Speaking the Truth Pt 3 – The Error

I started off this series by saying that I might need to provide a little clarification, and I am now on post three trying to flesh that out.  I realize I am running long, but I really am trying to drive toward a point that I think is vitally important.  In Part Two, I listed 15 different ways that we sin with our words.  Now I want to try and get at the heart of the matter.

Here is a question I want you to consider: what do all of those sins have in common?  Some build up and others tear down.  Some are directed toward ourselves and some are directed at others.  Some involve intentional deceit, but some are brutally factual.  So what is the river running through it all?  Where is the common thread that we may put our finger upon?

Are you thinking about it?  It’s really simple.

All sins of speech boil down to this one thing: they are not the Truth.  They may be factual or they may be lies but their essence is that they do not align with what God is saying.  When God is calling for a thing to be torn down, we build up.  When God is calling for it to be built up, we tear down.  The point is that with our words we have the choice to align ourselves with God or align ourselves with the devil.

James likened the tongue to the rudder of a large ship.  Can we believe it?  I don’t mean this name it and claim it mumbo jumbo about creating things with our words, I mean do we believe that we can direct our hearts toward God by choosing to speak what is True?  We can clearly see the devastation caused by unbridled tongues.  That is no great mystery, but I think if we try to cut off the sins of the tongue one at a time we will be pruning bad fruit from the tree without dealing with the roots.  The root of the issue is that our hearts are not lining up with the Truth (Jesus), and we are choosing to affirm our division from Him with our words instead of affirming our unity with Him.  “A house divided against itself cannot stand (Matthew 12:25).”

Let me give you two examples to bolster my point.

First, consider Balaam.  In Numbers 22-24, we find the story of a man named Balaam who was hired by a Moabite King named Balak to pronounce a curse over Israel.  Balaam was regarded as a man of spiritual authority, and indeed he did hear from God (see ch 22:v12 & 20).  It is remarkable here that Balak, a Moabite, knew that Israel’s strength was not in their numbers or their milital might, but in the spiritual realm.  Therefore he recruits Balaam to try to speak a curse to thwart the Israelites.  However, Balaam is not able to follow through.  On three different high places he makes sacrifices, but every time he opens his mouth to curse God’s people he can only speak a blessing.  Finally, in chapter 24 Balak and Balaam part ways.

But that is not the end of the story.  In the following chapter, Israel begins to turn away from God by joining themselves first to the Moabite women, and then the Moabite god, baal of peor.  This seemingly inexplicable turn away from God brings a plague onto God’s people which claims 24,000 lives before being abated.  It is not until chapter 31 until we hear of Balaam again, and it is there that the seemingly inexplicable acts of the Israelites is elaborated upon.  Speaking of the women who were joined to Israel, Moses says “Behold, these caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, so the plague was among the congregation of the LORD (Numbers 31:16).”  Jumping ahead all the way to Revelation, we find this further explanation as Jesus rebukes the Church of Pergamum because “there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality (2:14).”

Do you see what happened here?  Balak could not defeat the Israelites militarily.  Balaam could not curse them while they stood as the recipients of God’s blessing.  So what did he do?  He introduced a false teaching to bring Israel out of agreement with God.  As this teaching spread, the people brought the wrath of God upon themselves.  They were invincible, but they were brought low by mere words.  The essence of sinning with the mouth is to bring one out of agreement with God.

Second, consider the 12 Israelite spies in Numbers 13.  Before invading the promised land, Moses sent 12 men as spies into Canaan on a reconnaissance mission.  You are probably familiar with the story.  They spy out the land and find that it is indeed a land of great promise, but they come back with a mixed report.  Bear in mind that God has already promised to deliver the land into their hands from its current inhabitants.  The spies, however, are greatly fearful of the inhabitants, saying “we are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us (v31).”  Caleb elaborates on what happened in Joshua 14 when he says “I brought word back to him as it was in my heart.  Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed the Lord my God fully (vv7-8).”

Do you see the contrast here?  Caleb followed God by giving word that affirmed what God had spoken, but the other spies turned away from God by giving a word that was contrary to what He had spoken.  Their report was factual.  The Scripture never denies the prowess of the Amalekites who inhabited the land.  I have heard teachers say that there never were Anakim in the land as the spies reported, but I do not find that position in the scripture.  I find Caleb saying “give me this hill country about which the LORD spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the LORD will be with me, and I will drive them out as the LORD has spoken (v12).”  Personally, I don’t think the spies were lying about the Anakim.  I think they just refused to align themselves with God through faith, and as a result an entire generation died in the wilderness.

Are the dots connecting yet?  In every case, the core issue is that with our words we turn away from the Truth.  That is the ultimate diagnosis we must come to grips with: We are turning away from Jesus.  Though we may not think of grumbling or cynicism as a rejection of Christ, we must begin to.  The ails of the tongue may be many, but the problem is singular: we are turning away from the Truth, and we must stop.

to be continued…

–>Proceed to Pt 4 – The Answer<–