Illustration: Born and raised a Southerner, my love for many Southern ways abideth still. Stereotypes exist for valid reasons oftentimes, and I certainly fit many of the stereotypes of heretofore “Southern” ways–religiously Christian, fond of the outdoors, a lover of the traditional family, patriotic, etc. I am unashamed of these characteristics. I still speak with my grandparents in my spirit, though they died years ago. I still say “Yes, sir” and “Yes, ma’am” to my elders and to my superiors. If I did not, my conscience would be pricked. These are not sentimental vestiges of times gone with the wind, etc. but are characteristics I want to see in my own children and grandchildren. The ways in which we speak to one another reveal a great deal more than words’ denotations and connotations.

Connection to Scripture: This week I am studying Matthew 12 as part of our ongoing study of that gospel. We are going through the entire book verse-by-verse with the goals of biblical literacy, transformation, discernment, and biblical courage. Today as I was reading Matthew’s gospel yet again, I was struck again by the clarity and bluntness of Christ’s teaching about the tongue.

You remember the setting, right? The Pharisees in this passage reveal their hatred and jealousy of Jesus. Here is one example of their hatred of him: “But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him [Jesus]” (Matthew 12:14, ESV).

Then Jesus utters some of the most powerful, enduring words in world history: ” . . . for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil” (Matthew 12:33b-34, ESV).

In modern parlance, some could adequately term that a mic drop. Bam! Christ calls these people snakes, a brood of vipers. Why? He saw that their lives were mainly “evil treasure.” And how they spoke revealed their hearts, their natures. Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21).

“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34b, ESV). The half-brother of the Lord Jesus reiterates the same principle:

If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. (James 3:3-6, ESV)

A couple of the blessings of my current position in ministry are my bosses, both of whom have more military experience than I do, more accomplishments than I do, and men who do not have to brag about their accomplishments; those accomplishments speak for themselves. But a characteristic they both share is that they know how to use the tongue wisely. Their speech reveals their character. When I must go to them at times with hard news regarding soldiers or situations, I’m invariably met with equipoise and almost always humor. They are masters at not letting small things become big things. All that to say, how we speak to one another is more important than I think we realize. Many times I have wished I had a retract/undo button for something I have said, but alas, no do overs. That “abundance of the heart” that Christ refers to, at least for this guy, needs a great deal of tending to, as my grandparents would have said in their old Southern speech.