Speech

I watched the President's State of the Union address the other day. I also followed the resulting talk afterwards. We have become very polarized. We talk the conciliatory, "let's work together" talk. We seldom walk it. While politics is a lively sport and necessarily involves heated debate, what we get is more like entrenched lobbing of vitriolic sound bites. No one is served. I see this same predisposition in marriages, families and even churches. Christ would have us act otherwise.

 

Following Jesus is a tightrope act. Balancing justice and mercy, doing and being, truth-telling and pastoral sensibility. It is not for the light-hearted. But balance we must. There is forgiveness if we don't, but each day brings new opportunities to be Christ-like in our speech even if the attack mode is more popular.

 

Listen to God.

 

Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. Galatians 6:15 (NIV)

 

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Philippians 2:3 (NIV)

 

Regardless of which side we feel compelled to profess and defend, what counts is to do so as a child of God (new creation,) relying on Christ to speak through us, always considering the recipient of our zeal as better than ourselves.

 

Speak well today.