Promises, Promises

Words are powerful. Words have the power to influence people and change reality. Look at the great movements and empires in history - it’s not guns that start them; they are started by words. A well-spoken word is a beautiful thing. A misspoken word can be, at the very least, misleading, and at the worst, very damaging. Words are blessings and words are bombs. Words are fire.

“How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. . . no one can tame the tongue – a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God.” James 3.5-9


James has a negative view of things here obviously, but he does note an important truth – words can be used to bless or curse. And a lot depends on that choice – so choose your words carefully. In this age of the twenty-four hour media cycle and this wealth of technology we have the ability and seem to have the desire to express ourselves all the time to everyone about everything –

A real message on Twitter or Facebook looks like this – “I’m going to the bathroom now.”

Brilliant. Great. Thanks for sharing. That’s what’s known as Too Much Information. In the age of Too Much Information we would be wise to conserve our words. There is so much meaningless chatter in our lives today that I think a lot of times we experience our world like Charlie Brown used to hear his teachers at school – Waa, waa, waa. . .

There is a danger that we will lose the ability to listen to what really matters and the ability to discern what is true and what is nonsense. I mean, sometimes, nonsense gets repeated so often that we start to believe it.

Here’s an example: this week’s edition of Newsweek features stories on the state of our public school system in this country. They noted that our school system has been in decline for the last thirty years or so. Our schools used to be the envy of the world. Now we finish behind Lithuania in student test scores. But how we fix the problem? What is the problem? Whatever it is, it’s not a new problem. We were talking about this in the eighties when I was getting an education degree. And I remember quite clearly that the problem was defined at the time as a societal problem – poor students are produced by poor parents and under-funded and overcrowded schools really can’t make up that difference. Do hear the problems? The home is a problem. Lack of funding for schools is a problem. And too many students for too few teachers is a problem.



Let me emphasize that these factors were discussed so much and so often that everyone believed it. It became something that everyone knew. Only it wasn’t exactly true. Oh, it’s true that some parents do an abysmal job at helping their kids learn anything. And it’s true that some schools need more funding and it’s true that some schools are overcrowded. But mostly, that’s not the problem. We spend more per student than almost every country in the world. Our class sizes aren’t bad. We have Head Start and other programs to help kids from disadvantaged situations excel in learning. But we found out that the real problem was probably the most obvious – we need better teachers. Good teachers produce good students. Bad teachers can have all the funding and bells and whistles and all the students from solid homes and small class sizes and still not do a good job. But take a good teacher in plunk them down in a pit of a school with worn out textbooks and a few rocks and chisels and the good teacher will have their students learning. Sometimes what everyone knows is wrong. Sometimes it’s better not to say anything if we are not sure where the truth lies. Conserve your words. Say what you mean and mean what you say.

Jesus uses the “you have it heard said/but I say” form again when he looks at the meaning and power of an oath. It was customary from ancient times to call upon “holy things” and “heaven itself” as witness to a promise that you were making. This was considered acceptable and right as long as you didn’t swear “in vain”, that is with no intent to keep your promise. But Jesus says, “Don’t swear at all.”

Don’t call heaven as witness. Don’t even call something as holy as your own head. Just say Yes. . .or No. Jesus is saying we don’t have to call God or heaven as a witness because they are already witnessing what we say and do in this life. Our words and actions matter more than we realize. We don’t have to up the ante with some oath.

That’s our problem today. We have too many people who make a living saying yes that doesn’t really mean yes and no that doesn’t really mean no. For example: Why don’t you kids listen when I tell you no? Because they know that your no doesn’t really mean no. Or, why don’t you believe me when I promise you that I’m going to be there? Because you have broken too many promises in the past for me to trust you now. Promises from the lips of the untrustworthy are just so much spin, a song and dance routine.

Let’s face it: we live in a time when making a pledge in a church or placing our right hand on the Bible doesn’t really bind people to the truth anymore. Unless. . .

Unless there is a desire to live in the presence of a God “who desires truth in our inner persons,” as Paul phrased it. Remember the importance of the order of Jesus talk – we first have to deal with anger and contempt in our lives. Then our words can come from a good place and our words can carry blessing instead of curse. So what can we do then?

1. Conserve your words
2. Tell the truth. Lies, even small ones, do damage.
3. Fulfill commitments. Make your word valuable by your actions.
4. Let God’s word always come before your word.