Words

When we speak or write, do we mean what we say?

Let’s consider the position of a federal judge in our country’s judicial system.  How many years of in-depth learning and experience did these people go through before being appointed to their post?

Usually the minimum training required to even enter the legal profession is four years of undergraduate study and then at least three of intensive training in a law school.  After that comes years of experience in the legal trenches.  But to reach the position of federal judge, a certain amount of character, including discretion, must be a way of life.

How easy would it be to waste precious years of training and experience with a careless word or phrase.

These judges didn’t rise to their offices by being careless with their speech and writing.  Being precise with words is paramount in the legal profession.

Christ requires this same carefulness of us.  Consider his word in Matthew 12:36-37.

One of my favorite saying is “There’s no such thing as a meaningless word.”  Every word has meaning although it may not have the same meaning as intended.

But, there is another side to this that few fully consider.

While we are held responsible for what we say or write, many unfortunately take it upon themselves to not only judge what was said but why something was said.  They divert their attention from what was meant and perhaps unknowingly falsely impute motives.

Further misunderstanding results when people discuss these faulty thoughts with others.  “This is why so and so said that,” or “He’s doing this because there’s something in it for him, you can be sure,” are common phrases.

Too many casually damage reputations and cause disruption with such words.  Remember who is the accuser, who is behind false rumors, Satan the devil (Revelation 12:10).  He is vicious, a liar and the father of lies.  Let’s not allow ourselves to be used as his tools.

All too often we forget what God inspired Paul to write in Romans 2:1.

This is not a phenomenon exclusive to our time.  Consider the misunderstanding about Paul’s writings in II Peter 3:16.  Many people assume that Peter comments here that Paul is a bad writer.  They see the section about “things hard to be understood” and conclude that Paul confused certain doctrines through his writing.  Some then say that if Peter couldn’t understand Paul’s writings then I can’t either.

What Peter meant is that some of the topics Paul wrote about are difficult to understand, not his writings.  Paul was a learned Hebrew scholar (Philippians 3:4-6).  God used Paul to authoritatively declare and explain complex theology, particularly how God’s law works within God’s Church.

Yet, even then, Paul’s writings were twisted by others.  People attached wrong meanings to his epistles (II Peter 3:16).

But that was not the only distortion Paul had to deal with.  Paul had to correct the Corinthian church for imputing motives and judging his behavior.  Note what he said of certain member in that congregation (II Corinthians 10:10).  Paul answered in verse 11 that they would find out what he was like when he arrived to visit them.

Paul was besieged on both sides.  Even though he was personally commissioned by Christ to deliver the Gospel (Acts 9:15), people wasted time and energy finding fault with both his writing and his speaking.

If U.S. federal judges must be careful in what they say and write, surely we as God’s begotten children must exercise even more care not only with our spoken and written words and additionally imputing motives to others words and actions.