Have you ever been reading the bible and come across a passage that told you to do something, and you thought there is NO WAY that this can be followed today? Here is one such passage for me
Ephesians 4:29 “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.”
I mean come on.. seriously? How much of my day is spent either hearing, or saying things that shouldn’t be said. How many times do I sit around and joke about something with co-workers or my family? What about the times I join in a little gossip here or there.
I use this verse with a song I wrote called “Don’t Feed the Bears” I remember I wrote it while I was a youth director and I was constantly amazed at how much time was spent by my youth “Joking” about each other. They would talk about someone and then, usually if caught, would say “I’m just joking!”.
I ask this question in my set up for the song. “How would your day be different if you said nothing all day except words that built up those around you?” and then I ask “How would your day be if those around you only said things that built you up?”
You know if you really think about it, the verse doesn’t just talk about saying bad things or gossiping. But that the only things that come from your mouth should be words that build each other up.
I would hope that as an adult I would have grown out of it. I would hope that as members of a church that we would have stopped those childish ways. Unfortunately I think that we still have a long way to go. I know I do.
I think we should remember that the verse doesn’t just talk about when we gossip, or lie.. read this verse in the Message translation: (Emphasis is mine)
Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.
Are there times when what we say may just be true, but not helpful? I think this is usually where the complaining comes in. It is very easy to sit around a table with your friends and find fault with someone, or something and then proceed to continue to talk about it. Is what you are saying true? Maybe. But does it do any good to sit around and complain about it? Not really. All you do is breed negativity that affects way more than you, or your group. What if instead you took the verse to heart and thought about “Saying only that which helps”, what if you treated each word you said as a gift. What if we didn’t complain? Here is a church that is doing just that which was brought to my attention by Russ Bowlin who recently posted about complaining.
Unfortunately I write this more as a confession of my own faults than a condemnation of others. I have been torn down by words, emails and idle conversations, but I have, and continue to catch myself doing the same things to others.What I want to do is to remind myself and others of the problem. The book of James tells us that the tongue is like a small flame that can cause a huge forest fire. Unfortunately fires are started every day, everywhere, and they can burn down families, friends, companies and yes even churches.
How have complaints, gossip and negative talk impacted your church?
What can we do as worship leaders to help combat this in our own churches?
What are ways your church is working to overcome this problem?
Please share…
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