Words, Fitly, Spoken
"A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle." Proverbs 18:19
"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." Proverbs 25:11
"The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips. Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones." Proverbs 16:23-24
As a teacher, preacher, communicator, author, husband, father, friend, and neighbor, in the realm of truth and love, to communicate wisdom with wisdom.
Persuasion follows respect.
Jesus.
Jesus’ communication caused engagement of every sort, and you see all kinds of people “talking” back to Jesus.
Jesus was touched by our infirmities, but we also see that he was approachable, listened, and answered the questions of all who came to him.
I want to be more like Jesus.
What would happen if, when we spoke, we considered the goal beforehand?
Many people in my life see things differently than I do, big and small things.
These relationships have opened the aperture of my view of the broader world at large.
All of these are a gift to me. “What is the goal God has in mind?” I have seen my heart expand to appreciate and learn things I had not considered before.
How often have you heard someone describe what you believe, and you hear it, and you think, “That is not what I believe.” How does that happen?
They have read or heard someone describe what you believe, rather than hearing it from you. If you think about it personally, what are the chances you will have an honest conversation with someone who does not understand what you believe and speaks boldly proclaiming something that is not true about you? Slim? None?
I propose to you that many of us have, in times past, only communicated with those who agree with us. We grow bolder and joyful with the voices of affirmation.
However, will we persuade people with our rhetoric?
Just because someone wears a label or has been labeled by others does not mean that person adheres in lockstep with said label. Many people identify as “Pentecostal,” which I have almost zero commonality with.
Yet, some people have misidentified what I believe by the fringe and even downright oddity unto themselves.
“Do you handle snakes?”
You would not believe how many times I have been asked that in the thirty years of my ministry.
My standard answer is, “Yes. With a shotgun, shovel, or hoe.”
How much of our witness is hindered because others don’t really understand what we believe? Here is the big point of this meditation. How many people will you never reach because you don’t know the individual’s unique views and experiences? And from that misunderstanding, you will make broad and bold statements that do the opposite of persuasion? There is a place for strengthening and encouraging those who “believe” like we do. However, what if, for the sake of those standing by, we could add some grace to the equation to potentially better persuade?
These are my thoughts this morning.
Father,
Touch my tongue to speak with more extraordinary grace, fill my heart with greater wisdom so that those who might read what I write or hear what I say would invite my words and thoughts at the table of their mind and actually consider the truth you have given to me in Your Word, in my prayer, and through Your Spirit prompting.
In Jesus Name,
Scott A. Phillips