Praising And Cursing With The Same Tongue?

"Today's Devotion" For March 16, 2006

Read: James 3:1-12; Psalm 140

PRAISING AND CURSING WITH THE SAME TONGUE?

"With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing." (James 3:9, 10)

The other day someone responded to a devotion on the "Today's Devotion" blog using as many "curse" words as possible. No doubt the person who wrote them is an angry human being - although he (or she) didn't give a name, a blog address was given and, upon checking it out, it was easy to see the anger and hatred toward a variety of things and people, God included. One of the blessings of the internet is the ability to reach a lot of people one might not otherwise touch with the Gospel; one of the "curses" is that it's such an anonymous venue that there's often no way to lovingly address such people.

That the use of such language as a way of expressing ones anger and frustration is common these days was punctuated by a series of news article on a popular internet news portal just this morning. It seems that in Austria there is small village with only 32 houses that has the name of "F---cking," which in German is pronounced "Fooking." It seems some tourists (from a country that will remain nameless - not the U.S. by the way) find the name so humorous that they've been stealing the signs. This may seem to be "harmless" in and of itself (it's still theft by the way), but that same country has such a problem with "swearing" that at least one of its secondary schools as instituted a five-word swearing limit in each class. After five "swears," as noted by the teacher on the chalkboard, no one is allowed to swear for the duration of the class. If the rule is broken there are severe consequences - the class receives a "severe talking to" by the teacher.

What we call "swearing" is not what the Scriptures mean by "swearing." While we consider "swearing" to be the use of all sorts of coarse and negative language, including taking the Lord's name in vain, Scripture considers "swearing" to mean calling on God's name in support of something we've said or done. James uses the term "curse" as a distinction between "swearing" and the use of bad/coarse language that tears another down and harms our relationship with them. It's been my experience that, as rich as the English language is in its ability to convey thoughts clearly and distinctly, people seem to be more and more ready to resort to words and expressions which lend themselves to demeaning, degrading, and destroying others.

How about you and me? Are we also too apt to praise and curse in one breath? Is our first response, whether in anger or frustration, to lash out with an obscene gesture (I know it's not "cursing" per se, but the thought is there and our thoughts give way to the words spoken) or yell out a series of invectives which can only exacerbate the situation? Are we as willing to use our tongues to praise others, lift them up, encourage them, or intelligently and courteously challenge a position with which we disagree? Ultimately, how we use our tongues reflects the condition of our hearts. There's no doubt that when we use our tongues to "tear others down" or "get in a shot to even the score," we are reflecting our sinful nature. Rather than loving God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves, such a use of our tongues destroys any relationship we might have with God or our neighbor.

Our tongues can be used, therefore, as instruments of hope and praise or as instruments of despair, condemnation, hatred, and destruction. But by God's grace and mercy, through the power of His Word and Spirit, we are, by faith in Jesus, empowered to put our tongues to use in a manner that praises God and uplifts and helps our neighbor. God's own Word is a reflection of God's use of His "tongue" as He offers us His forgiveness, grace, mercy, and love in Christ Jesus. As we read and hear His Word we are blessed, scolded, challenged, chastised, and loved. He encourages us to live in a manner that is pleasing to Him and loves other people in His name. He gives us the very strength and courage we need to speak to others with words of kindness and love in all types of situations, no matter the provocation to anger and hateful speech we might experience. What a great gift God has given us, that we are able to live in His love and share that love through the use of our tongues in praise and honor of His holy name and for the benefit and blessing of others.

Prayer: Father, forgive me for the awful ways I use my tongue. Too often I use it to lash out at others in anger and frustration, hoping to hurt them and cause them to feel as hurt and bruised as I might at that moment. Too often I use my tongue to put others down whose ideas don't agree with mine, rather than speaking to them with a loving spirit, effectively using Your gift of language to question, reason, and convince. Help me, gracious Father, to remember that no matter how much provocation another person might give me, that each human being is created in Your likeness and is due the every bit of Your love and mercy in Jesus that I can share. Teach me to use my tongue to praise rather than curse, to uplift rather than tear down, and to love rather than hate. In Jesus' most precious and holy name I pray. Amen.
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--Pastor Boeck

Copyright (c) 2006 Rev. Richard J. Boeck, Jr. All rights reserved.