by Tom Wacaster
The four words that make up the title of this week’s article suggest a topic so broad, so encompassing, that to deal with it in full in any single two and a half page article, is an exercise in futility. Whole books have been written on the sins of the tongue, and no doubt thousands of sermons have been preached on the topic, and yet the tongue remains “a restless evil, full of deadly poison” (Jas. 3:8). Gossip, lying, slander, unkind remarks, euphemisms, cursing, swearing, angry words, misrepresentation—this list is endless. No wonder James tells us, “If any stumbleth not in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also” (Jas. 3:2). A few years ago Dan Jenkins observed:
Americans are, by in large, a nation of liars. According to a report in Parade a few years ago, the average American tells 200 lies every day. A report from USA Today substantiates this figure. The report shows that 91% lie routinely. It further indicates that Americans lie about almost every subject. Some 81% lie about their feelings; 43% lie about their income; 40% lie about sex; and 36% tell “dark, important lies.” In addition a full 75% lie to their friends, and 86% of children lie regularly to their parents, and 69% of adults lie to their spouses. Assuming that brother Jenkins’ report is anywhere near accurate, it implies that ours is a very distrusting society. If the truth were known, the high percentage of lying is not confined to what we might call the “non-religious.” There are a host of misinformed preachers who lie to their audience on a regular basis. To be sure, not everyone of them realize they are telling a non-truth, but likely there are more out there than we might suspect who KNOW that what they are telling is a lie, but who pass it off as religious truth worth of being embraced and practiced. All this goes to impress upon us the great importance of testing and proving all that we hear (article sent by email, 2011).
I’ll not address any of the better known sins of the tongue right here; though a good series of articles might be beneficial. Instead let me make a couple of points that have, in themselves, a wide range of application.
First, we should be cautious—yea overly cautious—as to what we read and then pass along on the internet. Much of what I receive in my email box that has been forwarded by others simply cannot be trusted as factual. The internet has become an endless cycle of rumors, innuendoes, and flat out lies. Have you ever received one of those emails that starts out: “This is true; I checked it out on Snopes!” Turns out that not only is the person passing along false information, he lied about telling his audience, “I checked it out on Snopes!” because he did not check it out! What often follows the opening declaration is nothing short of slander and/or character assassination. Beloved, I implore you—if you feel compelled to pass something along to your friends and brethren, make sure it is legitimate and factual! There are some good websites where you can obtain the results of the research others have done; Snopes.com, urbanlegends.com, to name just a couple.
Second, don’t let your tongue destroy your brother for whom the Lord died. I’ve reached back into my archives for these thoughts, but certainly they bear repeating. One of the first video game consoles to hit the market was “Intellivision.” It was released by Mattel in 1979, and more than 3 million of the units were sold during the height of its popularity. In addition to the console, there were eventually more than 125 games that were sold which could be played on the console, including such game titles as Dungeons and Dragons, Atlantis, and Night Stalker. One of our favorite games was Buzz Bombers in which the player flew bombing raids over enemy territory. He would have to dodge anti-aircraft fire as he was repeatedly warned, “Watch out for flak.” When the player attempted to drop a bomb on a target, but actually missed the target, hitting instead an allied jeep or troop carrier, the computer voice would tell him, “That was not a target!” Of course, the computer generated voice sounded nothing like a real human voice, and we would get tickled, so much so that we would intentionally bomb allied forces just to hear the computer speak to us. Over the course of several years my son would remind me on occasions of how those words might apply in different situations in life. I recall one of my futile attempts to repair a mechanical problem on one of our old automobiles. My hand slipped and my knuckles hit a bolt, digging deep into my skin. My son was always ready on such occasions to remind me, “Dad, THAT was not a target!” In similar fashion, military maneuvers have been known on occasions to strike the wrong target. During the Viet Nam war there were more than 8,000 incidents of what is commonly known as “friendly fire.” Friendly fire is inadvertent firing towards one’s own or otherwise friendly forces while attempting to engage enemy forces, resulting in injury or death. Sometimes friendly fire in any given war zone is the result of negligence, ignorance, carelessness, or a combination of all three. Unfortunately, once a rocket or missile has been fired, there is little that one can do to stop it; all that remains is for someone to repeat the words, “That was not a target!” Lest we be too hard on our military leaders for the horrible fruit of “friendly fire,” perhaps we should give due consideration to the possibility that each one of us might fall prey to the same kind of carelessness and neglect. How often have we found ourselves in a situation where words were spoken in anger, and after careful reflection, we wish we could take them back? Too late, we learn that the target of our verbal missiles was not deserving of our caustic attack, and deep inside we are reminded, “That was not a target!” As one author put it: “Perhaps we have been guilty of speaking against someone and have not realized how it may have hurt them. Then when someone speaks against us, we suddenly realize how deeply such words hurt, and we become sensitive to what we have done” (Theodore Epp). Spiritual “friendly fire” comes in all forms and in the most unexpected circumstances. “The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts” (Pro. 18:8). Parents often fire their misguided barbs at their own children, only to learn too late, “That was not a target!” Husbands and wives bicker and argue over some of the most insignificant matters, feelings are hurt, and a wedge is driven into the heart of the one whom we love and cherish. No, “That was not a target!” Many a congregation has been torn apart because of verbal attacks upon one another, and when the damage has been done we find bleeding and wounded soldiers of the cross who have thrown down the sword and shield because of “friendly fire” from someone whom they thought was on their side.
Sins of the tongue! They are deadly, whether from the tongue or the pen. Let us use caution in these matters lest we sin against our brethren!