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· 4 viewsThe power of the tongue to bring life and joy or death and suffering.
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Words have a power that seems disproportionate to their size and commonness. After all, we use words on a daily basis, and many of them are two syllables or less. Yes. No. Please. Thanks. I. Me. You. He. She. They. God. You have probably used all of those words at least once today. But just stop and think about the power words can have. Faith. Marriage. Love. Guilt. Hate. Death. With each of those words, your mind immediately was flooded with memories of the past or hopes for the future. The truth is,
Words carry weight.
Words carry weight.
The right words at the right moment can bring joy, or save a life.
I have three great kids; Aralynn, Asher and Elisha. I love them more than I love my own life - and I would do anything to give them the best chance to have a great life. Part of that desire to give them a great life involves teaching them to hear my voice and obey my instruction. I have spent a great deal of time disciplining each of them so that when I say something, they will listen to me. More than once, I have seen one of them wander into a dangerous situation and only had time to shout “STOP” before something awful might happen. That single word was the difference between safety and being in harms way.
The Bible has a lot to say about what we say. In fact, the book of Proverbs, most of which were written or collected by King Solomon, says
A soft answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
The tongue of the wise commends knowledge,
but the mouths of fools pour out folly.
and again it says,
A gentle tongue is a tree of life,
but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
and still again,
The lips of the wise spread knowledge;
not so the hearts of fools.
King Solomon was the son of David, whom the Bible calls “a man after God’s own heart.” At the beginning of his reign the Lord offers to give him anything he asks for - Solomon chooses to ask for wisdom. As a result, the Lord promised to bless his reign and give him not only the wisdom he asked for, but riches and fame as well. Solomon received both, and is regarded as the wisest man who ever lived.
Unfortunately, his successor Rehoboam did not inherit that wisdom. Check out what happens when Rehoboam misuses words at the beginning of his reign as King of Israel in 1 Kings 12.
Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” And they said to him, “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever.” But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him. And he said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?” And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus shall you speak to this people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us,’ thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s thighs. And now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’ ”
So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king said, “Come to me again the third day.” And the king answered the people harshly, and forsaking the counsel that the old men had given him, he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by the Lord that he might fulfill his word, which the Lord spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
Rehoboam inherited the most prosperous, peaceful kingdom in Israelite history and in a week he has wrecked it all. By using harsh words and evil speech, he has torn the entire nation of Israel in two. In fact, the kingdom never recovers from this split - the chapter goes on to state that ten tribes in the north decide to make Jeroboam their king, while the two southern tribes remain loyal to Rehoboam. For the next 350 years, there is conflict and strife between the two halves, and neither enjoys the prosperity and peace that was secured by David and expanded by Solomon. Both kingdoms are ultimately carried into exile, and a true Jewish king of a united Israel is never seen again.
What can we learn from Rehoboam’s foolish use of words? Firstly,
Threatening people who ask for help is evil.
Threatening people who ask for help is evil.
Rehoboam had an opportunity to be gracious and kind to his people. His eldest advisors who had served Solomon during his reign, pleaded with him to deal gently with the people. His friends however, encourage him to do the exact opposite. Why? Well, they had grown up with Rehoboam in the lap of luxury. They had servants who attended their every need, the wealth to afford anything they could desire, and fame amongst the other wealthy nobles of the Middle East. All of this was built upon the common person, who was heavily taxed to pay for all the lavishness. The young nobles and princes didn’t want to give up those things, especially not for the sake of peasants who had no royal birth or status. Here we see a stark contrast to Jesus, who did have both a royal lineage and the title King of Kings and Lord of Lords, but chose to humble himself for the sake of His people.
The next lesson we learn is that
A words power is multiplied by status and fame.
A words power is multiplied by status and fame.
You see this all the time. Joe on the street can go around saying “God is good” and only a few people might take notice. But put those same words into the mouth of Kanye West, and suddenly millions are talking about his latest album. Or put them in the mouths of a presidential candidate and the entire internet is buzzing on social media about it. What’s the difference? They are the same words after all. The difference of course is the who behind those words.
Now, none of us here are as famous as Kanye West, or have the status of a politician. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have influence and status. Within our families and our circle of friends, each of us has a measure of both, whether we like it or not. Our words matter to them a great deal, sometimes much more than any celebrity or political figure. And as we grow, the weight our words carry will only increase, as well as the consequences for using them in a way that is glorifying God, or dishonoring Him.
Let’s go back to those verses in Proverbs 15 and take a closer look at them.
A soft answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
If only Rehoboam had heeded this advice! It can be tempting when we get upset to answer with angry words, but God expects us to do nothing of the sort. Instead, He expects our new nature, overwritten with the love of Christ, to be gracious and gentle, even when other people are not. That goes against our old coding like sandpaper across an eyeball. It’s painful and will require us to lose something - our pride. Pride is at it’s core, the belief that we are owed something from others - whether that’s based on family heritage, our accomplishments, or our popularity. Humility on the other hand, inverts the picture and says that we owe others something based on our status. For Christians, the status that is most important is our status as children of God through salvation in Christ. Because God choose to forgive us and speak kindly with us through His word which led us to salvation, so too we must deal with other people when we speak.
Moving on, let’s look at verse 4 again;
A gentle tongue is a tree of life,
but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
Gracious words bring healing and life to those who hear it. They comfort people who are broken, and encourage those who are depressed. Evil words on the other hand add grief and heartache to the soul. Many people have risen and fallen in history under the words of revolutionaries, tyrants, and generals. Within our circles our words can either wound or heal those close to us.
Finally lets look at verse 7;
The lips of the wise spread knowledge;
not so the hearts of fools.
it has been said that “knowledge is power” and in many ways that is true. But to have wisdom is to freely share knowledge. The world system, however, does the exact opposite. Don’t think so? Then why do you need to pay so much to get a secondary education at a college? Or why do so many experts on business, fashion, marriage, and a myriad of other subjects charge hefty ticket prices to come to an event where they will present their “secrets of success?” The world hoards and covets power, and will only exchange it in return for a different form of power - like money.
Christians are called to be different. Our words are not only to be gracious and kind, but filled with knowledge, specifically the knowledge of God. That encompasses a lot of territory - doctrine, theology, philosophy, religion. But most basically, it means knowing the Gospel through and through. Our words should be full of the salvation of God seasoned with the kindness and graciousness of God.For this reason,
we should freely share God’s Word, His revelation, to everyone.
we should freely share God’s Word, His revelation, to everyone.
After all, one of the commands given by Jesus for the new life in Him is to “preach, teach and disciple” everyone we can. Our old nature of using words for selfish purposes has to be overwritten by the new nature of using words to communicate God’s righteousness and mercy displayed through Christ crucified. That is the audio we have been reprogrammed to sound at every opportunity regardless of what it might mean for us personally. Yes, talking about Jesus will sometimes get you laughed at. Talking kindly to someone who is screaming filth at you will get you funny looks. Someday, even here in the US, it may get you thrown in prison, or worse. We shouldn’t expect anything less from sinful people - their coding is faulty and they just can’t understand our new nature. But that should only push us all the more to get the good word out - Jesus saves.