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Stood
Up By Words
By
Lonnie B. Brown
November 20, 2000
“In the most technological time in man’s history,
where communication devices are being improved daily, it is ironic that we have
yet to realize the importance of what comes out of our mouth.”
“Honey,
what are we doing for supper?”
“Well, I didn’t set anything out ….”
“Okay, not a problem. I know
you’ve worked hard all day. Let’s just rendezvous at Denny’s. What time do you want to meet there?”
“Oh ….. how about six o’clock?”
“Well, are you sure you can make it at that time?”
“Shouldn’t be a problem as I
have only a couple more things I need to get done.”
“Fine, I’ll see you at six. Love you. Bye.”
At
6:30, I’m halfway through my original Grand Slam, and the wonderful lady of my
life finally shows up. At her
arrival, I notice this sheepish, “You’ll never believe what happened this
time.” look, and before I give her the normal two-kisses-on-the-lips
hello, I sarcastically greet her with, “Good morning!
Glad you could make it!” If I had
$10 for every time that I have been “stood up” like this since we’ve
entered the empty nest era, I could retire early from Boeing and live
comfortably!
The problem is really not my wife’s honesty or good
intentions or lack of ability to discern the lapse of time (although I have
accused her of the latter more than once).
She “almost always” has a valid reason for being late.
The real problem is that the world we live in does not value the weight
of our words as much as it did in the past.
It is such a mad-dash society and fast-paced lifestyle that people
don’t expect you to take what they say literally, just as long as you get the
gist of the communication and dialogue.
In the most technological time in man’s history, where the
media reigns, and communication devices and mediums are being improved upon
almost daily, it is ironic that we have yet to realize the importance of what
comes out of our mouth. There was a time when litigation was not the means to
enforce a contract clause, and when “gentleman agreements” were commonplace,
even to transact legal matters. A shaking of hands and/or a “You’ve got my
word on it, John.” was all it took to complete the transaction, and everyone
involved understood that. Sorry, but I have a problem with this modern-day
attitude on spoken words.
Jesus said, “But let
your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these
cometh of evil.” (Matthew 5:37) This
verse clearly declares that what comes from our lips must be spoken
understandably, and can be taken literally by the listener. It is a basic
principle of communication. Without it, there is a lack of trust between the two who are
communicating, and yes, Jesus is right, anything less than this bespeaks of
underlying evil, and problems will often result.
The old saying, “Say what you mean, and mean what you
say,” is indeed quite ancient¾as
old as the Word of God and God himself. It is a Biblical principle that is
sometimes too easy for us 21st century Apostolics to ignore.
It is no accident that God’s first act of creation in Genesis was a
result of what He said, “Let
there be light: and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3), giving us a clear
example from the beginning that what comes out of our mouth is powerful, has
value, and should be trustworthy. Therefore,
what we say should be carefully considered, as it will affect both the speaker
and the hearer.
Of course, not every conversation is at one of the extremes
of the “importance spectrum,” creating suns or making restaurant
engagements, but all words spoken do
count and are influential in our every
day living. Just ask the guy
who’s asked a half-dozen buddies at church on Sunday, “Can you help me move
Saturday?”, only to find two at his front door Saturday morning after all six
said they would be there. He’s
got a temporary problem¾and,
in my opinion, his four “buddies” have a worse problem.
After hearing a touching story of someone’s illness or family problem,
have you ever said, “Well, I’ll help you pray about that.” ?
Did you? How much?
Every other day for a week? For
two minutes? Not at all?
The person with the problem wasn’t expecting an all-night prayer
meeting on your part, but your words must have given them hope you would pray
about it.
Now here is a sobering thought: What if God’s
Word was as dependable and truthful as our word? Thankfully, we can lean on
the Psalmist’s scripture, “For ever, O
Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.” (Psalm 119:89)
Indeed, He says what He means, and means what He says¾every
time!
Another reason I disdain this sometimes lackadaisical
attitude about what we say is found in an enlightening verse spoken by Jesus, “A
good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is
good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that
which is evil: for
of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”
(Luke 6:45) I believe “We are what we say” would be a valid
interpretation of this scripture. A don’t-care attitude of what we say (and
then do or don’t do as a result of what we say) is a direct reflection of who
we are¾and
who we represent. Jesus is saying
that the character of an individual is directly reflected in the words that come
out of their mouth. Now my wife is not consistently late for our after work
dinners because she has an evil heart. Nothing
could be farther from the truth. She
is very conscientious about her job, consequently often loses track of time, and
knows her husband could use some more patience-building experience. (Not that
she hasn’t been reminded to improve her planning and time management skills.)
It’s like the proverbial little shepherd boy who cried
“Wolf!” too many times. I
don’t know if he was lonely and got little attention at home, and then
relished the reaction he got when he said that magic word.
Or perhaps he was just mischievous and enjoyed the power he felt when he
yelled that four-letter word, and all the men of the village came running to his
rescue. Whatever the reason, be assured his reputation was hard to live down
throughout his life because what he said spoke so much more than he realized to
his listeners.
Coupled with what Jesus said is a scary Old Testament verse,
“The heart is deceitful above all
things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)
Did you ever hear someone say something, probably in a fit of frustration
or anger, that absolutely shocked you? That
is because Jesus and Jeremiah are exactly right.
The words we say, the actions that follow these words, and the condition
of our heart all live in the same house and are close kin to one another. So the
challenge for all of us is to keep our heart pure, and then what comes out of
our mouth will always be fitting and proper.
“So, what time are we meeting at Denny’s?”
ninetyandnine.com
Article
© 2000, Lonnie Brown
-------
Lonnie Brown has
been happily married to his teenage sweetheart, Donna, for over 33 years, and is
in his 33rd year of working for Boeing/McDonnell Douglas in the
Information Systems area. He has taught the Young Marrieds’ Sunday School
class for more than 15 years, and has been a Bible Quizzing (BQ)
“enthusiast” since the year he was married¾1967.
He finds time during the “non-BQ” season to participate in his
favorite hobby, bird watching, and supplies research data to Cornell University
while feeding the birds. |
