Every Careless Word

 

Lots of solid Christians hate conflict. There are few who seem to be really good at responding in a godly way and others who are frazzled the minute they hear a statement contradictory to the scriptures or a tone of voice that sounds hostile to our worldview.

For the anti-conflict crowd there seems to be thinking that “being at peace with others as much as it depends on you,” (Romans 12:18) means just not engaging people in words they don’t want to hear. Others seem to interpret that to mean they should just say “nice” things and never confront evil.

But Ephesians 5:11 tells us to “expose evil” and 2Timothyt 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”  It is difficult to expose evil if we have a spirit of fear (and not power, love, nor a sound mind).

In light of all the Lord gives us in His Word regarding our interactions in conversation with others, one of the more concerning verses is Matthew 12:36, Christ says, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,”

This does not seem to indicate that only the Christians or only the unbelievers will be judged for “every careless word.” We all will!

As you can imagine, these words remind me of many conversations on social media. Last week I posted a blog post about the innocent blood that has been shed in our nation through the abortion industry. People made it political; if you would only vote all red or all blue based on the political leaning of the one posting. Some made it personal: Keep your ******* Bible thumping to yourself!” (At least he knew I was going at it from a biblical standpoint!).

There were (at the writing of this post) 255 comments. So many of them were “careless words.” People called those who gave pro-life” comments names and the pro-lifers said things like, “VOTE  RED & Save THIS BABIES Life.” Another was, “MAGA is a mental Illness.” (Assuming all Trump supporters are against abortion even though he isn’t.).

Our nation has made abortion a political issue but it’s a moral and a religious issue. The most careless words in responses to the post are about Almighty God. He is excluded as a part of the issue or altogether by atheists who believe that, because they have no faith, He cannot exist. They need knowledge and repentance (Matthew 22:29).

It is easy for believers in Jesus Christ to look around and see that the demise of Christianity in our nation has brought the demise of our culture. It is apparent to many that God is judging us. Christian, we must be bolder in our approach to evangelism. (I have a friend who says that every time she points a finger at others, there are three pointing back at her. I felt that in that sentence!)

People need to know there is a God, and He is all powerful, if we are going to make progress in taking dominion and building the Kingdom of God. We need thoughtful, biblical words to convey the truths of scripture.

2 more verses for us to consider:

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. Hebrews 11:6

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? Romans 14:10

For the record, the man in the picture is not using “careless words.” To abort a baby is to kill a child while it’s still in the womb. We need more people willing to say so.