I can’t forget a line from a play I watched several years ago about the work of a local missionary. One converted African tribesman, when told by his friends that they didn’t want to hear more about Jesus, told them, “Then go away. I have no talk but Jesus talk.”
Reading 2 Timothy and thinking of that line, I’m convicted about my own talk. One of the things Paul advises Timothy is to make his speech matter. In 2:16 he writes, “Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.” A few verses farther on, in verse 23, he says “Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.”
Godless chatter is anything that doesn’t focus me on God. It seems like a perfect description for much of what I hear at work, or see online. Gossip, off-color jokes, candidate-bashing, talking about others behind their backs, all these things seem godless to me. Most TV shows and movies are godless, especially in the way they get us to think about how we relate to others, seductively or violently.
And what about foolish and stupid arguments? I don’t argue a lot, but I do sometimes. I can’t remember the last time I argued about anything of substance. Usually it’s about whether the ref got the call right, or whose fault it is that we’re out of Kleenex, or whether or not Dawn actually told me something. How’s that for foolish and stupid.
When I speak thoughtlessly, I risk becoming more ungodly (and dragging others down with me), and I provoke quarrels, which disrupt relationships. What percentage of my words are spent on things like these? A lot, I’m afraid.
“I have no talk but Jesus talk.” What a wonderful claim to be able to make!
No comments:
Post a Comment