Wednesday, March 20, 2019

“Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.” (2 Timothy 2:16, New International Version)

                My favourite button on my TV remote control is the mute button.

                With it I can shut out all the chatter and noise which comes from my TV set. I can mute out the commercials, especially the ones which I have seen umpteen times in the same hour or two. (Please, Dr. Ho, I really don’t want your gizmos and gadgets.) I can silence the fundraisers who interrupt and spoil my PBS shows with their silly conversations and pleas for my money. I can mute blowhard politicians and their babble-speak. I can shut out all the chatter, the over-analysis, the pointless, the repetitive, the monotonous, the irrelevant, the babble, the worthless words that pour out like a never-ending waterfall of verbiage and redundancy (sort of like this sentence!) I’ll even watch live sports on mute because I get tired of the announcers’ repetitive chatter or stating the obvious or having a lack of any real insight to the game I am watching. Alas, poor Susan when I am in charge of the remote…

                Right now, I am listening to and somewhat watching a waterfall falling over a cliff. All I can hear is the rushing water. Sometimes the station offers bird songs or babbling brooks or winds through the pines, or waves washing up on shores.  I find the sounds very soothing and relaxing. Sometimes I do my devotional readings while this is on. It helps me focus on the words I am reading. But no disturbing words!

                Don’t get me wrong, I love words. They are my bread and butter in many ways.  Words are important and essential for good communication skills. When I write I am always searching for just the right, precise words.

The right sorts of words help build healthy relationships. Words are indispensable for expressing ideas, needs, expectations, for saying that one is sorry, for voicing joy, praise, love, and pride in another. Words can be imaginative, creative, expressive, mysterious, sacred, intense, passionate, moving and powerful.

                But our current culture is far too full of far too many of the wrong and useless types of words, especially under the influence of social media. Everybody gets to have their say - the good, the bad and the ugly. Hate speech. Cyber bullying. Unfriending people on Facebook. Election interference and collusion.  Ranting, insulting tweets on Twitter.  Sexist, racist, harassing, uncensored, crude, rude, unfiltered words.

                There needs to be some sort of a universal or cosmic mute button.

                People need to think before they speak. We need to revive the old saying that if you haven’t got something good to say about someone, don’t say anything at all. “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer,” (Psalm 19:14. NLT).  

Write down your words but if they are not constructive words then throw the paper away. It has become so hard to take back our words; for once they are out there, they are out there for ever, “but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison,” (James 3:8, NLT). James may be overstating his case here, but I suspect the little congregation to which he is writing had been giving him good cause to be so vehement.

Paul makes a cogent point when he wrote, “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,” (Ephesians 4:29, New International Version). He is pretty clear about what he thinks about gossip, wrangling, slander, lies, malice, virile and toxic disagreements in the church and all “abusive language that comes from your mouth,” (Colossians 2:3:9, NIV).

“Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech,” (1 Peter 3:10).

Words to live by!

Dale