|
A Mother's
Proverb
09/18/05
“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. And do
not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of
redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander,
along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another,
forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians
4:29-32
Growing-up my mother from time to
time reminded my brother, my sister and me of “her” proverb, “If you
can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” Clearly Paul, as the
father of faith, admonished the brothers and sisters of Ephesus to “not
let any unwholesome talk come out of their mouths.” Paul desired the
Ephesian Church family to build up each other and not “grieve the Holy
Spirit.” Paul goes on to say that “unwholesome talk”
is generated when ones heart has “bitterness, rage… anger… slander
[or] malice.” Jesus said, “Out of the overflow of the heart
the mouth speaks.” Many worldly marriage counselors (and sometimes
"well-intentioned" disciples) dismiss words said during "a
marital fight" because they were said in anger. Biblically, our hearts are
most exposed during conflict, and we must repent of sinful anger and most
importantly the sin that motivated our "unwholesome talk."
In this day of being “PC”
(politically correct) we must be careful not to swing away from one another
interactions where we “speak the truth in love.” (Ephesians
4:15) Likewise evangelists must “Preach the Word…in season and out of
season,” when it is popular and when it is not. Paul prophesies there
will be a time, “when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead,
to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of
teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” (2 Timothy
4:3-4) Paul warned Timothy not to be swayed by the “numbers” that opposed
his teaching. Though democracy is an excellent form of government, in the Bible,
as with the twelve spies who were sent into the Promised Land, it is often only
a minority who have enough faith to hold to the truth!
Jeremiah admonishes “God’s
people” in his day, “To whom can I speak and give warning?…Their
ears are closed so they cannot hear. The Word of the Lord is offensive to
them…[the leaders] dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious!
‘Peace, peace’ they say when there is no peace.” (Jeremiah
6:10,14) This “edgy” challenge to anemic preaching against sin was not
“PC,” certainly not popular in Jeremiah’s day. Interestingly, though his
preaching was hard-line, Jeremiah called for healing the “wounds” of sin,
but he realized the price was repentance. The reaction to Jeremiah’s words
caused some to say, “Let’s make plans against Jeremiah…let’s
attack him with our tongues and pay no attention to anything he says.”
(Jeremiah 18:18) In these people’s minds, Jeremiah’s messages were “unwholesome
talk!” Yes, they were upset and hurt by his words, but as true
Christians we should have Berean hearts and “examine God’s Word”
to see for ourselves if Jeremiah’s disturbing words were indeed “unwholesome
talk” in God’s eyes. By examining Jeremiah’s ministry and life, we
know he loved God and because of his love for all God’s people, he wanted them
to know the “real truth” so they could repent and become spiritually
healthy, spiritually “whole.” God commanded Jeremiah to preach the strong
words that were “whole”-some talk!
In a recent conversation a
brother said, “Anything upsetting, divisive or hurtful is always sin.”
Let’s listen to the only sinless, truly wholesome preacher, Jesus. In Matthew
23:27-28 Jesus preaches, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees,
you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the
outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean.
In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the
inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” This forceful
message was upsetting, especially to those to whom it applied, but refused to
accept it. In Luke 12:51-53 Jesus teaches, “Do you think I came to bring
peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in
one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three.
They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against
daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and
daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” He preaches division in
families yet by Acts 1:14 we see his mother and brothers were all disciples
because he took a radical stand. In Mark 10, Jesus “looked at [the rich
young ruler] and loved him.” Then Jesus confronts him with the “one
thing” separating him from eternal life. The Bible records that the
young man’s “face fell. And he went away sad.” He was hurt
by Jesus’ words. After the resurrection Jesus called Peter back to his
“sold-out” commitment by saying, “Do you love me?” The
Spirit records in John 21:17, “Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him
the third time, ‘Do you love me?’” Hurt many times is sinful in
marriage or discipling relationships, but in Jesus’ interaction with Peter, it
was of God! Thankfully Peter repents and becomes spiritually healthy,
spiritually whole! Therefore Jesus’ “hurtful” preaching was
“whole”-some.
About twenty-five Portland
brothers and sisters attended the Seattle International Leadership Conference
this past weekend, September 8-10. The Seattle Church is to be commended for its
hard work in hosting this seminar, which had about 700 participants. The theme “By
Faith” was very appropriate for our fellowship’s challenges. Elena
and I were thrilled to see and fellowship with so many dear brothers and sisters
from around the globe.
We had incredible times of
fellowship with the Johnsons, Gempels, Arthurs, Garcias, Josue Ortega, Thierry
Fender, Chris Broom, Frank Kim, Guillermo Adame, Jim Hess, the church leaders in
Vietnam (their names must not be identified) and Jay Hernandez. A very heartfelt
meeting was held to help build a bridge between Danny Brisebois of Montreal with
some of the Toronto brothers in attendance. I was especially touched by the
appeal for unity in a meeting with the leaders of many of the churches of Asia
– John Louis of Singapore, Dinesh George of Delhi, and Phil Lam of Hong Kong.
Saturday it was announced that
the “LA Unity Plan” was set aside in favor of a “steering committee”
that would accept “unity proposals” until November and then working with
these ideas, present their suggestions in early 2006. The steering committee is
composed of Mike Fontenot (Norfolk), Scott Green (Seattle), Phil Lam (Hong
Kong), Sam Powell (New York), John Louis (Singapore), Steve Staten (Chicago),
Bruce Williams (Los Angeles), Mike Taliaferro (San Antonio) and Andy Fleming
(Los Angeles). Also the “host” for next years International Leadership
Conference is the dynamic Hampton Roads Church of Christ in Norfolk, Virginia,
led powerfully by Mike Fontenot.
Sunday was an awesome House
Church Sunday in Portland. Still believing in my Mom’s proverb, “If you
can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all” at Sunday evenings
Bible Talk Leaders Meeting, I admonished the leaders to remain “God-focused”
and not “man-focused” in the face of our brotherhood’s controversies. Also
preached was the call to “get back to work” after the “godly
distractions” of our Jubilee, the Labor Day weekend holiday, and the Seattle
Conference. Amazingly there are less than four months until 2006! So at the
Bible Talk Leaders Meeting, the text of John 4:35 was aptly applied, “Do
you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest?’ I tell you open your
eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest!” Let’s beg
God for an awesome harvest of souls this fall! And to God be the glory!
Kip McKean
|
Articles
