Worthless Words

 

When there is an abundance of anything, we begin to take our abundance for granted. If I had millions of dollars, the value of one dollar would be somewhat worthless to me. If I had storage bins of food, the idea of a single piece of chocolate would be minimized. If I have several cars, the idea of owning a car would not be that special.

In our culture, we have a preponderance of words, which is making the idea of actually hearing what someone has said harder and harder. It is not that words have no value; they indeed do. It is that they have a diminished value due to the atmosphere in which we live.

Today people are encouraged to give their opinions in national polls about subjects they know little to nothing about. If we check the social networking pages, we see that our friends woke up grumpy, ate oatmeal for breakfast, and are sad that it is raining outside. As we go through our day, we hear the voices of talk radio pontificating on every known subject that could be crossing the newswires, and gathering opinions of those who have anything to say on the matter. When we get home, we turn on the news and ingest hours of verbal dissection and verbal bantering after we have listened to Oprah talk of mostly insignificant stuff and Dr. Phil solve the emotional problems of a third world chef who feels he is unappreciated for his ability to produce perfect rice. We end our day listening to Larry King interview whoever is saying anything about everything, and catch our late local news, which is encouraging us to participate in a poll on the ethics of injecting mice with a gene from jellyfish that makes them glow in the dark.

To make matters even more bizarre, we are constantly barraged with poll numbers concerning everything, everyday. There seems to be a daily poll as to the President's popularity, whether we should be in Iraq, and if we think the Arabs are sticking it to us with oil prices, or if those prices are from the greedy American oil companies.

Before we go to bed, we check our email, text message a few friends about the fact that we are now going to bed, finish our daily blog on global warming and its ramifications on the third world snake population, Facebook our opinion to Fox news, and Tweeter Larry King.

What we have not understood is the fact that this abundance of words, this continual atmosphere that has been created for meaningless dialogue, has diminished the use of words to the point where they land totally benign on the listening ear.

The fact of the matter remains that my opinion on certain topics is actually not worth hearing . I am not saying that I am not valid as a human. I am saying that if you come and ask me my opinion on the proper use of force in interrogating hostel prisoners of war, I am not really in a position where my opinion should matter.

I do not ask eight year-olds for investment advice. I did not ask my mother for advice as to what our college football team should do to turn around a losing season. I did not ask my daughter for mechanical advice when my lawn mower did not work. I did not ask my wife for advice on how to sharpen my chain saw.

Our county is getting a bit goofy in asking advice on all topics from all people and thinking that we are actually getting somewhere. It is even goofier to think that people think that because they have an opinion, it is both worth sharing and listening to.

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver. (Proverbs 25:11 (ESV))

 

Today, everybody wants to write a song. Everybody wants to be heard. Everybody wants to try out for American Idol, to have their moment. We talk, blog, Facebook, text, call, tweet, etc. We have become so self-absorbed and have developed so many tools to remain self-absorbed that we gauge our worthiness by the amount of Facebook friends we have, and we actually think they are friends. We think that going to movies and playing on Facebook with someone constitutes a good relationship, when neither of those venues promotes healthy discussions.

Oftentimes we seem silent when we should be speaking, and we speak when we should be silent. The atmosphere is so "goofy" that when we see someone we love making mistakes, we say nothing. We say nothing because they have the right to speak, to think, to have an opinion, and to express themselves. We say nothing because words are okay if they are tolerant, if they do not accuse, and if there is not absolute in them. Words in our culture are only acceptable if they are meaningless, culturally correct , bland, tasteless and acceptable to all.

If we actually used words to encourage or rebuke, we would be using them wrongly and possibly alienate those we love.

This seems to be a problem. The free-flowing of words needs to stop the minute you actually say something that matters. That is why pastors so often do not really define what they are preaching about. They often leave the application up to you; they often talk of things that need defining, yet leave you the listener to define it. The pastor may talk of loving our neighbor and bringing people to Christ in our neighborhoods and have every head in the congregation nodding in agreement. Yet, all leave the building and nothing changes. There is total agreement in concept and a total misunderstanding in reality. The words that were spoken were only spoken to the point where the heads would nod and affirmation was achieved. On the way out the pastor can feel good about himself as the congregants affirm the major points of the "dynamic" message, that in reality will change nothing in their lives.

Why is it that we stop talking when we should talk, and talk too much when we shouldn't? Could it be that we have been so indoctrinated in the idea of worthless words that now those are the only words worth uttering? Do we even believe that there are "words" that can and should challenge all we do?

Do we believe in God? I mean, do we really believe that He is God, the creator and sustainer of all life? Do we fear God? Do we believe in absolute truth?

I am not speaking of truth as I see it, or truth as defined by debate or rhetoric; I am talking about absolute truth! Shouldn't the discussion be about what truth is and not my opinion about truth? Should I not be speaking in terms of right and wrong, instead of the relative good and bad?

You see, when all people have been trained that all opinions matter, they reduce what God has said to opinion. When God's Word becomes opinion, we become susceptible to "spinning" what He has said to mean what we want it to mean. We make sure that the Word of God and the Church we go to spin the Word of God the same way we spin it. We make sure that we are "comfortable" rather than challenged. We make sure our opinions are heard. We make sure that things are actually about us.

Our culture has been conducive to making sure we surround ourselves with people like ourselves. We shop around for a church like we shop around for jeans. We want a place where we are significant, rather than a place that allows us to be a servant. We want our voice heard in the church government, and want to make sure our children are affirmed and coddled.

We do not really want to be challenged with words that actually strike at what we are doing or saying, or make us think about readjusting our lifestyle. We are people in search of constant affirmation, and we are going to the wrong well to get our satisfaction.

In order to solve the problem of a preponderance of worthless words, we need to go back to the beginning and see if we have the foundational bricks of understanding in place. You see, we use words to both express ourselves and to convince others of our "rightness" or position. We seldom use words to defend the truth. In reality, since there is a God, and He has given us His Word, we know what is right and wrong, and know what, one day, we will be judged by.

Therefore, the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God.

Proverbs 1:1-5 (ESV)
¹ The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
² To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight,
³ to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;
⁴ to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth—
⁵ Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,

In the atmosphere of the day, we are busy defending what we say and do. We are a self-centered, arrogant people, and a self-centered arrogant people cannot be used of God or respond to God. We need to be those who position ourselves as learners. We need to understand that there is absolute truth, and the way we spin it or understand it has nothing to do with it being truth. We need to see that we have adjusted our lives to truth, and not try to adjust the truth to our lives. We need to realize that God is God and that we are not. We need to know that God is older than us, smarter than us, and loves us, and that we can trust Him.

 

Psalm 1:1 (ESV)
¹Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers….

Secondly, we need to realize that the hours we spend listening to the worthless words of those who do not know or love or fear God is dangerous to our thinking. As we continue to let the preponderance of words in our lives, we begin to diminish their value and believe their lies. We change the truth of God into a lie, and place human understanding and rhetoric in its place. We no longer submit ourselves to the truth of God, no matter how it is delivered, but to the skill and ability of man to speak and make logical sense to us.

Man was made to live in fear. We fear not eating, so we work. We fear not being popular, so we make friends. We fear being sick, so we buy insurance. We fear not having fun, so we buy toys. God knows how He made us, and He made us to fear Him. This misplaced fear causes us to speak when we should be silent, be silent when we should speak, and allows those who are intimidating to have the "final" word.

As we fear God, we begin to straighten out all the errors that come from the self-centered preponderances of self-expression, and realize that the universe was indeed created and revolves around God and not us. As we fear God, we begin to search for truth and how to apply it, rather than acknowledge it as another opinion. As we fear God, our words become "aptly spoken" and are like apples of gold in settings of silver.

Because of the diminishing value of words, the least effective means of reaching a lost nation is by speaking to it, unless the speech, the words, begin to challenge rather than accept things the way they are. Words that blend in with the normative behavior of the culture are not worth uttering. Words that challenge thought, that drive people back to the absolutes, are words that need to be spoken.

It would be nice if there was an atmosphere for such words, but there is not. So, these words, if spoken, may tear of the fabric of our culture and of many churches because they will be words that drive us to the Word. These words will be words that speak of absolute right and wrong, instead of the relative terms of good and bad. These words, uttered by a stammering uneducated person will have more power than the rhetoric-rich Ivy League graduate, or the powerful political spin, or meaningless religious, politically-correct pastor.

It is time to go back to the basics and know that we are not God, that we do not create truth, and that we will be held accountable to the truth, so that dialogue will once again center on trying to understand truth instead of exalting self.

Without this fundamental change we are doomed.