Speak up or shut up?

And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.” (John 12:44–50)

Watchman Nee wrote that God had to teach him to shut up, and then teach him to speak up. I relate. This verse explains the shut up part: 

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. (Ephesians 4:29)

In some ways and for some people, saying nothing is easier than saying the right thing. However, when I think that way, it is about avoiding what might happen to me rather than what my self-centered words might do to those who hear them. Not like Jesus. 

Speaking up is from a different source and for the opposite reasons. It is about saying what God wants people to hear. Doing this might take time and discernment, but if filled with the Holy Spirit, the words come out — and sometimes make me shake my head and wonder “where did that come from?”

For example, a young man asked how he could sleep well. I blurted, “The Bible says there is no rest for the wicked, so you have to first get rid of the wicked.” While I felt like an idiot for saying it, he responded so well that I realized that was a Holy Spirit word he needed to hear.

Other times the speaking up part takes thoughtful prayer and not saying anything until certain that my words are from Him and not my own. Sometimes the easiest way to tell is by knowing they are biblical and recognizing that my old nature does not want to say them.

Jesus, You didn’t have that old nature giving You ‘corrupting talk’ or confusing talk. Yet Your example has great value. By my words, I can edify others — if they are words given to me by Your Spirit and not from me. Help me always to know the difference.

Serving Gold Apples

Determined not to gossip or say negative things about her, when her name came up in conversation with another Christian, God put it on my heart to think of positive and helpful ways to deal with third person, a whiner that no one enjoys being around.

In the conversation, I remembered another Christian friend who helped me with my whining. We often traveled to a small town and when we returned, I complained about their small-town way of always gossiping, always talking about others they didn't like, and when I came home, I wound up doing the same thing that I didn’t like. Then, one day before another trip, my friend said to me, “Now you bring me back some good news.”

That changed everything. Determined to do it, I listened differently, stayed aware of the good and let the other stuff drop out of memory. Because of that ‘lesson from the Lord’ my attitude changed. Not that I’ve never fallen back into the same negativity, but I am much more aware of the power of encouraging others by looking for the good in their lives and being thankful for it. 

I’ve also learned that whining about life affects health. When every ache and problem is noted and talked about, my focus goes from being thankful to sharing my agonies too. We all know people who only talk about their poor health — all the time. I don’t want to be one of those people.

Health is influenced by words or by suffering in silence. While I need to speak in positive ways, I also need to keep short accounts with God. He reminds me of these verses:

For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah (Psalm 32:3–5)
I was mute and silent; I held my peace to no avail, and my distress grew worse. (Psalm 39:2)

If I’ve unconfessed sin, my inner heaviness affects my body. To those always complaining about their aches and pains, how can my words help them turn from that and deal with anything in their spiritual life that might be causing it? 

Sin and selfishness is usually not silent though. While it can be hidden in the heart, lack of faith in God and my selfishness (or any godliness) will eventually show up in my speech. God says:

You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. (Matthew 12:34)
But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, (1 Peter 3:15)

The Bible makes it plain: “The words of a wise man’s mouth win him favor, but the lips of a fool consume him. The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and the end of his talk is evil madness.” (Ecclesiastes 10:12–13) My heart shows up in my words. But if my words are right (because my heart is right), they can be powerful:

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. (Ephesians 4:29)
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Colossians 4:6)

With all this in mind, the person no one wants to be with might benefit from challenging questions, for example: “Tell me what you are thankful for today.” Or “Share one very positive thing that has happened to you this week.” Or What is the best gift you have ever received?”

PRAY: Lord, if these questions are the right things to say, helpful and encouraging, then bring to mind one of them, or anything else that might help this very negative person realize that her words are adding to her miseries. She needs Your grace and to realize that You care about her.

From God’s heart . . .

 

Speaking from my old nature is easier to describe than speaking in the power of the Holy Spirit because once I start analyzing my thoughts and words, it slides into the realm of self even if God empowered me to speak. All I know is that when the Holy Spirit is using my words, it seems a natural way of talking and I usually cannot remember afterwards the exact words He gave me.

Speaking from that old nature has a self-glory motivation, a desire to be understood, a persuasiveness, a concern for my reputation, stuff like that. Whereas when the love of God is motivating Spirit-filled talk, my speech should be marked by humility, done in obedience, and have some element of sacrifice to it. It also will have great love for those who listen. This is why the ‘love chapter’ says this:

And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:2)

Prophetic powers refer to the ability to say what God says with accuracy and authority. It is always based on what God says. If it is not true to His Word, it is not from Him. This gift is greater than speaking in tongues, which could be more spectacular or exciting, but prophecy edifies the people of God. Tongues may not.

One who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation [and] edifies the church . . . . 

In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers. (1 Corinthians 14:3-4; 21–22)

Tongues may not be from God but merely an emotional ecstasy as practiced by pagans then and by some cults even today. If it is from God and by Christians, it requires an interpreter to be helpful. The NT says this was an orderly and edifying process, not done in an emotional frenzy. Prophetic utterances are also orderly.

If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace . . . .(1 Corinthians 14:30–33)

 While both tongue-speakers and today’s false ‘prophets’ claim a revelation from God, revelation ceased when the canon of Scripture closed. Since then, prophecy is a declaration of what God says in His Word, a reiteration of His truth as illuminated by the Holy Spirit while studying it and taking it to heart, then repeating it to others as enabled by the Holy Spirit. This can be  through preaching or teaching, yet also in ordinary speech as Christians are enable by the Lord.

New Testament prophets policed one another to ensure that every prophecy was truly from God in that “the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.” The OT taught them: “To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn” with the dawn referring to God’s light given: “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.” (Isaiah 8:20; 60:1)

Today’s verse, 1 Corinthians 13:2, could be stated:  “If I have the ability to speak direct revelation from God, or to reiterate divine truth forcefully and dramatically, but lack love, my ministry is meaningless.” This not only applies to pastors and teachers but to all believers as we share the Word of God with others. We are to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15) as the Holy Spirit empower our words, and . . .

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. (Ephesians 4:29)

PRAY: Again Lord, I’m impressed to guard my motivation when I say anything. Is this to glorify me? or You? Is this to edify others? Or to impress them? Is this truth from You? Or gobbledygook from me? Guard my heart and my words so everything I say is from Your heart of love, not from my fleshy desire to impress people.

PONDER: False prophecy is a serious matter. Read Deuteronomy 13:1–5 and 18:20–22 and think of what God demanded concerning those who claimed to speak for Him but were really speaking for themselves.