July 01, 2013
James 3:5-6 — Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
I have a nice calendar on my office wall. It has a message for each month taken from a wayside pulpit. You know the kind of thing, messages lik : “The Bible is the breakfast of champions. What did you have for breakfast?”, “Jesus is alive: Living proof you can’t keep a God man down“, and “Sign Broken. Message inside” (That’s one of my favorites!).
I turned over the calendar today (July 1st – I’m alert!). What did I see?
“A SHARP TONGUE & A DULL MIND ARE USUALLY FOUND IN THE SAME HEAD”
Ouch. I admit that I sometimes have a sharp tongue – although I have tried to become gentler. I know that “a soothing tongue is a tree of life”, and that “a gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger”. My bigger problem now (and I think it might apply to other people), is with “conversations” that are conducted electronically. You know, phone, email, Facebook, Twitter, IM … Getting “tone of voice” is hard enough face to face. Getting it right electronically is almost impossible! (In my case, it’s made worse because I work with people worldwide, so there are cultural issues layered on top of everything else.)
So how does the “dull mind” part of that wayside message come into play? I can think of at least three ways.
First, you might not even be aware that your word are sharp – and flaming arrows are hard to call back, once launched. I have a 1-minute delay on email leaving my “outbox” to help with that.
Second, sometimes it’s too much effort to make a point “nicely” when a sharp jab is so easy. Do you ever read things and ask, “Can I say the same thing without being hurtful?”
Lastly, there are the times when you just can’t see a kind way to make your point. I have to admit there have been times when I cared more about what I was saying than who I was saying it to.
Feel free to (verbally) smack me if you think I’m letting my dull mind drive my sharp tongue. If words are going from mind to keyboard without passing through the “Holy Spirit-powered filter”, tell me! For your part, if some threads you’re seeing in social media or email are getting mean, please gently back away … let’s start fewer fires, and “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” (Colossians 4:6).