The Words We Say
"There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”
(Proverbs 12:18)
The words we say speak volumes about who we are. The words we say have power to heal and power to destroy. What we are saying now affects the ever after. Yet, how much are we investing our words with the honey of heaven? The gospel—the power of God for transforming lives—cannot be communicated without words (Rom 1:16). But we must understand that those glorious words drop like rain on parched ground only when they come from humble hearts.
When I listen to the microcosm of my world, my church, my family, myself, I hear many words. And what I say and what I hear is quite frightening at times (not all the time, thank God). I hear the sounds of swords. People are dying because of the words we say. And we are the people who have the words of life! How we are speaking has had a direct impact on our neighbors who have rejected Christ. The stats show my age group is departing from the church rapidly. They often cite the words we say as one reason. Don't just shrug that off and say oh well!
One of the greatest threats to our church is words. Not the words of those who are the enemies of the cross, but the words of those who claim the cross and those who pander to them. But if we will listen to the words we say, and even more, if we will conform those words to the gospel of grace, we still have a chance to speak life into our culture of death.
For the next few weeks, I want each of you to be directly challenged by the words of our brother Paul in the last chapters of Acts, chapters which chronicle his unjust trials and imprisonments. How did this bold defender of the faith speak in a godless culture (whether Jew or Gentile)? How did he speak before oppressive governments and godless kings? How did he speak to pagan sinners, homosexuals, idolaters, religious hypocrites? First, we hear what he said to his closest friends.
Just before his arrest which would eventually lead him, for the glory of Christ, to stand trial before Caesar in Rome, Paul gathered the Ephesian elders in Miletus. It would be his last time with them, and "he said to them: ‘You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews’” (Acts 20:18-19).
Our first steps toward repentance and toward a resurgence of profitable ministry in our city must begin with "humility" and "tears" in the face of every trial. When is the last time you cried over your sin? When is the last time you cried for sinners? Words of life and death go better with tears.
Paul goes on to say, "I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house" (Acts 20:20). Our next step forward is editing our words down to only those which are profitable in every environment. It takes boldness to speak the truth. But it takes even more boldness to speak it in edifying ways.
When it came to the gospel, Paul did not limit his audience to those who seemed more likely to accept it. He testified "both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21)." The way the church talks about our president or governor often betrays a heart full of invective instead of invitation to Christ. Stop listening to voices which poison your own heart's well of words. Don't weaponize your words against kings and governors. Your neighbors hear your heart (often on social media)! May they hear words of healing.
Paul also knew that his time was short. What would you do, what would you say, if you only had a short time to live? "And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again” (Acts 20:25). Paul's time, however short, was not wasted. He spent it on what counts: "proclaiming the kingdom."
What would you do if you knew the future? "And now, behold, I'm going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me (Acts 20:22-23)." What would you do if you knew your future would be full of injustice and it was not going to get better? Far from railing about the injustices that loomed on his horizon or cowering in fear, Paul was ready to face what the Spirit had for him with boldness. "But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24)."
Notice there's an "if." Paul’s boldness is contingent on something. He's ready to give up his life if he is able to finish his ministry by testifying to the gospel. He will be swamped in slander, persecution, and injustice. He will ultimately die for the cross. But what did he focus on in life? He did not focus on extricating himself from such lousy circumstances or protesting such injustices, either quietly or with a bullhorn. He did not focus on defending himself or pointing out the corruption of unjust governments and officials. He focused on testifying to the gospel.
Maybe, you think, that was just because kings could execute him. What, then, was his focus while he was with the church, with people friendly to his cause, and not before kings or councils? You know, the people you can comfortably settle in with and gripe with impunity about how things aren't the way they should be? But even there, Paul’s focus wasn't on reviling or the callous cursing of kings and governors. It was on proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom.
And it was only because he actually did place his focus on the gospel that he had a clean conscience before Christ's people. "Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:26-27)."
Since Paul made it his aim to speak the truth in love from place to place no matter who he came in contact with, because he spoke the gospel with humility and tears within the church and without, because he edited his words down to those that were profitable, the apostle Paul was able to speak life into his dying culture. All around him was the sound of swords. But the din of clanging metal was drowned out by the bold, tearful humility of a man convinced of the power of healing words—words which healed him, words of healing for kings and countries, words of healing for pews and pagans, preachers and prostitutes.
Beloved, your words must drip with the honey of heaven. All of them.
