"Let your words be the genuine picture of your heart"

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." I've written about this saying before, though with a different group of Bible verses and Wesley quotes in mind.

Well-intentioned parents teach this to their children in an effort to help them deflect insults and name-calling, but as we all know, it's just not true.  Words matter. Words DO hurt sometimes even more than broken bones. Words are powerful. They both create and reflect our reality. Words have consequences. You don't wantonly yell "Fire!" in a crowded theatre because it will produce panic which will endanger lives.

Freedom of speech doesn't cover lying and using irresponsible words that damage and threaten. That's why we have legal protections against libel and slander, and that's why threats against one's life and wellbeing are considered criminal acts. Nobody is above the law; neither wealth nor political power are supposed to insulate anyone from the consequences of these violations.

Cruelty and bodily harm don't just pop up out of nowhere. Their seeds are planted and watered in the mind and heart every time we tell a homophobic "joke" or use a racial slur or refer to women's bodies in crude "locker room" language. And the more freely we use words that degrade, denigrate, and divide, the more likely it is that we will tacitly and even explicitly allow not only hateful and harmful talk but will eventually support or explain away deliberate acts of violence against the "other."

John Wesley understood that our inner and outer selves should be congruent with the life and love of Christ, that we should be people whose lives bear outer fruit because of our inner faith and obedience to God's law.  He preached several discourses on the Sermon on the Mount, and in the fourth one, he shows that inner holiness promotes outer holiness -- love of God is inextricably linked with love of neighbor.  He writes that if the root of religion is truly present in the heart, it cannot help bearing fruit as a result of that union of the soul with God. One's outer life of actions and speech, even on Facebook or Twitter, reveal who a person really is.

Let your love be without dissimulation. Why should you hide fair, disinterested love? Let there be no guile be found in your mouth: let your words be the genuine picture of your heart. Let there be no darkness or reservedness in your conversation, no disguise in your behavior. Leave this to those who have other designs in view -- designs which will not bear the light.

Chichester Cathedral 

If one is in a position of privilege and power, it is incumbent upon him or her to exercise discretion and show maturity before saying anything which might inflame or distort a situation. As the book of James, chapter 3 reminds us, the tongue is a fire and a restless evil, full of deadly poison. He goes on to say, "With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.  My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so."

Ouch. If the shoe fits, we must wear it. And if the words we are speaking and the ways we are acting are truly reflecting and revealing our hearts, we've got some serious repenting to do.  God made us for fellowship and love; Christ calls us to do unto others as we'd have them do unto us, and the Spirit convicts and empowers us to start over and become new people. That's something to ponder and to pray for on this eve of Pentecost.

O Holy Spirit, enter our hearts with your sacred fire and purify them completely. Just as you filled the apostles with boldness and descended on them like tongues of fire at Pentecost, transform and renew us so that we may perfectly love you and love our neighbor as ourselves.  Change us from within and make our every thought, word, and deed a reflection of Christ living within us, and help us to see and love each other as you do. Amen.