The Hateful Tongue
The tongue, in and of itself, can do nothing; however, like a rattlesnake lying in wait for its prey, the tongue lies stock-still until put into motion by the imaginations of the heart. Just as the rattlesnake is the vector by which deadly poison is delivered to an unsuspecting victim, the tongue becomes the vector of poison emanating from the heart of man, causing great hurt, dissention, and irritation. Jeremiah says “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jer. 17: 9). It is mans’ tongue that communicates the wickedness of his heart.
“And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: . . .” (James 3:6, a). Few things can stir up trouble as quickly as an unruly tongue. Words mean things – words matter; and when spoken in anger, or thoughtlessly they can produce devastating consequences. Marriages have been destroyed because of words. Men have been killed in response to hateful words. I am sure wars have resulted because of words thoughtlessly promulgated. Words have resulted in the dissolution of life-long friendships as well; and carelessly spoken words are especially grievous when haphazardly spoken by Christians.
When the unbeliever speaks hateful words, those consequences mentioned above can be the result; certainly that list is nowhere near complete. Christians who are not in control of their tongues are just as likely to produce the same results; however, unlike the nonbeliever, words poorly chosen by a Christian are much more likely to result in bad decisions being made by a lost soul, decisions with eternal consequences,. Many people have been “turned off to religion” by the thoughtless often hostile words spoken by a Christian, whether in conversation with the unbeliever or in careless gossipy conversation with others, frequently about other Christian.
Not too long ago, while speaking with a man who is a self-proclaimed atheist, I was hit with a question that is too often asked in response to any attempt at sharing the gospel. “Why”, the unbeliever asked, “would I want to be a Christian when you people are always at each other’s throats?” That is always a fair question, because too often we do hear of squabbling within the Church, or between professing Christians. For instance, this gentleman atheist I have mentioned was aware of the hateful vitriolic monologue levelled at the pastor of an area church by a Christian who at that time served as a leader in a local church. There was no way I was going to be able to reach this gentleman with the Gospel; he was completely put out. That insensitive Christian will one day stand before the Lord and answer for their actions, as will many of us. Yes, very few will be able to say they have never been guilty of lashing out with the tongue; I am certainly guilty myself.
The tongue is not the only vehicle with which hateful words can be communicated by the Christian. While the tongue verbally expresses the wickedness already in the heart – the written word can be just as harmful, for it too is a vehicle for transmitting malicious expressions from the heart to the mind of the reader. Every day I read hateful messages, from those proclaiming to be Christians, levelled at other entities such as: politicians, companies, employers, the church, etc. Christians ought to practice as great control over their fingers as over their tongues.
Social media can be a wonderful tool for spreading the gospel and reaching out to those in need of compassion and support; yet this is the media through which some of the most venomous language I have ever encountered has been posted by Christians. Sadly, unlike the tongue, we have more control over our written words than our spoken words. The written word can often be reconsidered and then deleted, whereas the spoken word, once delivered in anger, is much more difficult to edit and can never be deleted. The sad part is that one has plenty of time to consider his or her language when posting on social-media; which means they have considered their words and then posted them anyway. This is a shame and an affront to the Christian faith.
Instead of giving our “mouth to evil”, and “framing deceit” (Psalms 50:19), with our tongue – and fingers, how about we speak more often along this fashion, “Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them” (Psalms 126:2). Remember, every word we speak produces consequences; let us strive to mitigate the bad consequences of our words.
