God’s timing is amazing, if not painful. Of course, if you are a Christian, you would definitely agree that God’s timing is amazing but painful? Oh, yeah, well, at least for me it was.
We began studying the Psalms in our Wednesday night assemblies a couple of weeks ago. Last night (10-29-08) we were examining Psalms four verse four where David says, Be angry and do not sin. Paul quotes this statement in Ephesians 4:26 and adds, . . . do not let the sun go down on your wrath . . .. Simple, right? We discussed what anger is, what it can lead to, and why we need to be really, really careful about becoming angry for any reason. During the discussion I asked if we need to be careful about the words we use when we are angry. Good question? Maybe. I asked if using the word idiot is sinful because that word passes our lips often. “Does the Bible have anything to say about the use of the word?” Of course, some looked at the floor, some at the ceiling, and others just stared straight ahead. If you have ever led a Bible study, you might recognized these symptoms. In my case, these symptoms told me that the group had understood my question but was not sure what answer for which I was asking. So, I asked again. Some said yes, of course in the form of a question, others shook their heads in a circle, and well, others, just didn’t answer. So, I asked, “What does idiot mean?” Eventually, after much deliberation, we agreed that it meant there was nothing in one’s head. He was empty headed. Ok, great. We had made some great strides. But then, I felt it. You know, the mental ouch that stabs you in your heart when you finally realize you did something foolish. Well back to the story, for the moment. I asked everyone if the Bible addresses our use of the word idiot. Well, I got the same responses I mentioned earlier so I asked everyone to turn to Matthew 5:22. After discussing the first one-third of the passage we ran across the word raca. I asked the group if anyone knew what raca means and one brother said that the center reference in his Bible defined raca as empty headed. Great, we were getting somewhere. So, I ventured out in faith and asked everyone, “What did we agree the word idiot meant?” Oops, empty headed! This was a group-sized epiphany! Wow, the Bible did mention this word. Then I asked, “What are we attacking when we call someone an idiot?” We all finally agreed that we were attacking the person’s humanity. But I decided to take it a step or two further so I asked, “When we attack a person’s humanity what about that humanity are we attacking?” After some prodding, we all agreed we were attacking the image in which the person is created, God’s image. Finally, I asked, “When we attack the image of God, who or what are we attacking?” Finally, we all agreed we are attacking God himself.
Ok, lets go back a moment. Do you remember the stab that I said I felt earlier? Well, here is what happened. As I was discussing Matthew 5:22 with the class, I suddenly remembered a personal instance where I blew it this last Tuesday night. At this point I looked at everyone and said, “Ok, I’ve got a confession, you all.” I told everyone that Deidra and I went to Canton and on the way home Deidra was hungry so we made a stop at the local Chick-Fil-A. As Deidra was inside ordering her food, I drove around the building when I came up on a vehicle that was exiting the space it occupied. So, I stopped at an angle, turned on my turn indicator, and waited patiently. As the vehicle was exiting another vehicle drove right in front me, cut me off, and stole my parking space. “You idiot,” I screamed within my car. Of course, I didn’t say it to her face. “What stupid person would do something that dumb?” I continued to shout. And then, in my mind, I shouted to the woman, “Hey, you just about ran over my wife’s car.” And of course, I made sure that when I drove away I gave the woman a really, really mean look, you know, like that look would do anything. Then, Wednesday night as we were discussing the word idiot, I was the Baker who said, “I remember my faults this day.” (Genesis 41:9) By using the word idiot I degraded this woman’s humanity, the image she is made in, and ultimately, God! Forgive me.
So, what is the application? I must be very careful in choosing my words. God’s Word says a lot about the words we use. Solomon once said, “There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health.” (Proverbs 12:18) Obviously, I did not. I chose words that were divisive and meant to harm a person made in God’s image instead of promoting spiritual health. The apostle Paul said, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” (Ephesians 4:29). It does not matter what the other person says or does, what is important is how do I respond to the situation using God’s principles. So, let us choose to use words that build up and not tear each other down.
Well, thanks for reading my musing.
