Read: Ps. 19:1-2; John 8:1-11; Eph. 4:15; 25-32; 5:1-2
Lord of our Speech . When Christ is Lord of our life, will the believers words be more gentle, more forceful, more numerous? Or will there be more silence?
- Praise all the time? Psalm 9:1-2. In Psalm 9, the psalmist speaks about thanksgiving and praise. Yet such psalms are interspersed with complaints and even calls for vengeance. Where in Scripture can we find the ideal for which the Christian should strive when it comes to our speech?
- Rebuke with encouragement: John 8:1-11. In the early years of the Christian church, some church leaders apparently became so exasperated at the misuse of the story of Jesus’ ministry to the woman taken in adultery that they actually left the story out of their New Testament manuscripts. To what extent can this story be safely used in the church today?
- Useful words in Jesus: Ephesians 4:15; 25-32; 5:1-2. In Ephesians, Paul admonishes us to speak the truth “in love” (4:15). But he also admonishes us to be angry – yet without sinning (4:26). Perhaps most powerfully of all, he admonishes us to “let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear” (4:29). Does that mean that we should say more or less? With greater conviction or with less passion?
- Wisdom or Jesus? 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. To what extent has Paul’s contrast between wisdom and Christ in his letter to the Corinthians contributed to anti-intellectualism among Christians? Are Paul’s words about Christ compatible with a religious experience which contains a highly intellectual component?
