Six More Word Principles

The sermon on Sunday was the third of a three part series within a series.  The series is "Wise Life: The Ancient Wisdom of Proverbs for the Daily Grind."  The series within (one of many), was "Wise Words."  We broke it up into three major principles: 1) The less you speak and the more you listen, the wiser you are. 2) Words can either reveal the truth or twist it; choose honesty - especially about yourself and about God.  3) You are what you say.

In "You Are What you Say," we identified six major principles of speech from Proverbs:

1. Knowledge is the Source of Good Speech (10:14, 31-32; 11:9; 15:2; 20:15; 27:1).
2. Death and Life are in the Power of the Tongue (11:11; 18:21; 20:20; 26:2) - addressed here is the power of blessing and cursing. 
3. Don't Associate with a Gossip, and don't be one (11:13; 20:19)
4. Refuse to cast insults or slander, and ignore them when cast against you (10:18; 11:12; 12:16; 19:11)
5. Practice Gentleness and Tact (12:25; 15:1, 4; 16:21-24; 25:11, 20; 27:14; 31:26)
6. Speak in Support of the Poor, refuse to insult them (17:5; 31:8-9)

Eventually, what you say and how you say it will shape and direct your life.  Commentator Derek Kidner says it well: 

"Superficial habits of talk react on the the mind; so that, e.g., cynical chatter, fashionable grumbles, flippancy, half-truths, barely meant in the first place, harden into well-established habits of thought." Proverbs, 68.  

Who are you? 

Words and the Charismatic Scale

For the last decade, I have walked the boundary between less-charismatic evangelicalism and the more-charismatic evangelicalism (I used to say between charismatics and evangelicals, but that is a misnomer because all groups in mind here hold the Bible in very similar esteem).  One of the goals of my journey along that boundary is to bring the supernatural to bear in people's lives who haven't been willing/able to see it before.  I suppose that means I walk the boundary with hopes of pulling people toward the supernatural power of the Spirit (the "Charismata" are gifts of the spirit).

But, there is always a tension, because people seem to prefer labels over truth; we label ourselves as people who either believe in "that sort of thing" or not.  After musing on words for the last few weeks, I wonder if their inherent supernatural power is, perhaps, a middle way.  This is my theory: if we can agree about the spiritual efficacy of words rooted in truth, then perhaps the result will be a truly powerful (and yes, supernatural) faith that is absent of mystical fiction that, in its most egregious form, leads to a "name it and claim it" mentality and other strange abuses of words that are little more than feigned supernatural power.  I have seen whole communities participate in imbalance - falling over when a spiritual leader waves his hand over a crowd and other strange occurrences.   Because words are so powerful, I have no doubt that I have participated in perversions of truth; and, as I say from the pulpit regularly, I'd prefer to err on the side of obeying God and being wrong than thinking "he never does things like that."

Theological scholars far more qualified than I have done extensive work to describe the nature of the Imago Dei, that is, the "Image of God."  Genesis 1 describes the creative process of God and sets human beings apart - while everything else is rooted in the raw imagination of the Intelligent Designer, people are created in his image and likeness.  This has manifold implications, and this blog is not the place to describe all of what that does (and does not) mean.  I would like to suggest (surely I'm not the first), that the behavior of the Creator revealed in the creation account is that he creates with words, and though there is now no possibility of creating ex nihilo as he did, human beings are to use our words to create order and steward the earth.  Words are themselves supernatural: they convert the invisible thoughts and feelings into transferable objects.  That alone is foundation enough to eventually understand how it could happen that "by the blessing of the righteous a city is exalted," or how Jesus could verbally rebuke a fever in Peter's mother and all present could watch it flee.  OR, how an accusation (true or false) can ruin one's day, or a fictional book (i.e., Uncle Tom's Cabin) can impact the norms of a nation.  For whatever reason, some people will allow for the sociological power and emotional power of words even to the point of knowing how words cause clear physical reactions, and yet have trouble with the concept of the power of a blessing or a curse, or a prayer for healing.  Could it be that the question to ask is: what is true?

The factor that will always remain a debate is the role of truth in this.  Prayers often call forth things to become true that aren't true now.  But what is true about the power of words themselves?  And about the activity of the Creator?  To what extent we're willing to hope and pray for a different version of truth is probably a good indicator of where we land on the "charismatic scale."

This is just the beginning of a whole train of thought... 

New Website for the Church

Littleton Christian Church, the amazing group of people I get to serve as pastor, have revamped our website.  I am debating whether or not I'll move this blog over there... until I decide, it'll stay here.  If you have an opinion on that, do tell.

Nonetheless, you can find it at LittletonChristian.com.  No one will be upset at you if you make it your homepage.  It's a work in progress, and eventually I expect it will be very cool, and very usable.  But even now, for all those who remember the old site, it has a ton more functionality.  

From now on, when I post links to sermons, they'll be on that website.  For example, Sunday's sermon discussing Proverbs' Wisdom regarding Honest Speech ("Wise Words, Part II"), can be found HERE.

Freethinking on Words

(Much of this made its way into last Sunday's message. The link is coming as soon as our new website goes live. Right now LittletonChristian.com has slipped into the void...)

Freethinking on Words:

We are all of us moved by words.  The power of words and thoughts is, when you consider it for but a moment, astounding.  Many people have done extraordinary work to narrow the gap between the human species and other animals, but quick observation will reveal the most clever of all animals simply learning to respond to human words.  No doubt, they may have an intelligence of their own, but the prowess of concepts and ideas rests in the human mind alone.  And we share those ideas not through scent, or intimidation, or mere survival, but through words.  Words are our connection to the unseen, to the intangible.  When I have an interior experience, or an experience with an invisible being – be it the non-created, Personal God of Christianity or a created but non-physical thing commonly referred to as an angel or a demon – my only outlet for sharing that experience is words. 

Words as mere symbols for things – and I’m talking about every type of word, including numbers, though numbers is in many ways a separate and equally astounding category – are the vehicle by which anything is communicable from one of us to the other.  While I thought Erin was beautiful from afar in college, and realized it even more so when she visited this church from California, it wasn’t her striking appearance that caused me to fall in love with her.  That happened while she was 1200 miles away, but was writing a  long wonderful email to me nearly every day, engaging the emails and letters I had written her, and thereby “showing” me who she was.  Truly, the words revealed so much more than anything my eyes could see.  Even when the first few dates we had were difficult, the words that we had shared had already formed an intimate bond that caused us to battle through the embarrassment of now knowing how to “be” around each other.  Words did that. 

And isn’t that the case with the billions of people you don’t know on this earth?  You see them, and may be able to make a few guesses about who they are based on – what do we call them? Non-verbals – but each person has so much hiding inside their mind and heart, the only way into it is words.  Each culture will use words differently (not to mention different words all together, given the manifold languages of this globe, both past and present), and yet the words are how people come to know one another.  They are the tangible window to the invisible world all over the world.  “The words of the mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a gushing stream.”

Flying way under the radar for most of us is the most provocative format for words: poetry.  Of course, poetry has continued to hold preeminence in our society, though most of us are unaware, in the form of song. 

“Poetry is an effort to share a moving experience by using language that is chosen and structured differently than ordinary prose.”  To say it differently: poetry opens the window into the unseen and removes the screen of grammatical rules (which are important).  It exposes words for all their power, in many different ways.  Words that we would otherwise not expect to be paired together are paired together.  The Proverbs, which in many ways are simply a collection of poems expressing wisdom, regularly employ shock value to express ideas.  “Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout,” they say “is a beautiful woman without good sense.”  Poetry connects ideas together.  And, as I said, song employs poetry regularly, but the poetic power of metaphor has perhaps been so normalized for us that we miss it.  We have been so inundated with provocative language that it no longer provokes us.  As we discussed last week: the abundance of noise around us teaches us not to listen.  There are so many words around us that we’ve forgotten how to take them in, to understand their power.  When we drive down the street we see thousands of words, we register hundreds of them, and the rest simply pass by.  Would the words of Jesus infuriate us the way they infuriated the Jewish leaders?  Or have we been “shock-valued” so many times that we can no longer hear when a true shock arrives?

What tragedy, that so many masses are being sedated with images which do not engage nearly as much of their minds!  I am among them – by the grace of God, I have a deep enjoyment, and even a sort of deep confidence, in words – and yet I surely have traded 90 or more percent of the time I could have been engaging words in my lifetime watching fruitless images in television, video games, movies, etc. 

Before I go too far in blaming our culture for ruining the power of words (and ruining so much, as I am often inclined to do), I should allow the words which I claim to value above all other words instruct my perspective.  If the repeated warnings of Proverbs are correct, words driven by greed or another form of wickedness, as opposed to knowledge, seemed to be rampant 3000 years ago as they are now.  2000 years ago, the Apostle Paul rings his hands at the ease by which persuasive words derailed his ministry (“You foolish Galatians,” he sighs, “who has bewitched you?”).  And in perhaps the most famous discussion of speech in all of scripture, James laments that that “no one can tame the tongue.”  In so many forms, words have been misused. 

That fact, however, is not an excuse.  It is a recognition of our need for redemption and renewal.  When Paul calls forth the fundamental self-surrender of the Christian, he instructs us to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  It is the Spirit who transforms, and the transformation happens at the core level: the mind.  The result is that our thought processes, the invisible worlds in between our ears and beating in our chest, will be different. Which means that eventually, the way in and the way out will be different.  James laments you cannot bring fresh water from a source made up of salt-water, and that is true – yet, many of us who have had our source replaced by giving our lives to Christ continue to spew saltwater.  Why, if the source within is one of Fresh?  I propose that it is possible because we continue to take saltwater in.  Similar to the common adage, “what goes up must come down,” we might say “what goes in must come out.” 

If words are as powerful as I am here suggesting, if they bring the invisible and intangible into the visible and tangible, then there is no doubt that believers who want fresh water to come forth – blessing and not cursing, as James says – must be incredibly critical about the words we choose to bring in.  In a world where countless words are available to every one of us with the click of a button, this is hugely significant.  I would include here all the images we see – every television show or movie you’ve ever watched is the signifier of a set of signifiers; it started with words, either spoken, thought, or (most commonly) written.  The most powerful movies started with the most powerful words.  Be incredibly careful what you let in.  This has a limit, of course.  Jesus offers a crucial corrective in a discussion about clean and unclean food - some of what goes into us (mostly food) ends up in the sewer.  It may be the case that the words out of your mouth are much more disgusting than the objects in your toilet (Matt. 15:10-20).   

Poet Recommendations?

After preaching on the power of words (I'll post a link soon), I have a strong desire to get back into reading great poetry (and hopefully writing a bit.  What I've posted recently isn't what I'm looking for)... but the world of poetry is huge, so I'm looking for recommendations.  Either of poets, poems, or collections.

Also, it's likely that sometime this week I will move this blog from here to Littleton Christian Church's new website (which should be up and running in the next 24-36 hrs).  I'll make sure to over-communicate that when it happens.  Most of you come here through the links I put on facebook, so I'm thinking you won't really care where it is.  Just an FYI.  

On Bearing False Witness

As I'm studying what the Proverbs say about what we say, it becomes clearer and clearer that this wisdom is built upon and expanding the 9th Commandment: "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor."

The Westminster Larger Catechism, a brilliant presentation of the foundational Christian truths in question and answer format, extensively expands this commandment, and cites biblical references for every sentence  of the expansion.  Proverbs is mentioned 15 times in the notes - I know now the divines (that's what the authors of the Westminster Documents are called) must have had to pick and choose.

I'm not sure whether I will present this to the congregation on Sunday, but have produced it here because it so succinctly captures the heart of the Scriptures on the use and abuse of words, and because even if I do read it aloud on Sunday, it's a lot to take in, and requires some reflection:

"Question 144: What does the ninth commandment require?

"This commandment requires that we maintain and promote truthfulness in our dealings with each other and the good reputation of others as well as ourselves. We must come forward and stand up for the truth, speaking the truth and nothing but the truth from our hearts, sincerely, freely, clearly, and without equivocation, not only in all matters relating to the law and justice but in any and every circumstance whatsoever.  We must have a charitable regard for others, loving, desiring, and rejoicing in their good reputation as well as regretting and putting the best light on their failings.  We must freely acknowledge their talents and gifts, defending their innocence, readily receiving a good report about them and reluctantly admitting a bad one.  We should discourage gossips, flatterers, and slanderers; we should love and protect our own good reputation and defend it when necessary; we should keep every lawful promise we make no matter what; and finally we should do the best we can to focus our lives and thoughts on things that are true, noble, lovely, and admirable.

Question 145: What particular sins does the ninth commandment forbid?

This commandment forbids everything detrimental to the truth and good reputation of others as well as our own, with special reference to legal matters in the courts.  We must not give untrue evidence, suborn perjury, knowingly appear and plead on behalf of an evil cause, or engage in overbearing and boastful exaggeration.  We should never participate in passing an unjust sentence, call evil good or good evil, or reward the wicked in a way appropriate  to the wicked.  Forgery is forbidden, as is concealing the truth, remaining silent in a just cause, and not taking it on ourselves to reprove or complain to others about some wrong.  We must not speak the truth at an inappropriate time, or maliciously to promote a wrong purpose, nor pervert it into a wrong meaning, into ambiguous equivocations, or in such ways as to undermine truth and justice.  Also forbidden are: saying anything untrue, as well as lying, slandering, backbiting, belittling, gossiping, whispering, ridiculing, reviling, and expressing any kind of judgmental opinion that is rash, harsh, or prejudiced; misconstruing intentions, words and actions; flattery and ostentatious boasting; thinking or speaking too highly or too poorly of ourselves or others; denying the gifts of God or the effects of his grace on us; exaggerating the significance of trivial faults; concealing, excusing, or rationalizing our sinful behavior when we are called to confess it voluntarily; gratuitously revealing the problems and failings of others; spreading false rumors, receiving and approving evil reports, and refusing to listen to a just defense; harboring evil suspicions; being envious of or grieved by the deserved honors others receive, trying to discredit those honors, and rejoicing at someone else’s disgrace or evil reputation; scornful contempt and foolish admiration; breaking our lawful promises; and finally, failing to promote everyone’s good name, and doing, not avoiding or not hindering in others, as we can, those things that give people a bad name.”  


Let's assume for the moment that the Westminster Divines got it right, that this great detail is exactly what the 9th commandment requires and forbids (Given the nature of Proverbs, as well as Matthew 7, 15; Colossians 3; James 3; and others, I think they're right on).  Assuming they are right, at how many points in the last 24 hours have you transgressed? How about the last week?  What about the last time you were angry?  Embarrassed?  Trying to make an impression?   


Suddenly, Paul and James seem onto something - Paul says that all our throats are open graves, that everyone utters lies (Romans 3), and James laments the reality that no man can tame the tongue... truly, like the great hymn declares: "I need thee, Oh I need thee, I need thee every hour!"  

Words are So Powerful

Words are so powerful
that the wisest way to use them
is sparingly.

On the other hand,
The ideas that words create
require extensive practice, and a plurality of errors.

Pray Continually - let most of that be listening.

[Here is a sermon on this]

Ecclesiastes 5:1-2