BLOGGING TOWARD SUNDAY…

Did you ever notice how easy it is to give up the outward and obvious sins like lying, cheating, stealing, cursing, only to turn to the more subtle ones, the inward, hidden kind, like back‑biting, a critical attitude, gossip, or being judgmental.   Those are sins too, and often more destructive than the more outward kind, because they have such far‑reaching effects on people other than ourselves.

Now most of us who engage regularly in this sort of thing  don’t intend to be mean, we just seem to forget, or we don’t think about what we’re doing, somehow it just slips out before we realize it.  Well, I want to give you a couple of principles here to help you.  You may have heard them before, but if you have, it won’t hurt you to hear them again.

The next time you’re tempted to gossip, or to say something ugly about someone else, first ask yourself:  IS IT TRUE?  Now that’s a question not easily answered sometimes.  You think you got your information from a reliable source.  But let me challenge you:  let’s not accept someone else’s word regarding the behavior or character of another.  Let’s speak only the truth, and that is what we have known or experienced of that person for ourselves.  What you say must be true.

Second, ask yourself, IS IT NEEDFUL?  That is, is what I am about to say necessary?  Does it have to be said?  I think that this step alone would eliminate about 90% of the careless conversation around here.

Then third, ask yourself, IS IT KIND?  This is the most important one of all.  My grandmother used to say, and yours probably did too, “If you can’t say something nice, then don’t say anything at all.”  What a wonderful rule to live by.  If it’s not kind, if it’s not nice, for heaven’s sake, don’t say it!  That means not being critical when things don’t go your way.

C.S. Lewis said that the most common sin among church folks is having a spirit of critical, negative judgment.  One sociologist even went so far as to give it a name‑‑”Christian Cruelty.”  And how guilty many of us are!  Let a vote go against us, let somebody try something new and different, and we can’t wait to get out and start running down the SS teacher or the Board Chairman or the preacher!  No wonder so many non‑church members want to stay out!

Brothers and sisters, we need to get control of our tongues, for our sakes, for the sake of our neighbors, for the sake of our church, for the sake of our mission in the world.  The problem is as real today as it was in James’ day, “blessings and cursings are still proceeding from the same mouths.”  And this ought not to be.

But there is good news.  This doesn’t have to be.  There is a remedy.  First we need to confess to God that we are incapable of controlling our tongues.  James said, “Nobody can control the tongue,” and he was right.  No human being can.  But with God, all things are possible.  And when we pray according to God’s will, and there’s no question that his will is for our tongues to be in control, he hears us and answers our prayers.

Filed under: Blogging Toward Sunday