Build Up or Shut Up!

Notes and thoughts from Will Burnham's message to the Living Hope youth group on 3-16-11.

Have you experienced God's glory lately? If you aren't bringing God glory then you are wasting your life! It is that simple, bring God glory in all you do. If your life is easy, then the reality is that you are probably not living it for God's glory. You may ask, "What is in it for me, what do I get out of this?" Your reward is being able to have joy, peace, and being able to see God receive more glory, because there is nothing greater in the world than seeing God at work.

Even you can bring God glory, it has been His plan from the very beginning. People should be able to see that you are different. The way you treat your parents is, different. The way you dress is different. The way you treat your teachers is, different. The way you handle tough situations is, different. The way you talk is especially, different. Why? Because we can bring God glory through our words.

Take a look at James 3:2-12

[2] For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. [3] If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. [4] Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. [5] So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
    How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! [6] And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. [7] For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, [8] but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. [9] With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. [10] From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. [11] Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? [12] Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. 

Did you catch what James is saying there? With our tongues we can build God up and then immediately tear others down, therefore our words and the way we use them have consequences. Think about your own life for a second. How often do we go to church on Sunday or Wednesday and then very next day we are gossiping, talking dirty about girls, cussing, calling people names, being sarcastic and cutting other down? James says this shouldn't be so, why? Because how hypocritical is it for us as Christians to be praising God with our mouths and then to be sinning the next minute? The answer is very!

But James says the tongue is unable to be tamed, so what are we supposed to do about it? We are all naturally sinful people, we were born sinners. We all mess up and sin daily. But the better question is, do you feel guilty when you are making fun of others? Do you feel guilty when you are gossiping about people during lunch? Do you feel guilty when you talk disrespectfully to your parents? Do you feel guilty at all when you are cussing? We can't change the fact that we are all naturally sinners, but as Christians we should be so racked with guilt that when we mess up, it should bother us tremendously. We should be so convicted that we ask for forgiveness from the people we are around, and from the people we were talking bad about.

Take a look at what Paul says in Ephesians 4:25-32

[25] Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. [26] Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, [27] and give no opportunity to the devil. [28] Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. [29] Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. [30] And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. [31] Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. [32] Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Paul does a good here job of laying out how we should use our tongues, and explaining why we should ask for forgiveness from others.

In 2 Corinthians 10:5 Paul gives some advice on how we should go about taming our tongues, build up or shut up.

"We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ" 

Is it easy? No, it's not. But just like God told Joshua in Joshua 1:9

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."