Words of Decay

I'm thinking about words today -mostly my own.

I got here from a book I am currently reading called Humility: True Greatness by C.J. Mahaney. It's a fine and convicting little tome on the virtue of Humility, how we've lost it, and how the Church (or those who make up the church, that'd be Christians) desperately needs to rediscover this most excellent and rewarding of virtues - as Mahaney quotes from Isaiah 66:2 "This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word" and James 4:6 "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Who shouldn't want God's attention and grace?

Me being me of course, I had to skip ahead and page through individual chapters as I continue reading through the book. Whipping along, I came to a chapter on Encouraging Others. I started scanning through section headings: Words with Power and Purpose, Words that Bring Decay, Words that Build Up, Appropriate Words. Hmmm, all about words and speech.

Uh oh.

His thesis is built around Ephesians 4:29: "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear it." He points outs, as you will surely notice, the words "no" and "only" - or as Mahaney paraphrases, never and in everything.

Corrupting talk? "He's referring to any and all communication that deters growth in godliness; any speech that hinders the cultivation of godly relationships; any words that have a deadening or dulling effect on the soul of another. It's the nature of such corrupt words to penetrate and to spread, and they "grieve the Holy Spirit of God" (Ephesians 4:30). Therefore, no talk of this kind is allowed. Among believers and their families in the church of Jesus Christ, there's to be no decay-spreading communication of any kind, in any form, by anyone." (p. 113, italics by author)

And that stopped me. It stopped because I had to reflect on how I speak (and I include writing in that, as I write both for pleasure and for work in the forms of e-mails and documents). Not the official stuff - that I am careful about. It's the more personal conversation that leapt to my mind.

Why? Because I have a tendency to sharp wit - so sharp it might be labeled as "sarcasm" by others. It may also be known as "It was funny in my mind but not so much when I said it" theory of communication. I tend to mock or make fun of, hopefully in a light manner, those who I know and am friends with - my warning to others being "If I become serious with you, something is terribly wrong." But in examining the quote above, I don't see "with humor" listed as part of the justification - those words "never, of any kind, in any form, by anyone" haunt me.

Which brings a point to ponder: What if my life characterized by life giving words? Would that represent such a profound change in how I communicate that it would change me? Is part of my own pride being thought witty and clever more important than the recipient perceiving Christ through me instead of my through me? How much do I serve to hinder the reflection of Christ that He has given me to reflect in the world?

How much of my communication with others is really about me?