Open an online forum, a post and its comment thread, an article and its replies, a news feed, or any webpage that features free rein for communication and opinion-sharing, and you will encounter the ugly side of man’s speech. You might stumble upon a verbal brawl between or among users of a particular site, or the written manifestation of a person’s outrage in response to someone else’s claim. Yet oftentimes it is subtle, and the absurdity of words is not so apparent; but for those sensible few, they can tell there is too much vinegar in the soup. They see the brief and discourteous comments have come from misinterpretation or the failure to contextualize; they notice the cheeky banter and the carelessness. By and large the use of language is utterly juvenile. I’ve known children who curb their tongues better than some of the web’s mindless buffoons.
Saying anything on these pages, even when it brings someone harm, is all too easy. After all, consider the psychological activity involved when posting a comment online: there are no immediate repercussions to anything you say; written words of response, even if they are criticism, do not hurt the psyche as do vocal transmissions of the same words; the ease of typing a few words quickly and then moving on start a snowball effect (you did it once, you can do it again), and proceeds to open wide the fissure of damage in your mind.
The internet is teaching people how to talk. People adopt the mannerisms of the populace; such unfiltered rambling is brought out of the cyber world and into the real world. I hear it often: brother scolds brother, arguments flare up over small matters, opinion becomes the master of the moment. The floodgates of vanity have been opened wide. This ought not to be so among us. We ought not to take our cues from these pages.
The pages of Scripture, rather, both explain why people act with such irreverence and offer the antidote for this disease. We must not forget that the words people speak are the outgrowth of their hearts, and the heart is evil from birth unless and until it is touched by the Spirit. So from a wicked heart come words of iniquity, craftiness, deceit, and perversity. Cursing, oppression, and all kinds of mischief characterize the popular dialogue. The tongue of the wicked is an unbridled and feral beast. And if that is not harrowing enough a picture, recall the metaphors used by the Psalmist: the throat is an open grave (5:9), the tongue is like a sharp razor (52:2), sharp as a serpent’s tongue, and the lips of the wicked contain the venom of asps (140:3). Our Lord Jesus knew this when he identified his audience as a brood of vipers (Matthew 12:34). Moreover, Jeremiah described the tongue as a deadly arrow (9:8). Native Americans used to agitate poisonous snakes or lizards so that they shot their venom into a slab of meat, and then the natives would dip their arrowheads or blowgun darts into the meat. This was an effective way to ensure the death of their victims. The tongue of the wicked is like this poisonous arrow. Yet one of the most compelling images for the tongue is depicted by James: it is a fire that starts small yet eventually sets a whole forest ablaze. This fire can set ablaze one’s entire course of life (3:5-6).
Flattery that is shown is not the good kind of flattery; it’s deceptive. On the surface it looks like peace, but the speaker is devising an ambush, and thinking of ways to boast of himself. Dogs eat other dogs in this world of evil. And what become of the truth? The world’s speech is devoid of it. The truth cannot be spoken by those who hold bitterness and selfish ambition. Every harsh word stirs the boiling pot of anger and jealousy. And—have you noticed?—it never stops. There is never a moment of silence, of prolonged thoughtful quietude. This onslaught of words cannot produce anything but transgression, as we were warned by wise King Solomon.
Folks, this is senseless! Solomon has also said that the heart of the wicked is of little worth, and fools die for lack of sense (Proverbs 10:20-21). So don’t be a fool, and don’t be fooled either. People are out claiming they have “knowledge;” they have a secret word, but it’s all just irreverent babble, as Paul once warned Timothy. And a graver warning is given us again by James: if you call yourself religious and do not bridle your tongue, your religion is worthless (1:26). So what do we make of this? We cannot treat it lightly. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. If the words of Solomon, Paul, and James do not hold weight enough, consider the warning of our Lord: “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:36-37).
These are the ways of the world, and they will eat the fruit of their words. We must be on our guard. Or better, we must look to the Lord to guard the tongue (Psalm 141:3). The antidote is to take the eyes off the naval and to look outward to Christ. Since it is our hearts from which our words flow, then somehow our hearts have to be changed. And the only way this can happen is if the Holy Spirit comes in. King David’s last words acknowledged this very fact, for he said in the second book of Samuel, “The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me; his word is on my tongue” (23:2). Only by the Spirit were the Sons of Korah likewise able to declare: “My heart overflows with a pleasing theme; I address my verses to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe” (Psalm 45:1). May this be our theme as we sit down to write at our computers. Our thoughts and motives ought to be upon whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, and upon the things of excellence and those worthy of praise, as Paul exhorts the Philippians.
Wisdom becomes the order of the day, not simply opinion. Under the believer’s tongue are wisdom and justice. Like the Psalmist, our tongues ought to talk of God’s righteous help all the day long; and why? “For they have been put to shame and disappointed who sought to do me hurt” (71:24). We see also from Proverbs the contrast between the words of the righteous and those of the wicked: the one is a fountain of life, the other conceals violence (10:11); the one is choice silver, the other is of little worth (10:20); the one brings forth wisdom, the other will be cut off (10:31); the one commends knowledge, the other pours out folly (15:2). Bear also in mind Solomon’s illustration in the sixteenth chapter, a brilliant and precise image that is worth noting at length: “The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious and adds persuasiveness to his lips. Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body” (vv. 23-24). This was not wisdom held by Solomon alone, but is sustained by the agency of the apostles. Paul condemns all corrupting talk from the mouth, and encourages only that which builds up, as fits the occasion, and gives grace to those who hear (Ephesians 4:29). Our speech must always be gracious and seasoned with salt (Colossians 4:6). Similarly James warns believers of being double-tongued (3:9-12); the wise, rather, make peace, are gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere (3:17-18).
A pertinent concern was posed by the poet Jill Paláez Baumgaertner, in an essay entitled “Silver Catching Midday Sun”: “As a Christian,” she says, “and as a poet I am constantly concerned with how language and our sense of identity as people of the Word coalesce, how they work together for our essential purpose to glorify God in all our endeavors.”1 And what a worthy concern it is, a question that I regularly ask myself. I was going to relate a subsequent thought, and perhaps I shall flesh it out in another essay, but for now I will allow another poet a voice on the subject. Paul Mariani has written:
The trouble is that we live in a time when anything one says, from the banal to the sublime, is in danger of degenerating into a kind of white music. . . . But is that not where the artist comes in: as the reinventer, the remaker, of the language? . . . For the poet who would attempt to create or recreate a viable religious language for his time it is necessary to remember that it is the language and not the underlying reality that needs to be reconstituted. It is words—if St. John’s verbal pun on the verbal can be made to work again for us—that need to be realigned again with the Word.2
I will not at this time go into great detail either in refutation or confirmation of Dr. Mariani’s claims, but I would like to say briefly that it is Scripture primarily from which we can adopt the most excellent language—that which most glorifies our God and Savior—and not from the pen of the poets, particularly. Let the poets instead imitate and reflect the language and themes of Scripture. Yet I must grant, as an aside, that I may be taking Mariani slightly out of context, since his book from which I’ve extracted the quote is chiefly about poetry, and the quote apt rather for a broader discussion of the same. Nevertheless, there is something to be said for the truth that our words “be realigned again with the Word.”
Allow me to turn our attention again to Scripture, and consider the profuseness of praise that is uttered by the Psalmists. After all, what are we made for but to worship the Lord and praise his name? David knew that praising the Lord meant singing, and always he had a new song on his lips. Yet even this did not come from himself, for he says, “He put a new song in my mouth” (40:3). Part of rendering praise to God is recognizing that we would not have right words to offer if he had not first put them into our hearts and on our tongues. “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise” (51:15). And for what does David praise his God? For his steadfast love, which is better than life (63:3), for the redemption of his soul (71:23), and for teaching him his statutes (119:171). And this was not something the Psalmist did one day a week, or every now and then when he felt like it; no, words of praise were always and forever on his lips: “that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!” (30:12); “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth” (34:1); “My tongue shall tell of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long” (35:28); “So will I ever sing praises to your name, as I perform my vows day after day” (61:8); “I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being” (104:33). For a God who gives us every breath we take, should we not join with the Psalmist and give praise all the day long? Let this be our cue, our model. The key is to turn our words of derision to words of praise.
And let us do so communally; for the singing of praise is done jointly among the people of God. Think of the vision John was given of the saints in heaven, together lifting their hearts in songs of praise to the One who sits on the throne. Were the Philippians not assured by Paul that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (2:11)? Is the Lamb not worthy to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing (Revelation 5:12)?
Live in the pages of Scripture. Read it constantly; adopt its language; reflect its beauty. Let your manner of living be worthy of your calling, according to the gospel of Christ (Ephesians 4:1, Philippians 1:27).
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”
- Psalm 19:14
References 1. Jill Paláez Baumgaertner, “Silver Catching Midday Sun” The Beauty of God: Theology and the Arts, ed. Daniel J. Treier, Mark Husbands and Roger Lundin (Downer’s Grove: Intervarsity Press, 2007), p. 146. 2. Paul Mariani, God and the Imagination (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2002), pp. 230-31. (Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.)