Taming the Tongue

Psalm 12:1

Save, O LORD, for the godly one is gone;
for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;
with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

...............

I have recently experienced the awful power of words in a way that left me feeling hurt, angry, and regretful all at once. There is a co-worker whom I see everyday and have developed a strong and affable working relationship. We've been to each others' homes. We've heard each others' life stories. We've discussed each others' beliefs in detail. But, after all that we've learned about each other over the past year, after all the controversial topics we have discussed, the issue that finally drove a wedge between us was none other than WalMart.

Without going into the details, I will just say that we left work one day having said some pretty antagonistic words to one another. I spent that evening churning and restless, trying to think of what I had said and what I could now say to make things right.

I was searching for words.

Apparently, King David knew something about the power of words as well, both for good and for ill. His enemies seem to be masters of flattery, deception, and malice. He prayed that God would cut off flattering lips - those who say, "With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?" Seems like his enemies were so confident in their own strength that they saw their own lips as securing mastery over others. For them, the sword of the tongue was sufficient to slay their foes.

The words of the Lord, by contrast, expressed compassion, justice, and protection for the oppressed, a common theme among David's prayers. "Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise...I will place him in the safety for which he longs." David tells us that God's words are pure, that the substance of His words is dramatically different than the words of David's enemies. His enemies boast in their tongues; the Lord lifts up those in need with the promises of His word.

Read how this Psalm concludes and consider where you stand in this culture that throws words around like hand grenades. How have you used words to build up or tear down those around you? How have you trusted the promises of God, whose words are pure and full of compassion? How can you model that kind of tongue in your daily life? I hope and pray that the words I use at work will speak peace and compassion, rather than boasting and pride. I am sorry for what I said, and I will continue to do the hard work of taming my tongue, and by the grace of God, allowing my heart to be renewed and transformed to reflect more of God's Word.

You, O LORD, will keep them;
you will guard us from this generation forever.
On every side the wicked prowl,
as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

Jesus is Smart

Matthew 22:46

And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

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Whenever I read this chapter, I am reminded that Jesus was an amazing wit. He is often remembered for his healings and his even for his eloquence, but rarely is it mentioned that Jesus could hang with the smartest and most winsome debaters of his day. After completing a round of parables, Matthew 22 enters into a four-part battle of wits in which Jesus comes out on top.

(1) Taxes. How would you like it if a group of people "plotted how to entangle" you in your talk? Sounds a little foreboding, but Jesus took it in stride, answering the Pharisees' question about taxes with one of his most famous responses. Give to Caesar what is Caesar, and to God what is God's. This is probably not a comprehensive approach to church and state, but it wasn't meant to be. It was meant to make them marvel (verse 22).

(2) Resurrection. This was indeed the hot topic of the day for these religious leaders. When asked about the hypothetical case of the seven brothers and one widow, Jesus gives his typical mouth-stopping answer: You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. He then makes his case on the grounds of Scripture that God is not a God of the dead, but of the living.

(3) The Greatest Commandment. Yet again, the teachers look for a way to make Jesus stumble, but yet again, he fails to disappoint. I am amazed at how humble the Son of God became to have to calmly and graciously answer theological questions that were given from hardened hearts. Oh Lord, never let my doubts and questions about you come from an insincere heart of stone! I want to love You with all my heart, and my neighbor as myself.

(4) Messiah. Finally, the tables are turned, and Jesus poses a question to them. They should have known the answer, but for some reason it had never occurred to these religious scholars that the Messiah might be more than a human king. He might actually be divine.

And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

Citizens of the Kingdom

Matthew 21:31

"Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you."

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We have traced the life of Jesus from his birth, through his healing and teaching ministry, up to the point of his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. We have already seen that his vision of the kingdom of God was in stark contrast to the commonly held beliefs of the time. His teaching was new, in a sense, but it resonated in people's hearts because it was actually the fulfilling of God's laws and covenants of the past. But, the people who liked his teaching the least turned out to be the religious leaders, the Pharisees and Sadducees. These men had traded God's commandments in favor of their own short list of human traditions, upon which they thought God would approve them. Because of Jesus' bold and blunt critique of them as wolves in sheep's clothing, they were already looking for an opportunity to have him arrested and put to death.

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Matthew 21 is a climax of sorts. It is the peak of Jesus' popularity in Judea, as well as the spark that would eventually lead to a blazing conclusion. The Parables of the Two Sons and the Tenants represent more of Jesus' radically different teaching, made in response to the questioning of the chief priests about His authority. In verses 25-27, we get a glimpse into what these religious leaders were thinking, and we learn that their supposedly God-given convictions were really motivated by popularity. So, Jesus tells these parables to make abundantly clear that those who enter God's kingdom are those who bear its fruit, rather than those who merely serve themselves.

What is this fruit that Jesus says is the final criteria for citizenship in the kingdom? The fig tree didn't have it, a foreshadowing figure for the following discourse (21:19). The second son didn't have it, even though he had said he would obey (21:30). The wicked tenants didn't have it, but instead killed the servants who asked for it, even the master's son (21:34-39). So, what is this fruit that is so vitally important?

Faith in Jesus.

While the chapter does not give this answer outright, there are many clues that point toward this conclusion. The main clue, I think, is the celebration of the triumphal entry. Those who had faith that Jesus was truly the "Son of David," that is, the long-expected messiah of God, were those whom Jesus acclaimed in contrast to the doubting Pharisees. When the disciples asked about the fig tree, Jesus commends faith, without doubt, as the answer to their question. When Jesus says that the tax collectors and prostitutes will enter the kingdom before the chief priests, it is not because of their righteous lifestyle. It is because of their faith in Him. This faith does bring about a changed life, but we must start with the faith that brings it about. This is the fruit that proves one is a child of the kingdom.

Connecting those who bear fruit to those who accept the rejected cornerstone, Jesus concludes:

"Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him." (21:43-44)

The Upright Shall Behold His Face

Psalm 11:1-3

In the LORD I take refuge;
how can you say to my soul,
"Flee like a bird to your mountain,
for behold, the wicked bend the bow;
they have fitted their arrow to the string
to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;
if the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?"

...............

When troubles come into our lives, we are often faced with two options for how to respond: trust or despair. These options don't appear obvious to us because we choose between them so quickly, almost immediately upon encountering some obstacle or change in plans throughout our day. From small inconveniences to life-altering catastrophes, we always have a choice as to how we will think about our circumstances and how we will think about the future in light of those circumstances.

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The Psalmist chooses trust, but that choice is not always natural, and definitely not always easy. He comes to his trial and desires to take refuge in God, because he knows that God is trustworthy and has always been faithful. But, almost immediately he is confronted by an alternative response to trials: FLEE! Whether suggested to him by an outside agent, or emerging completely from inner doubts, this response is the antithesis of trust in God. Flee like a bird! The enemy surrounds you! The focus is entirely upon the circumstance itself, and NOT on the God who sits enthroned over the whole earth. He reigns over every circumstance; nothing surprises Him. This is the truth described in the rest of the psalm, where the writer consciously chooses to remember that God is in control, that God has promised to bring justice to the wicked, and that He has promised good to the righteous: "the upright will behold his face."

By way of summary, consider the concluding statements that are given for each of the two responses to trials. The first response concludes: What can the righteous do? After meditating on the trial itself, rather than looking beyond it, the anxious man can only conclude with a question. This is a precarious place to be for the person of faith. Living day by day within the "question mark" is not the way of trust in God. Notice also, that the anxious man is more concerned with what HE must do, how is HE himself going to solve his own problem. It is only fitting that he should end in despair, after he has come to the end of his own strength and found it wanting.

The man of faith concludes with a confident trust in the stated promises of God: The upright shall behold his face. The focus is off of himself and onto the object of his faith and trust. The hope is not temporal comfort but the comfort that comes from the presence of Almighty God.

We will be tempted everyday to focus on the trial at hand. But, like the psalmist, we must choose to keep our eyes on the God who sits enthroned above it all. He sees the injustice. He knows it's pain more than we ever will. Let us take refuge in Him, by setting our eyes upon who He is and what He has promised.

Photo Negative - Part 2

Matthew 20:27-28

and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

...............

This chapter continues the photo negative of chapter 19, taking the theme to it's most important conclusion: Salvation does not depend upon the goodness or strength of men, but rather on the unmerited generosity and power of God. The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard is perhaps the most shocking example of this photo negative, destroying our preconceived notions about religion and putting us on our knees before our Maker.

As we saw in chapter 19, this parable ends with the concluding statement "so the last will be first, and the first last." In order to further explain this cryptic little statement, Jesus takes us through a realistic story that is unlike anything the people had heard before. A master hired some laborers, a common-enough occurrence. Then, as the day went on, the master periodically hired more laborers among those who were without work in the marketplace, also a common experience. But, then the unthinkable happens. The master appears to throw aside every pretense of fairness and equity by paying those who had only worked one hour with the same day's wage that he had promised to those who had borne the brunt of the work through the scorching heat. Our intuitive sense of justice cringes at this notion, but luckily for us, the parable ends with a theological explanation that is pivotal for understanding God's kingdom and the way he works in human affairs:

Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? So the last will be first, and the first last.

I think it is clear from this explanation that Jesus is explaining the freedom of God; that God, as Creator and Sustainer of every molecule in the universe has the right and freedom to do what he wants, whenever he wants. But, I want us to notice something else that is a photo negative of our common cultural notions of fairness. The master shows his generosity to the workers who came later, but he ALSO calls the wages he gave to the first workers a sign of "generosity." Could it be that these first workers also did not truly earn anything good? How can their hard-earned wages be called generosity? Here is the photo negative.

Imagine an escalator. People standing on the stairs moving ever upward, on and on. The world sees human goodness and progress as something like this escalator: People generally are moving closer to moral perfection and beauty with every passing generation. Science, technology, medicine, art, legislation - everything appears to be improving our standard of living and our peace with one another, right? In this cultural paradigm, when God sends someone to hell, it is heinously offensive. Doesn't God see the beauty and progress of that individual. Even though some degenerate criminals stumble along this upward moving escalator, they could never do anything so bad as to deserve being flicked off the escalator by the finger of God, right?

Imagine another escalator. People are standing on the stairs moving ever downward, on and on. The Bible pictures human nature as hopelessly broken and perverted: People generally and individually are moving closer to hell, closer to complete separation from God, with every passing generation. War, disease, natural disasters, poverty, hunger, crime, hatred - human beings appear to being destroying themselves in a spiral of ever-increasing depravity. In this paradigm, the idea that God would send anyone to HEAVEN is heinously offensive. God could never allow one of these rebellious, ungrateful fools into eternal fellowship and joy in His presence, right? I mean, sure, there are some Billy Grahams and Mother Theresas out there, but no one really deserves to be plucked off the escalator and mercifully rescused from this downward spiral, right?

The photo negative is hard to swallow. It sounds a little pessimistic at first. Can human nature really be all that bad? Well, we must not abandon the fundamental dignity and inherit worth of human beings, as Image-bearers who were personally and lovingly formed by their Creator. However, the image of God in us has been torn to shreds by our rebellion. Some of it remains, but it proves to be of no merit in terms of our salvation. No goodness in us will prove to be enough to earn the approval and acceptance of God. The Bible paints this photo negative with large and undeniable brush-strokes. We must conform our minds to the viewpoint of God, or else we will continue to see salvation as something we have earned, rather than the unmerited generosity of a loving master.

Photo Negative - Part 1

Matthew 19:30

But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

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It took me many years to understand some of the most fundamental aspects of the Christian life. The reason for this delay, I believe, is that one must have a photo negative view of the world to even make sense of the teachings of Jesus and his followers. When I used to read Matthew 19 and similar passages, I would come away with this basic application: Go sell everything you own and become celibate for the kingdom of God. I'm exaggerating a little. But, only a little.

In reality, this passage is quite radical, but not exactly in the way it appears on first glance. The main point, which as usual can be deduced from the concluding statement, is that many who are first will be last, and vice versa. In other words, God has no favorites, whether they be ethnic, economic, or age-related. The culture puts someone on a pedestal, but that means little to God. Notice, this conclusion is not causal, but merely observational: God is NOT saying that those who are first in this life WILL always be last. He's merely observing that it is the case, and fairly often, that the culture gets things backwards and esteems certain people for the wrong reasons.

This chapter gives three examples of how God's kingdom is a photo negative in comparison to the standard cultural practices of the time.

(1) Divorce. The people think that because Moses allowed divorce, therefore God must be okay with the practice as well. But, Jesus reminds them that this practice was not a positive good prescribed by God, but rather an unfortunate practice that was allowed due to their hard hearts. Then, Jesus equates divorce with adultery. This is the photo negative, and understandably the disciples are shocked.

(2) Children. The people brought their children to Jesus so that he could pray for them. The disciples did not approve and tried to rebuke the people. So, Jesus rebukes the disciples. He gives them the photo negative: The kingdom of heaven belongs to little children. The disciples, and most of the culture, were looking for a messiah who would conquer the Romans and bring an earthly reign of peace. Jesus, especially in Matthew, brings a vision of God's kingdom that is shocking and unexpected.

(3) Money. Riches were probably considered one of many signs that God's favor was upon you. This is instinctual as a cultural norm and is still common among advocates of the "prosperity gospel." When this young man approaches Jesus, the disciples probably thought he would be the most likely to be honored and esteemed by Jesus. He had kept the commandment. He had acquired wealth. He was the envy of all. But, Jesus again brought the photo negative. It is virtually impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. This too, was a great shock to the disciples, revealing their preconceived notions about what was pleasing to God: "Who then can be saved?"

If riches, age, and ethnicity are of no value in gaining favor with God, then who can be saved? It is a logical question. The cultural norms were a powerful force in shaping people's thoughts and expectations. But, more than that, these standard practices, then and now, become a representation of what people believe about God. Therefore, we must take the utmost care that our own cultural tendencies are not at odds with the teaching and example of Jesus. If they are, we may one day soon be standing with the disciples in shock when Jesus brings the photo negative to us.

Our Thoughts, His Thoughts

Psalm 10:4

In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him;
all his thoughts are, "There is no God."

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In a previous post I mentioned that doubt is really a form of pride. I didn't realize that there was a singular Bible verse to back that up, but here in verse 4 we have a very similar expression of this reality. When someone says, "There is no God," it is not merely a theoretical conclusion, not entirely a logical pronouncement. In fact, this verse tells us that such a statement is a moral pronouncement springing from an immoral heart. Pride. Wicked. Does not seek him. These are moral characteristics which remind us that there is a worshiping heart behind every belief system. One heart worships God; another worships self.

He says in his heart, "I shall not be moved;
throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity."

Unfortunately, because of the problem of evil and the broken world we live in, the proud and wicked man is often justified by his circumstances. I've noticed this in the world of sales and commerce. While integrity and compassion are fundamental to a long-lasting society, in the short-term, people who are greedy and driven by money are often the ones getting the best deals in the most timely manner. Car sales, telemarketing, etc. We see wicked people prosper all the time; and they see it too, and laugh. They laugh and mock because they think that they've beat God at His own game. They've avoided responsibility and commitment and have found all that their hearts desired.

Why does the wicked renounce God
and say in his heart, "You will not call to account?"

This verse is yet another window into the thoughts of the prosperous wicked man. We've seen that he thinks he is an atheist. We've seen that he thinks he is invincible. Now, we see that he says in his heart, "You will not call to account." That's strange: an atheist talking to God. But, what else would an atheist say to God? The man who thinks he is alone in the world and can do anything he wants is also the man who prays this way: God does not see, God does not care, God won't do anything about it. This is painfully sad, because we know that this life alone is not the end of the story. There will be a day of reckoning, when God will (once again) interrupt the affairs of this world and bring justice once and for all. Hear these last verses and remember what are God's thoughts, God's plans, and God's glorious beauty.

The LORD is king forever and ever;
the nations perish from his land.
O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.