Wednesday 2 March 2016

Proud speech

"Talk no more so very proudly; Let no arrogance come from your mouth, For the LORD is the God of knowledge; And by Him actions are weighed.  – 1 Samuel 2.3

Hannah sounds like she is talking to today’s world. We have just finished an Irish election campaign and he US is in the middle of one. Proud speech is everywhere we look.

Here is how Hannah puts it.

Stop talking so proudly
Stop your arrogance
God knows all about you
He, and He alone will judge

A lot of folks thinks they are above judgment. This old world thinks it can keep on going unchecked and blatantly ignoring God. It is easy, especially right now on this day, to point fingers at the leaders and politicians, but the kind of things Hannah talks about in her praise song could well describe us at certain times and places.

I think the anonymity of the Internet has done a lot to inspire a culture of proud and arrogant speech. It is everywhere. Politicians are now more known for their sound bites than their depths of thought. Everyone seems bound to get in that last shot.

And the tragedy is that it has crept into the church. Christians have been caught in the trap of thinking that if we say it loud enough and harsh enough and shocking enough we are going to win our argument.

But we are not going to be judged by our words. God judges actions – and if we are truly God’s people our actions will reflect our faith. Words mean nothing without actions. Our faith, if it is not accompanied by works, is dead faith – not matter how great our words.

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