Outsiders and Empty Words

I admire folks like Ken Ham, Josh McDowell, David Limbaugh, C.S. Lewis --- apologists all.  The English word "apologetics", which sounds like excuses are being made for something or one is "apologizing" for a belief system, is in my mind an unfortunate word.  It actually means that a valid, rational defense is being made for a belief system.

When I am talking with someone who is oppositional to the Christian faith beliefs I hold, as a Baptist, I find myself getting "emotional".  I'm tempted to allow my voice to take on a sharp edge, out of my desire to convince the person.  (My voice is very resonant anyhow; but, this makes it more "pronounced".  Yes, please pardon the pun!)

Paul gives great advice about dealing with people who hold beliefs different from our own or who are outside God's family.

5Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
Colossians 4:5-6

Paul, speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gives us two guiding principles for dealing with those who do not know Christ.  However, they can equally apply to any of our conversations.

First of all, we need to make the best use of our time, in our conversations with others.  Are our conversations God-honoring?  Are they frivolous?  Frivolity is great, unless we spend an inordinate amount of time in it, which is an unwise use of our time.

The King James Version of the Bible translates "making the best use of the time" as "redeeming the time", which has a connotation of "cashing it in" or "buying it back".

The people Paul is speaking of are non-Christians, who watch how we believers live.  They also listen to how we talk.  Think about that, before you re-tweet something or post something hateful, off-color or even obscene.   It's so easy to just click the mouse and diminish your testimony.

At my church we have had a series of church conferences over the past two months.  At each one members have risen to speak at the microphone.  I wonder how many regret the words they spoke on those occasions?  And, those meetings were not with "outsiders", but, instead, within the "faith family"!

There was a preacher who was called to pastor a large church in Atlanta many years ago.  Shortly after his arrival there to minister, a local man hired a private detective to follow him around.  The preacher was unaware of this.  The detective reported back to the man who had hired him that the pastor was "the real deal".... that his "walk" matched his "talk".  And, the man accepted Christ as Savior, in large part because of this pastor's testimony.

Christians are very reluctant in this current culture to stand up against sin.  I wonder if that is because they have a "mote in their own eye" (Matthew 7:3-5), a hidden, secret sin?

When we do speak out, are our words "seasoned"?  Salt makes food taste better, to a certain extent.  If you use too much, the taste is spoiled; use too little and the food is bland.  A little salt goes a long way.

We certainly do NOT want to be as the infamous Westboro Baptist Church crowd who, though they have the word "Baptist" in their name, do not represent the Baptist denomination at all.  These are people whose hate-filled words and methods are doing irreparable harm to the cause of Jesus Christ.   (I was able to see them in person last month, at the GOP National Convention.  They are utterly repulsive.  God forbid we should even come close to their example!)

These verses are some of the most sobering in the entire Bible:

For the mouth speaks from what fills the heart. 35The good person brings good things out of his good treasury, and the evil person brings evil things out of his evil treasury. 36I tell you that on the day of judgment, people will give an account for every worthless word they speak. 37For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Matthew 12:35-37 (NET)

One of my Twitter friends told me yesterday that she prays over every Scriptural tweet she designs and tweets out.  Whoa.... What a testimony!  Twitter is just one example.  We absolutely must pray that the Holy Spirit will measure and weigh our words before they proceed from our mouths. God will hold us accountable for every single one!

Almost every day, I pray this Scripture.  Maybe it will help you too.  I certainly need to pray it often, throughout the day!   Let's pray it together right now.  Psalm 19:14 - - -

Dear Father,
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer!  
In Jesus' name, amen.

The Bible - Our Light, our Sword, our Firm Foundation

Good morning!

Have you ever stumbled in the dark?  A few months ago, late at night, I was walking from the bedroom into the dark den with this laptop in my arms.  I was going to plug it in for the night. Unfortunately, because it was so late and I was exhausted, I had lost track of our dog.  Charlie had left the bedroom and gone to lie down on the cooler hardwood floor of the den.  Well, you guessed it. At top speed, I tripped over the dog.  The laptop went flying one way and I went airborne another.  The dog was fine, but I was severely "shook up" and had some monster bruises for several weeks.  The same thing can happen to us spiritually, if we have no spiritual light in order to see where to take our steps each day.

The Bible testifies of itself when the psalmist says:  "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." (Psalm 119:105)  In other words, if we will faithfully read the Bible, it will help to keep us from "stumbling" and getting banged up spiritually.  The world at large throws messages at us constantly, and most of them run contrary to God's instructions in his Word, the Bible.  It is so easy to stumble or to get lured off the path we should be on, because our vision gets clouded.  Reading the Word clears our vision.

One of the evidences that the Bible is God's Word is how it is used by the Holy Spirit to radically change lives.  Sometimes, I read on Facebook about horrid crimes that have been committed by individuals, and I see people on Facebook just hatin' on those people because they're so appalled by the crimes themselves.  And, I think, "Yes, that is a horrible thing, but the power of Jesus Christ can change even a person that far gone.  His love is greater.  His love is stronger.  His love is higher than any other." (a paraphrase of Chris Tomlin's song lyrics from "Our God")

Yesterday afternoon, the Hubster and I went to see Dinesh D'Souza's movie, "America".  In the movie, Star Parker gave a little bit of her testimony.  She was formerly a welfare mother who had at least a couple of abortions, maybe more.  But, when she heard the gospel and met the Savior, He changed her. That is the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, revealed in the Bible.

Accordingly, when someone is trying to discredit the Christian faith, they always start with attempts to discredit the Bible.They are trying to run away from the conviction of their sin which the Bible reveals. You see, if they can downgrade the Bible to being "just another book", they can rationalize away the conviction that the Bible brings.  The Bible shines light on the dark corners of their lives, and because they love their sin, they hate the Bible for doing that.  They want to be "their own boss", "masters of their own fate".   Eventually, they trip over the rocks of life and then have no one nor any foundation on which to grab hold.  It's heartbreaking, truly.

I cannot possibly, in this limited forum, give an exhaustive, comprehensive dissertation on why the Bible is not only highly credible, but further, that it is infallible.  Many others before me have done a much better job of this.  Josh McDowell, with his book, Evidence That Demands a Verdict, is one excellent example.  (I invite readers to comment, in the comments section of this blog, with other helpful tools of this type.)

But, I can promise you this:  if you are doubting the truth of God's Word, and will do a thorough search of the proofs of the Bible's infallibility AND if you will READ the Bible, instead of listening to what the world has to say about it, and pray for understanding.... I promise you that you will be shown the truth.  God's promise is this, from Jeremiah 29:13:  "If, with all your heart, you truly seek me, you shall certainly truly find me.  This is what the LORD says."

Just grab that Bible and start reading.  I love the old hymn, "How Firm a Foundation."  It was written in 1787 by John Rippon, and set to music by Joseph Funk in 1832.  Below are some of the many verses:

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
To you, who to Jesus for refuge have fled?

Fear not!  I am with the, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy GOD and will still give thee aid;
I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through fiery trials they pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I'll never, no never, no never forsake.


Christian!  Read the Bible daily to walk in the light and avoid getting tripped up.
1 John 1:7 says this, "If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. And, the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin."

Father, Abba, as the old saint said just before dying, let us not add to or take away one thing from your Holy Word.   Thank you for "breathing out" the words to your men of faith so that we could have your revelation of truth today.  Please give us a hunger and thirst for Your Word, Lord, even more than we hunger for the best physical food each day.  Even when we are not going through a "fiery trial", but especially then, teach us to fall on our knees in prayer, with the Word in our hands, so that we may be armed with the Sword of the Spirit.  In Jesus' name, amen.