A Brief Theology of Talking
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!?!?! A theology of talking? Yes, a theology of talking. If life and death are in the power of the tongue (See Proverbs 18:21), there should be a theology of speech. If the tongue can set all of one’s natural passions aflame for good or for evil (See James 3:6), there should be a theology of talking. When the average person speaks thousands of words per day, there should be a theology of speaking. With this in mind, let us see what the Scriptures tell us about our words. It is imperative that we do this the right way!
“Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. ” (Colossians 4:6)
Our speech should be with grace. Not only should our speech be gracious in the sense that it is not crude or harmful, but it should be influenced by the grace of God. Just as Timothy was told to be strong in grace (2Timothy 2:1), so we should allow grace to strengthen us that we might speak rightly. We need to understand our need for the help of God in speaking correctly. It is not something that we can do alone.
Our speech should be seasoned with salt. Jesus told us that we are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13). This being so, we are to preserve, purify, and season the world by our influence. The same is to be said of our speech. If our speech is influenced by grace and seasoned with salt, they will be good words that have been expurgated of evil.
When these things are in place we will know how to respond to others. There are three things that should be said about how one righteously responds:
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- One considers the matter under discussion before speaking. It is foolish to speak without having an understanding of what is being discussed. (See Proverbs 18:13)
- One listens well, speaks slowly, and does not speak hastily and in an angry passion, because our wrath does not result in righteousness. (See James 1:19-20)
- The answer is given by God. When we speak with grace, God will enable us to speak the right thing. (See Proverbs 16:1)
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“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. ” (Ephesians 4:29)
Our words should not be corrupt words. We are not to be course jesters who spend our time telling filthy jokes. We should be a people whose words are godly and formed by our gratitude to God. (See Ephesians 5:1-4) We must always remember that morals are corrupted when we are in bad company and influenced by evil words (See 1Corinthians 15:33)
We should speak with the desire to minister and build up. We have been given the task as the body of Christ to influence one another for good as well as the world (See Romans 12:1-16; Matthew 5:13-16). We are all ministers of the grace of God and should speak so that the grace can be shared with others for their benefit ( See Romans 15:1-6;1Peter 4:10-11).
How does one apply this? One should seek wisdom (James 1:5) and ask God for help. Help will certainly be granted. We must also weigh our words carefully, taking time to consider what we are soon to say. We should recognize that our words have great effect for good or for evil. Many times our words are remembered by others long after we have spoken them. We should be careful that we speak words that leave a memory and a blessing. We should also carefully consider the profitability of our words. Will the words that I am about to say help anyone? Will anyone be blessed, encouraged, or strengthened by these words? Will they do good for anyone? If the answer is “No” we should not speak those words. We should speak for the purpose of building up others. We should speak for the purpose of helping people find Jesus. We should speak for the purpose of helping others to grow in God’s grace. If we would apply these principles in our lives fewer sermons would have to be preached against gossip, backbiting, and profanity.
Just musing…