The Power of Words

“…but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.” ESV James 3:8-9

We don’t say that word! How many times have we said that to our children? Why? Because as adults, we recognize the power of words and we want our children to use them wisely. We recognize their power to ruin reputations and relationships when misused. But at the same time, words can have a positive impact too.

As a young parent, I remember one of my children barking a request from the back seat of the car one day. Trying to be a gentle guide and good parent I asked, “What’s the magic word?” (fishing for ‘please’) to which I received the forceful reply, “Right now; I mean it!” For the life of me, I still can’t imagine where that came from; and from such a good kid!

‘I can’t believe he/she said that.’ How many times have you made that statement? What likely preceded that statement? A sharp word perhaps? Something easily taken out of context? Something downright rude or crude?

How about this one: ‘I can’t believe I said that.’ Ouch! There’s nothing quite like sticking your foot in your mouth. By the way, you can wedge your foot in there pretty tight with a pen or a keyboard too. I’ve become so conscious of it that I’ve got a one-minute delay on outgoing emails at work. And more than once, because I don’t like the taste of shoe leather, I’ve gone back and edited a message before it left.

I heard Paul Tripp point out a chilling reality at a conference last fall. He said that if we are honest, more often than not when we say “please forgive me, I didn’t meant to say that,” we should more truthfully beg “please forgive me for saying what I meant.” You see, nothing comes out of your mouth that wasn’t in your heart, even in the tiniest portion, to begin with.

On a personal note, let me confess a couple of things. I’ve said things in my own house that, in hind site, were uncalled for; even mean spirited at times. Thankfully, I’ve got a forgiving family. And just the other day in a committee meeting another member commented: “Ken, you’re so diplomatic.” But I felt obliged to tell them that diplomatic responses were not always the first thoughts to cross my mind. My point in sharing this is simply to let you know that I struggle with taming my tongue just like you do.

Our words have tremendous power. Used loosely and without careful consideration our words are capable of producing great harm. Used properly and carefully, our words our capable of producing great joy; even a joyful noise unto our Lord. Deliberately harness the power of your words this week so that your words are received with great joy.

Ken Askew

The Blame Game

“But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.” ESV 2 Corinthians 11:3-4

A friend sent me an email this week that read in part: “If there has ever been a time in our society and church that the family needs reinforcing and encouraging, it is now.” At first glance I recognized the statement as a keen and true observation. Then I started to wonder where we might be missing the boat in our families and churches. Why do we find ourselves in a predicament? Why do we so desperately need reinforcing?

As I pondered the question it occurred to me that our challenges are not really new. As a matter of fact, they go all the way back to the Garden of Eden. And the very root of our issues is our inherent resistance to acknowledging our sins. We simply don’t like to take personal responsibility for our actions and that mindset permeates our families too.

You’ll recall that Adam and Eve played the blame game. When God confronted them with their sin Adam blamed Eve and Eve in turn blamed the serpent but neither one of them desired to take responsibility for their sins. Isn’t it still that way today? Sure it is. As a matter of fact, our society promotes the blame game; finger pointing is in and personal culpability is out.

Paul wrote to churches with an endearing pen much like one would write to an extended family. And when he penned this letter to the Corinthian church family, it was a very pointed letter meant to keep them focused, or to refocus them, on truth and not deception.

Much could be said about our verses, but let me focus on just this thought: The Corinthian church family found itself in need of reinforcement because they were easily and readily deceived by the cunning thoughts and rhetoric of the day. Preachers were telling them what they wanted to hear and the Corinthians “put up with it readily enough.”

Think for a moment of the false teachings we readily put up with it today. As a society, we are driven by a ‘me centered’ mindset that discounts personal responsibility. And we don’t want to be held accountable by God or anyone else for our actions. No, it’s much more comfortable to play the blame game and put off personal accountability.

Let me challenge you to begin reinforcing your family today by keeping everyone focused on God’s word and not the world’s guidance. Let Christ reign in your home. Don’t accept the foolish notions of society and don’t play the blame game.

Ken Askew

It’s Just Stuff

Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. ESV James 1:9-11

How do you think biblically about your stuff? Well, you begin by recognizing that it’s just stuff. Can you say that—it’s just stuff—with sincerity? I’ve got a friend who’s in full time ministry that experienced the devastation of a house fire a few years ago. Worse still, my friend and his family experienced the devastation of an uninsured house fire. They lost all of their material possessions; everything. Thankfully, they escaped physically unharmed and have been able to rejoice in that. And, thinking biblically, they describe their destroyed and missing items as ‘just stuff.’

I’ve heard other folks speak of material possessions in the same manner over the years, but all too often it seems that we worship our stuff. Gathering more of it seems to be an end in itself and protecting it becomes a time consuming chore. We build bigger barns to hold our toys instead of enjoying and appreciating the more enduring treasures around us. I dare say that many folks would be insulted by the thought of their material greatness being referred to as ‘just stuff.’

James wouldn’t have any qualms with our terminology though. Well, neither would Isaiah, the Psalmists or Jesus himself to name just a few. But anyway, James is pointing out that our security and real worth is not wrapped up in stuff. All of our things will be stripped away one day and only the enduring, eternal things will matter. And the true object of our worship will be revealed.

Warren Wiersbe sums up this passage as well as anyone I’ve read. He says, “God’s testings have a way of leveling us. When testing comes to the poor man, he lets God have His way and rejoices that he possesses spiritual riches that cannot be taken from him. When testing comes to the rich man, he also lets God have His way, and he rejoices that his riches in Christ cannot wither or fade away. In other words, it is not our material resources that take you through the testings of life; it is your spiritual resources.”

So, continuing with our recent theme of how to think biblically in everyday situations, one way is to recognize that our confidence cannot be in our possessions. From a biblical and eternal perspective, our material possessions are, well, ‘just stuff.’ All the while true joy, confidence, security and our blessed hope rests in Christ alone.

Ken Askew

The Faith of Friends

And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” ESV Mark 2:3-5

A friend stopped by my office the other afternoon and shared this verse with me. As we visited, we began to marvel at the ‘faith in action’ that these guys exemplified. Don’t you think it paints a beautiful picture of Christianity at work?

Everywhere Jesus visited, people we living in sin; yet he didn’t say to everyone “your sins are forgiven.” Everywhere Jesus visited, people were sick; yet he didn’t heal everyone. Everywhere Jesus visited, people were enduring hardships; yet he didn’t remove all suffering. But if you’ll read this entire passage, you’ll see that this encounter resulted in both forgiveness and healing by the grace of Jesus Christ. Why?

Well, while being careful not to drift from the text and not pretending to know the mind or purposes of God, let me suggest two things. First, the text tells us plainly that Jesus was moved by “their faith;” which certainly could mean that Jesus was moved by the faith of the paralytic and the faith of his friends. Secondly, and less obvious, I note the persistency in which they sought Jesus. Great crowd’s had gathered around Jesus making it difficult to approach him hauling a paralytic around on a cot. But did they turn around and go home? Nope. Instead, they removed a section of the roof and lowered their friend down. Picture that in your mind for a moment—hauling their paralytic friend onto the roof, physically removing roof tiles, wedging their friend through the hole and lowering him down to Jesus—and you’ll see a picture of what persistency looks like.

But practically, what does that mean to us today? How might we live out that same kind of faith with persistency? As my friend and I talked, three answers gelled in my mind. First, as Christians, we should most certainly care about the physical and spiritual well being of those around us. Secondly, we have been given the privilege and liberty of approaching Christ directly in prayer and making our needs known. So, prayer on behalf of friends is one of the physical acts of faith we can perform. And finally, in addition to caring and praying, we can become involved in the lives of those around us. We can build relationships.

Yes, I know that relationships are sometimes difficult and messy, but personal relationships are also a way or means of bringing folks to the saving and healing found only in the grace of Christ Jesus. So, my prayer for you is that your faith may prove to be a means of grace to your friends this week. God bless.

Ken Askew