Ouch, That Hurt
I recently had an experience that almost equaled what James was talking about in James 3:5 when he spoke what a great matter a little fire kindled. The wife fixed me a great breakfast of bacon and eggs this morning, but she set the bacon plate on the burner on the stove that she had used to fry the eggs, and forgot to turn the burner off. It wasn't long before we had some excitement in the kitchen. It was just a momentary lapse in judgement, but it almost destroyed our home. The same thing happens in the church whenever its members forget the heat that can be generated by the momentary lapse with our tongue. And the amount of damage that can be done today has increased a thousand fold by the use of cyperspace. Now we can talk to thousands at the same time. The fact that we can speak about someone without having to see the ones we are speakig to doesn't change the damage one can do with those words. One thing that we seem to forget so often, is that there are no secrets in cyperspace. Your friends have friends who have friends who have friends and so on into infinity. Also, it isn't necessary to offer rebuttal everytime someone says or posts something that you believe to be in error. We need to be like Ricky Nelson's character in the old John Wayne movie "Rio Bravo", be confident enough in yourself that don't have to prove how smart and knowledgeable you are all the time. There are many in the body of Christ that hold beliefs in error, but I don't feel any need to continually correct every statement. I know what I believe and have solid scripture support of these beliefs. So, I only fight the important battles rather than waste valuable time and energy on the minor things. While sticks and stones can wound, they heal much quicker than the wound inflicted by a sharp, uncaring tongue. Never forget that he that soweth discord among the brethren is hated by God. (Proverbs 6:19)
