Investigating the Bible: You are what you speak

In the Reader’s Digest Katheryn Lyons wrote about an elderly man who was very wealthy and very deaf who she helped purchase hearing aids. He returned two weeks later for a follow-up. He reported that the hearing aids worked wonderfully; he could even hear conversations in adjacent rooms. “Your friends and family must be very happy that you can hear so much better,” Ms. Lyons said. “Oh, I haven’t told them,” he chuckled. “I’ve been sitting around listening – and do you know what? I’ve changed my will twice!” Words reveal character and have consequences.

When the Pharisees accused Jesus of performing miracles by the power of Satan, he responded with logic. “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand” (Matthew 12:25-26, English Standard Version used unless noted). The Pharisees’ verbal attack exposed their character. Jesus said: “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. …For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:33-36).

Mike Huckabee, Ambassador to Israel, was before that a pastor, the governor of Arkansas, and a presidential candidate. He was lieutenant governor of Arkansas when his predecessor, Jim Guy Tucker, was convicted of mail fraud and conspiracy and forced to resign. Tucker said he would terminate a man in his administrative office for incompetence. As Huckabee became governor, the fired man came to him and said, “Governor Tucker told me that you wanted me fired.” Huckabee was shocked. The man had taped the conversation and Huckabee listened as Tucker’s chief of staff said, “We’ve got to fire you because the lieutenant governor wants you gone.” Huckabee rehired the man, who became a splendid employee. “The righteous hates falsehood, but the wicked brings shame and disgrace.” (Proverbs 13:5).

Jesus spoke the truth, even when it was painful. When he revealed his coming death at the hands of the Jewish chief priests, “…Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.’ But (Jesus) turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.’” (Matthew 16:22-23).

The apostle Paul gave instructions on conversation to a young church: “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body…Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” (Ephesians 4:25,29, New International Version).

Kathleen Parker is a Pulitzer-prize winning columnist. In the 11th grade, she remembered vividly the words of her English teacher, Mr. Gasque. He had asked her a question as he faced the blackboard. She didn’t know the answer or how she answered. She remembered the rest. The entire class laughed at her and she wanted to disappear from embarrassment. She wrote that her instructor whirled around: “No perfectly executed pirouette can top the spin executed by Mr. Gasque that day. Suddenly facing the class, he flushed crimson and his voice trembled with rage. ‘Don’t. You. Ever. Laugh. At her. Again.’ He said. ‘She can out-write every one of you any day of the week.’”

David Carlson Pastor (yes, that is his last name, not his profession) is a Polk County resident and graduate of Bethel Theological Seminary in Minnesota (M.Div., M.Th.).