Burning Down or Building Up?

“See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire...” James 3:5b-6a


You may not be very important according to the standards of this world. Maybe you’ve never won any major awards or praises; maybe you don’t have the kind of skills or abilities that cause millions to take notice. But one thing that I can promise you is this; you have more influence than you know. There are more people watching you than you are aware of, and even if its only on a near subconscious level, they evaluate, no, judge every word you speak.

James says that your negative words are like the initial sparks that set an entire forest ablaze. You may think you’re only joking about how Nancy in accounting has such terrible fashion sense (she is an accountant after all), but what you don’t realize is that one of the people who hear you say this know that you are a Believer in Jesus and in a flash they think, “That doesn’t seem very Christian”. Now I’m not sure what all their definition of “very Christian” entails, but on this point, I think I agree. And far more important than that, I think Jesus agrees. What happens when you invite that person who overheard you teasing poor Nancy to church or even try to share the news of Christ’s redemption with them? What if your own words have “burned” you and your reputation? How many chances do we expect to get to before we’ve so damaged our personal testimony that people will no longer respect our claims to knowing Jesus? For some, the only “Christians” they regularly see are on the nightly news protesting the latest wizard movie or screaming about the latest legislation they disagree with...and don’t get them started on those loud mouth preachers with their diamond cuff links, private jets, and their hocus pocus prayer cloths that have been dipped in the river Jordon. Unbelievers see through all that...they know that if Jesus is true, he must be about more than those things.

Yes this world is full of great evils and enemies that seek to steer men and women away from the truth about God, but what happens to the reputation of God’s people when our words are a part of that evil? Through words of anger, gossip, vulgar joking, lies and half truths, we allow ourselves to be used to damage, not build up, God’s work. Jesus said that the harvest of salvation is ready...but what if the harvesters of His Kingdom are setting fires all throughout the field?

And know this, not only are your words are under constant surveillance from those around you, but even more significantly, God hears every word you speak and will judge all you say according to His standard of holiness. So whether this world ever praises your name or not, know that you DO have a large part to play in the lives of many...and you DO have influence. In the end, Nancy may have all the fashion sense of a color blind rhinoceros, but maybe its time for you to stop burning the forest and to start speaking words that glorify the amazing Savior that pulled you out of your darkness and into His marvelous light.