Tag: words

Our Words Reveal Us

Neal Pollard

I was recently checking the customer reviews for an upcoming hotel stay.  The reviews were from verified members of the hotel club of that particular chain.  74% of the raters gave it the highest possible rating, but it was interesting to read the remarks of the smattering of people who ranked it poorly.  One said, “I’d rather drive an extra 30 miles than stay at this hotel. The staff is impossible to deal with.” Another put, “This hotel is nothing more than regular. Expect nothing great for a high price. Bad choice for the night of your wedding.”  A third wrote, “Very overpriced for quality of accommodations. Mold in bathroom, poor upkeep, poor bed quality. Would not recommend this hotel.”  Surrounding these aberrations are gushing reviews overflowing with superlative words like “by far the best,” “amazing,” “could not have asked for better,” “very happy,” “very clean,” etc.  My best guess is that somebody did something to upset the “exceptions” or, as experience has shown, the guests may not have handled themselves well and helped matters escalated.

Here is something that is certain.  So often, our complaints, angry words, unrestrained speech, and foul mood reveals far more about who we are than the object of our disgruntlement.  Two people could receive the same customer service and react completely differently.  Two aggravated people express themselves totally unlike one another.  The waitstaff may be lacking at a restaurant, and one encourages while another berates.  A teacher may have a bad day and one student might sympathize while another brutalizes.

Paul urged Colosse, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one” (Col. 4:6).  This is said in the context of evangelism, though the principle prevails in all our interactions.  The late Wendell Winkler often said, “If you are not kind, you are the wrong kind.”  Are we cognizant of the power of our tongues to heal or kill (Pro. 18:21)?  Jesus says, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man” (Mat. 15:18).  More than once, my parents admonished me in my formative years to “watch my mouth!” What sage advice for grown-ups, too! We might think we have good hearts, but our words reveal who we really are!

Someone Is Always Listening

Neal Pollard

If you are a college football fan, you have likely heard your fill of coverage about Nebraska Head Coach Bo Pelini.  Two years ago, before giving a post-game interview following a victory over Ohio State, he had a very frank, foul discussion with the Nebraska play-by-play man.  Somehow, someone recorded the whole thing. In the candid, clandestine rant, laced with profanity, Pelini denounced Cornhusker fans who roundly criticized him for the team’s blowout loss the previous week.  A sport’s website released the raunchy rant earlier this week.  Words like “alienation,” “irreparable damage,” and “classless” easily come to mind, describing the coach’s mini-meltdown.

Yet, if it had not been recorded, nobody would have known, right?  Wrong!  The three other men in the room would have known, but that is not who I mean.  What we can often forget, as we lose our grip on self-control and sin with our tongues, is that there is One who is always listening.  “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Mat. 12:36-37).  Jesus does not specify the type words, except to call them “careless.”  He speaks in terms of totality (“every”), the ultimate test of our words (“they shall give an accounting…”), and the temper of those words–either justifying or condemning us.

We may seek to project something publicly about the type and temper of our words only to reveal something else when we think only one or a few can hear them.  The tongue is fiery (Js. 3:6) and tameless (Js. 3:8), whether the ignition and wreckage is public or private knowledge in this life.  Jesus warns that we cannot get away with a lifestyle of loose, lewd lips.  It will catch up with us.  It may not cost us a high profile job, as it probably will Pelini.  But, as Jesus says, it may cost us infinitely and eternally more!

 

KATHERINE WEBB’S RISE TO FAME

Neal Pollard

Alabama was handling Notre Dame handily.  There was not much to notice on the field, so Brent Musburger observed the Tide signal-caller’s girlfriend in the stands, saying, “You quarterbacks, you get all the good-looking women.  What a beautiful woman.”  Kirk Herbstreit agreed, and the cameramen could not show her enough.  By now, many have heard that her Twitter followers jumped from 2,300 that morning to 96,000 by night’s end.  She’s a celebrity favorite, and she will appear in a reality show, perhaps on “Dancing With The Stars,” and the ever-lascivious Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition this year (via http://www.ibtimes.com).  I mention this certainly not to endorse a woman whose prior greatest claim to fame, besides her attachment to A.J. McCarron, being finishing sixth in the Miss Alabama contest.  She epitomizes our culture’s obsession with sexuality and the body (Paul urges the godly woman to accentuate the inward, spiritual self in 1 Timothy 2:9-10).

My point in bringing her up is to show the power of the “right” word spoken at the “right” time.  Musburger had a national audience and he had something to talk about that was of interest to many of those listeners.  Certainly, Ms. Webb, as she assesses from a carnal standpoint, would consider herself a winner.

You and I have the most vital message the world could ever hear, the heart of which is the eternal salvation of the soul.  We may never have a forum like Mr. Musburger did on the night of the BCS National Championship, but we have daily opportunities to share this good news.  The Bible says, “Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances” (Prov. 25:11). A timely word is “delightful” (Prov. 15:23).  In the context of evangelism, Paul says, “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person” (Col. 4:6). Repeatedly, God conveys the power of the “right” word being spoken at the “right” time.

How can we do this?  Pray. Be discerning.  Open your eyes.  Have courage. Genuinely care about souls.  Keep Ephesians 4:15 dear.

Consider that what you are after is infinitely more noble than any earthly ambition.  Do well in this and heaven’s population will grow.  What is more, you add fruit to your own account and are in position to have the acclaim of heaven on the greatest day of notoriety and infamy that will ever be (Prov. 11:30; 1 Cor. 3:11ff).