This week, Chris discusses how Christians should model their speech with others after Ephesians 4:29-32 in our interactions with others.
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This week, Chris discusses how Christians should model their speech with others after Ephesians 4:29-32 in our interactions with others.
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Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:29–32)
My hope in this article is to encourage Christians to be mindful in our speech with one another and with the world at large without compromising the truth of Scripture. This is not a call to be winsome and nuanced in everything. Rather, it is an exhortation for us to make use of our speech in the most biblical way possible. This is clearly not an exhaustive treatment on the matter and, undoubtedly, it will not address every possible circumstance. My hope is to give a small framework for Christians to work out from as they consider how they think and speak to people in their lives.
Our Manner of Speech Reveals the Condition of Our Hearts
It ought to go without saying that Christians should be a people who think, speak, and act differently from the rest of the world. We are new creations in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). Our wicked hearts of stone have been replaced with hearts of flesh (Ez. 26:26). As a result, we have new desires whereby we seek to be conformed to the image of Christ. The ways of the world, with its sinful proclivities in thought, word, and deed, should become foreign to us, something to be warred with daily.
It is here, in the matter of speech, that oftentimes Christians can find one of our greater struggles. As we continue to live our lives in our corrupted flesh, though our hearts have been made new, we feel the war with certain thoughts and words as we experience trials, tribulations, and even persecutions. Frustration can build to a point where we want to unleash a torrent of graceless and corrupt speech. It feels like it is the only way we can express how bad life is or how wickedly the world is treating us. We want to be able to express just how vile a world we live in by using speech that the world itself truly understands.
Yet, Christ Himself gives us clear instructions about how we are to speak to the world around us. Starting first in the church, and then expanding out to the world, our speech is a revelation to those who hear (or read in the day of digital technology and social media) the condition of our hearts. It is Jesus who tells us in Luke 6:45, “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” It is a dire warning to us that those who are unwilling to cease speaking with evil or corrupt speech may actually not be in Christ, we may yet still be in our sins.
Of course, this is not to say that every Christian who, on a bad or trying day, lets loose a string of invectives has forfeited their salvation. Rather, it is a reminder that it is the evil heart that desires to speak wickedly. And, Christians who fall into sin and speak with an evil or corrupt tongue are giving into the remnants of the sinful flesh in which we reside. Speaking with wholesome speech, fit for those who hear us is not merely being kind to someone, it is honoring Christ who purchased us and obeying His commandments in all areas of our lives, even with our lips.
“Justifiable” Corrupt Speech
Those reading up to this point may be giving a nod of agreement or even a hearty “Amen!” However, the commandment of the above-listed passage in Ephesians does not merely refer to the most obvious forms of crass, rude, or anger-laden forms of speech. It also addresses cutting language dressed up in biblical form that we can use to tear down others. Or acceptable words used in such a way to convey anger or gracelessness. Remember that our speech flows out of the condition of our hearts. It is all too easy to find ways to justify corrupt speech, ways that we can convince ourselves and others that we really are not being as wicked as we truly are.
One of the more insidious forms of corrupt speech used by Christians today, especially on social media, is how we tend to address the wickedness on display in the world. Let me first start by saying that Christians should not in any way, shape, or form sugarcoat the evil on display in our culture. A nation drenched in the blood of murdered babies in the womb, sexual immorality displayed in the grossest and crassest means possible, and the mutilation of children in the name of “gender identity” affirmation, is nothing but evil. There is no means by which a Christian ought ever to speak in the “nice” terms the world demands of us in these matters. The Bible has plenty to say about such abominable acts and we would do well to speak as it does on these things.
With that said Christians need to temper our words with the commandments regarding our speech in Scripture. Paul’s commandment above, while written in the context of the church body, gives a clear indication of what the heart of the Christian should be when we speak. He specifically contrasts corrupting speech against speech that builds up, fits the occasion, and gives grace to the hearer. In other words, when Christians speak, our hearts should be inclined to convey grace toward others. And this is by no means a contradiction when we address sin, whether inside or outside the church.
The kindest and most loving thing a Christian can do is call out sin and point to the only hope of salvation and reconciliation in Jesus Christ. The late R. C. Sproul called sin a “cosmic treason” against God. I can think of no better explanation for the vile and treacherous nature of sin. Sin puts us at war with God, a war we will absolutely lose, and for which we will be eternally condemned. Therefore, Christians must show the greatest love possible by calling sin what it is, telling people to repent, and calling them to Jesus Christ for forgiveness. To, in any way, water down Scripture’s warnings against sin is to harm the hearer because we can give them false comfort that they are not really that wicked and will be just fine in the end. Truly loving speech is that which reveals the ugliness of sin and the beauty of salvation in Christ.
Yet, as we watch the debauchery of the world unfold around us, and the quite obvious efforts to demonize the Christian church, there is a temptation to not only speak with passion and firmness against sin but to add fire of our own to the words. We may justify adding crassness and vile speech to our words by telling ourselves, that if we do not do so, we really just do not hate sin enough. This is one of those acceptable lies we tell ourselves because we lead ourselves, and others, to believe our added salt is necessary to make people feel and see how wicked is a thing or people.
How can we know the difference between speaking passionate truth and corrupting speech in these situations? It can show itself in the manner in which we engage in such speech. When we see a people awash in sexual immorality, for example, do we call that sin what it is, an abomination to God, with the explanation that God judges all sin and will condemn them to Hell unless they repent and turn to Christ? Or do we gnash our teeth and take glee in using the most offensive terms we can find (even the biblical ones) so people can see just how tough we are willing to be in calling people evil? Both situations may rely on biblical descriptions of sin and sinners but only one speaks in such a way to reveal love for the sinner by warning them of the judgment to come and the grace of salvation found in Christ.
Another thing we must always be on watch for is using well-known curse words of the day. This article does not need to list out what are considered curse words and the reader would be a bit disingenuous if he or she demanded a fully vetted list of “acceptable“ terms we can use. Any mentally competent adult with a functioning mind and vocabulary understands there a words considered crass and vulgar enough that they should not be used in mixed company. And Christians, being a people who desire to speak as one transformed by our Savior, should avoid using such curse words in order to add a little more seasoning to their engagements with our modern culture. Jesus modeled firm, passionate, unyielding, and biblical speech. He did not need to resort to the vulgar terminology of His day to be understood. We should conform ourselves to that very model.
Remember, Christ taught us that our words reveal the condition of our hearts. Speech that lacks graciousness, humility, and a desire to lead people to reconciliation with Christ reveals much about us. It is not by accident that Paul followed his commandment regarding speech with, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice“ (v. 31). Hearts that are consumed with merely with anger against a wicked without simultaneously being filled with the love of Christ who saved us can fall prey to corrupt speech.
”But What About…?”
I would be quite remiss to finish this article without addressing examples of very fiery speech found throughout Scripture. Any honest reader of the Bible knows that a commandment against corrupt speech does not equate to saying everything must be “nice” speech. There are multiple instances of fiery speeches against the enemies of God throughout Scripture, words that were not at all nice and would have burned in the ears of their hearers. The question then becomes, can Christians also speak in such a manner, and, if so, when?
In 1 Kings 18:25-27, Elijah mocks the prophets of the false god, Baal. The prophets had prayed, danced, and even flagellated themselves trying to get their god to respond to their calls to consume their sacrifice. This had gone on for the bulk of the day without the slightest hint of a response. Elijah mocked Baal, telling the prophets to cry louder because he might be sleeping, or on vacation, or maybe was busy “relieving himself.” Elijah demonstrated nothing but contempt for the false god and the false worshippers in his speech. There was nothing “nice” about what he said to them.
In a public confrontation with the Jewish leader of His day, Jesus, in Matthew 23:27-28 calls them “hypocrites” and “white washed tombs…full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.” Jesus also slams them, saying “you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” This was not a polite exchange, Jesus was not interested in making them feel comfortable or accepted. He was fiery and blunt, without apology.
While writing to the Galatians who had fallen under the lies of the Judaizers, a group who demanded professing Christians must keep the law of Moses, Paul did not mince words. These false teachers who troubled the Galatians required circumcision as stated under the law, to which Paul writes, “I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!“ (Gal. 5:12). Paul made it clear that if the Judaizers really wanted to see the literal cutting of flesh as some kind of requirement to be right with God, then he would prefer they cut the entire appendage off. Paul had no problem calling out wicked false teaching and expressing what he believed should be done with such teachers.
The above three examples are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to fiery action and speech in the pages of Scripture. And, since all of Scripture is for our benefit and meant to conform us to Christ, even these examples can, and indeed should, influence how we think and speak. The challenge is knowing the when and how.
In all of the above-cited examples, there is a consistent theme found: that the receiving hearers, or those written of, are genuine enemies of Christ. The prophets of Baal were leading Israel in the false worship of a false god. The Jewish leadership laid heavy burdens on the people of Israel through their traditions and even nullified the law in some places. The Judaizers sought to lead the Galatians away from justification by grace alone through faith alone and return them to the law which could never deliver them. In every instance, these were not merely people dead in trespasses and sins but actively engaged enemies of Christ who sought to corrupt people and lead them into condemnation.
For such persons, Scripture often has some of the most heated and passionate language. While all sinners are indeed at war with God through wicked works, some rise to the top to be leaders and preachers of the worst kinds of blasphemy. For their hubris, Scripture takes great pains to reveal who they are with the fieriest rhetoric so that those who hear or read it know there is no mistaking how God views them.
Therefore, the Christian does have an example to follow, a manner of permissible speech to be used in certain kinds of circumstances. Harsh language aimed at those who would be the modern-day examples of false prophets and teachers who seek to lead people into blasphemies against God is within the realm of Christian speech. But, simply because there are people, places, and times that such speech is permitted is not blanket permission to use the harshest or most derogatory verbiage without restraint.
Be Balanced
The Christian must always look to the whole counsel of God in matters such as these. There are indeed examples of inflammatory speech that can serve as models for us when addressing wicked people in our modern culture. However, Scripture is replete with not only examples of but with specific commandments against corrupt and crass speech. Therefore, it is the duty of the Christian to study and inform oneself on what, how, and when we engage in certain means of speech.
We must also be committed to being conformed to the image of Christ. To be humble servants who live, not to promote ourselves or our preferred ideologies, but to proclaim and glorify the Savior who purchased us by His shed blood. This should cause us to view ourselves as undeserving wretches who had once been enemies of Christ ourselves but are now redeemed trophies of His grace. This not only reorients our view of ourselves but requires us to rethink how we view those with whom we are interacting.
In the end, Christians must be balanced in their speech. We must ultimately care about God’s glory, His plan, and His commandments to us over and above our own fallible desire to speak as freely as we would prefer. If we do this, putting God and His Word above ourselves, then we will find our hearts, thoughts, and speech naturally being guided by the Holy Spirit and His Word.
That is my encouragement to all of you and an admonition to myself as well. May we seek to be biblical in all that we do and let us leave the results to Christ.
(This article was also published at X.com)
Perhaps one of the most aggravating and disheartening aspects of Christian social media is the inevitable “Us Versus Them” mentality that develops between various doctrinally sound groups. By this, I simply mean that Christians who hold to particular doctrinal beliefs and practices that are orthodox yet differ from others who hold different biblical views will end up going to war with one another.
Differing views within orthodox views of Christian practice have existed since the birth of the church. Over the centuries, those views have resulted in various denominations that are most certainly Christian but have distinctives that set them apart from other Christian churches. That is simply a fact of life, one that will never change until Christ returns and ushers us all into glory. And, at that point, all of us will discover where our theology was deficient.
In the past, you might have ecumenical councils addressing deep theological questions of the day. You would have books upon books written in support of and in response to various doctrinal beliefs. Lectures and sermons abounded on these topics. Now, this is not to say that Christians never spoke with barbed tongues “back in the day,” they certainly did, often regrettably so. Yet, the manner and frequency in which this occurred was quite different given the lack of immediate access to the entire world that exists today.
With the advent of digital technology and social media, we cannot only read what someone around the world just posted, but we can engage in immediate communication with them. Truly a wonderous ability, yet one laden with dangers to those of us who cannot seem to control our wicked tongues.
What has often resulted in this age of immediate access is the ability to find those who think exactly like ourselves and to identify those who are not in our particular bubble. We create Christian camps and set watchmen at the gates (i.e. we surround ourselves with those who agree with us and will pounce upon those who dare intrude with differing views). While that might seem overly dramatic, it far too often becomes the reality when we become focused on what makes us different while, simultaneously neglecting what unites us, that we are all in Christ.
Please, do not misunderstand what I am saying. Firstly, I am not saying that all who claim to be in Christ genuinely are so. False converts and wolves among the sheep are common and we must be discerning to identify them. Also, I am not saying that those things that make us different are unimportant. As Christians, we are duty-bound to study the Scriptures and rightly divide them so that we might know Him and what He commands us to do. Rigorous discourse and debate with our brethren help us refine our understanding and practice that we may be unified in Christ and His Word.
Yet, as we engage in these discourses, that we are often dealing with our actual brethren in Christ is a necessity that we must not overlook. These are fellow sinners who have been purchased by the blood of Jesus and redeemed by His grace just as we once were. They are not less deserving of His kindness and mercy than we are. In fact, none of us were deserving of such grace. As it has been said, we are all blind beggars helping other beggars find a crust of bread.
The problem is, when we so often form our Christian enclaves online, we can forget this very important truth. We become so focused on the what (doctrinal differences and practices) that we fail to remember the who (our fellow heirs with Christ) we are engaging. When we become laser focused on defeating opposing arguments, what can result is a lot of back and forth shouting at one another, failure to rightly understand an argument, wrongly representing each other’s arguments, and even responding with attacks that do not address the actual argument made. And we do this because we are not dealing with people but our own perception of their arguments which we feel we have to “defeat.”
When we neglect the truth that we are dealing with fellow Christians, it becomes all too easy to become uncharitable. We see a post, an article, or a video that posits a doctrinal belief with which we disagree. The overwhelming concern becomes defeating the position and making sure everyone knows that position is something they should never practice or believe. Rather than recognizing the person behind the post is a fellow Christian making an argument consistent with their denominational beliefs, we view them as an opponent or enemy that must be fended off at all costs.
Charity and grace are left inside our camps as we wage virtual warfare with fellow Christians. We feel no need to remember Christ’s commandment to love one another because the debate over doctrinal distinctives is far too important. We might even justify our behavior by saying that it is loving to correct bad doctrine (a very true statement that can be twisted to excuse ungracious behavior). Someone could be swayed to their beliefs if we fail to act right now. So, into battle we go forgetting just how gracious Christ is with us in our own theological ignorance. Such behavior is unbecoming those truly in Christ.
Therefore, it is my encouragement to my fellow believers to flip the script just a bit. Yes, by all means, let us engage in discourse and debate. Let us respond to doctrinal beliefs and practices we find troublesome and concerning. Let us build up one another in the truth of Scripture that we may actually be unified in Christ and His Word. Yet, let us do so in a gracious manner that extends patience and lovingkindness to one another.
When we engage, let us listen to what someone actually says instead of assuming we know what they really mean. Do not look for ways to assault one another’s character instead of responding to the argument itself. Let us not pretend we can read minds and know someone’s motivations, rather, let us draw out someone’s intended meaning and purpose through charitable discussion.
To do this, of course, means that we must humble ourselves and remember that we are not better than those with whom we debate. We are all servants of Christ whom He has called, equipped, and placed us where we are in this place and time that we might serve and bring glory to His name. We all deserved Hell but Christ redeemed us and made us His own that we would spend eternity with Him. We are brothers and sisters through Christ’s blood and we are to love each other as we love our Savior. That change in perspective reminds us that, as we engage one another, we are addressing family we will spend our eternal lives with.
This is my encouragement to my fellow brethren. I have no illusions that this will be a swift and final resolve to all the discouraging infighting we see. However, if each one of us resolve to change our perspective in this way at least once per day, I believe we may see more fruitful discourse begin to develop.
Welcome to the He Gets Us version of Jesus. This is their message that manipulates Scripture to justify their social justice version of Christ. They say he “washed the feet of friends and enemies.” But, is that correct?
Jesus washed the feet of friends and enemies. No ego or hate. He humbly loved his neighbors. How can we do the same? pic.twitter.com/kXift42ZG9
— HeGetsUs (@HeGetsUs) February 11, 2024
We see the one instance of foot washing by Christ in John 13: 1-5. This was done at the last supper specifically with the disciples of Christ. So, yes, he washed the feet of friends. What about enemies? Those opening verses tell us that Judas was already led by Satan to betray Jesus. So, in this instance one enemy, one who chose riches over Christ was present. And it appears his feet were indeed washed.
So, in the most technical sense of the tweet itself, Christ did wash the feet of his friends and one particular enemy. But, as the He Gets Us ad suggests, was Jesus so loving that He would essentially overlook the sins of His enemy? That washing the feet of Judas meant He did not judge or hate the sin of His betrayer?
In Matthew 26:24 Jesus says, “The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born!” This is a clear statement of judgment on Judas who was about to betray Christ for 30 pieces of silver. Jesus openly identified the sin of Judas and pronounced grave judgment upon him for it.
Yet, in the He Gets Us ideology, Jesus did not judge. He did not hate sin and sinners. He only demonstrated humble love to those who would openly rebel against Him. This is an insidious redefining of the Son of God who stated, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household” (Matthew 10:34-36).
Why is it such a redefinition? Because, as Christ Himself stated, there is a division between those who follow Him and those who follow the world. Those who are of the world hate Christ and hate His Word. Why? Because Christ proclaims judgment on sin. And because only by repenting of sin (Matthew 3:2) and following Him (Matthew 16:24-26) can there be forgiveness and eternal life. The true Christ of Scripture hates sin and judges those who live in unrepentant sin to eternal condemnation. Yet, in His love, He makes a way of salvation from that judgment through His sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection.
He Gets Us rejects this message and would have its ad viewers believe there is no judgment of sin with Christ. How can we know this? By looking at the ad itself. In at least two instances that are immediately notable – images of an abortion clinic and an LGBT person – their “Christians” are washing the feet of the persons present. Their tagline is that Jesus did not hate but washed feet.
So, in the ideology of He Gets Us, to proclaim abortion is the sin of murder, that LGBT is a sin of sexual immorality, and that both will be condemned to Hell eternally, is hateful. The only message He Gets Us will tolerate is that we should “serve” the unregenerate by “washing their feet” to make them feel loved.
But, as we see above, Christ condemned the sinner Judas and pronounced that his judgment would be so severe it would be better if he had not been born. The loving Jesus called out and condemned sin. Therefore, the most unloving thing a Christian can do is not call sin out for the vile rebellion that it is. It is actually a work of hate to leave someone unchallenged in their sins so that they feel better about themselves and you.
True loving service does meet the needs of those around us but never is that service to be absent the loving message of the gospel. True love tells people their sins put them at war with God and they face His righteous wrath. And true love points the sinner to Christ, who died on behalf of sinners to take that wrath upon Himself in their place. Who rose from the grave to give us a promise of eternal life if we would but turn from sin and trust in Him alone.
He Gets Us doesn’t want that Jesus. They want the social justice “Jesus” that doesn’t care about anyone’s sins (well, except those of “mean” Christians who are not washing feet, i.e. being activists for the “oppressed” in society). They want a “Jesus” that never tells anyone they are wicked rebels who need forgiveness but instead makes them feel that they are just great the way they are. They want a “Jesus” that institutes societal reforms so all the “victims” of culture’s oppressions are lifted up while all the “oppressors” are brought low. This is the “Jesus” they want, one made in their own image.
The He Gets Us campaign is not about the Jesus of Scripture. It is not about the gospel. It is not about repentance from sins and forgiveness through Christ. It is a multi-million dollar campaign to make people fall in love with an idolatrous version of Jesus that people can feel comfortable being around. A Jesus that worships them rather than the other way around.
Christian, reject the Social Justice Jesus™️ of He Gets Us. Instead, turn to the Scriptures and know the one, true Christ as revealed to us in His Word. Then, go and proclaim His way of salvation to those around you. That is your mission and calling, do not neglect it.
This week, Chris and Rich discuss if and when Christians can attend certain gatherings as well as what our motivations should be in doing so.
This week, Chris and Rich discuss if and when Christians can attend certain gatherings as well as what our motivations should be in doing so.
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This week, Chris looks at two topics, the upcoming election and a recent statement by Alistair Begg, to encourage Christians to think biblically through difficult issues.
Let’s look back to 2018 when Chris and Rich discussed an article written by John MacArthur about social justice. They talked about the issues and pitfalls Christians would find themselves in for weeks to come concerning that issue.
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