14). In John’s first letter we are told that Jesus is the ‘Word of Life’ (1 John 1:1-2). Paul writes to the Colossian church about Jesus, so that they ‘won’t be deceived by fine sounding arguments’ (Col 2:2-4).
Our heavenly Father has spoken… Will you listen and learn wisdom or resist and act foolishly?
Questions...
-
Written or spoken - Which words do you think are more powerful?
-
Have you ever been surprised by the ‘power’ of your words? When?
-
What words have had an influence in your life? (Good or bad)
-
Are you guilty of speaking or writing out of worldly folly?
How can your words & speech show Godly wisdom? Do they?
-
Why does knowing Jesus keep us from being foolish?
Footnotes:
*1 – Benjamin Rhodes, 1814 – ‘My Heart and Voice I Raise’ – https://hymnary.org/text/my_heart_and_voice_i_raise
*2 – G.K. Chesterton, 1936 – ‘The Autobiography of G.K. Chesterton’. – https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/328675-merely-having-an-open-mind-is-nothing-the-object-of
Linked Sermon:
Click the icon below to view the sermon.
