THE TONGUE
Key: Rather than use our tongues for vulgar purposes, let us purpose in our hearts to sow words of life - encouragement and edification.
In this technological age, no one has yet to market a product that can rival the communication system of the office grapevine. Where two or more are gathered, the latest and choicest rumors can be found.
In fact, the way we control our tongues often sets the tone for the entire organization. Where loose and divisive chatter pollutes the environment, clouds of jealousy and bitterness hover constantly. Where genuine appreciation and respect predominate, there also productivity, efficiency, and enthusiasm are promoted. It makes all the difference in the world.
Gossip
The number one verbal plague is gossip. We've all participated in its deadly spread. Actually, we all too often revel in its dissemination. There just seems to be something delectable about spreading juicy news.
Whether or not our conversations are based on fact is irrelevant. Gossip usually seeks to exalt self at the expense of another. Gossip is a cowardly act that secretly tramples another's character. It never involves the party we converse with. It rarely affirms anyone.
My name is Gossip
I am more deadly than the screaming shell of the cannon. I win without killing. I tear down homes, break hearts, wreck lives. I travel on the wings of the wind. No innocence is strong enough to intimidate me, no purity pure enough to daunt me. I have no regard for truth, no respect for justice, no mercy for the defenseless. My victims are as numerous as the sands of the sea and often as innocent. I never forget and seldom forgive.
Grumbling
The second most prevalent verbal disturbance is grumbling. This ubiquitous sin is highly infectious. Once it starts, criticism and complaining can afflict almost everyone, from the bottom of the ladder to the top.
On their honeymoon, a groom took his bride by the hand and said, "Now that we're married, dear, I hope you won't mind if I mention a few little defects that I've noticed about you."
"Not at all," the bride replied with a deceptive sweetness. "It was those little defects that kept me from getting a better husband."
The people of Israel in the wilderness were particularly susceptible to this problem. Despite the daily provision of manna, they longed for a more balanced diet. Throughout their straying, they moaned about their harsh surroundings.
We certainly are no different from them when we gripe about our work, our church, the pastor, the teacher, our spouse, our parents, or our children. In the end, we are not grumbling against any individual or system in particular; rather, we are rebelling against God's control over our circumstances.
Moses wrote:
All complaining is against God, for He is Sovereign over every single circumstance. When we complain, we are doubting His goodness, provision, and grace.
O.G. Wilson wrote, "I murmured because I had to walk four blocks from the parking lot to my office. Then I saw a man who was sick, hungry, and unable to take a step and yet whose smile was as cheery as the chirp of the first robin of spring. I complained because the light was poor. Then I met a man radiantly happy, from whose eyes all sight had been lost due to an accident. I complained about paying so much income tax until I visited a rest home where a penniless man was singing joyously the triumphant songs of grace." A spirit of discontent shows a lack of faith in Christ and a streak of selfish egoism. Our Lord never promised His disciples days of sunny ease. How foolish, then, to complain and fret because unpleasant experiences come our way. Remember, if you murmur you'll reap an "overwhelmed" spirit.
Encouraging and Edifying
The law of sowing and reaping is mightily at work when it comes to how we use our tongues.
One of the highest of human duties is the duty of encouragement. It is easy to pour cold water on their enthusiasm; it is easy to discourage others. The world is full of discouragers. We have a Christian duty to encourage one another. Many a time a word of praise or thanks or appreciation or cheer has kept a man on his feet.
This verse is a divine guide for keeping our hearts and the office clean and refreshing. Our tongues are ministers of life or death, healing or sickness. Our conversation can make a vital difference in another's life and at the same time sow a plentiful crop for our own well-being. Only God can tame the tongue.
Mr. Charles Schwab was one of the first men ever to earn a million dollars a year. Why did Andrew Carnegie pay Schwab more than $3,000 a day? Because he knew more about the manufacture of steel than other people? No. Schwab said that he had many men working for him whose technical knowledge surpassed his.
Schwab was paid such a handsome amount largely because of his ability to deal with people. Here is the secret set down in his own words:
"I consider my ability to arouse enthusiasm among the men the greatest asset I possess, and the way to develop the best that is in a man is by appreciation and encouragement. There is nothing else that so kills the ambitions of man as criticisms from his superiors. I never criticize anyone. I believe in giving a man incentive to work. So I am anxious to praise but loath to find fault."
The word "TONGUE" is used as both for the organ of speech and the language spoken. The tongue was seen to express the true nature since speech was viewed as more than just a verbal phenomenon. It was seen as the expression of a person's true nature.
The wisdom writings of the Old Testament stressed the practical results of the use of the tongue for the individual's life. (Prov. 12:18; 18:21; 21:6; 21:23; 25:23; 26:28; 28:23). Like a bit in a horse's mouth or the rudder of a ship, the tongue could control the direction of a person's life. Since the tongue reveals what is in one's heart, its use had ethical consequences whether for good or bad.
The tongue was seen to play a central role in the expression of a person's religious commitment.
The potential for good or bad which is part of human nature is demonstrated through the tongue
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