This is the political season. I say that with the knowledge that the political season seems to be twelve months long now.  Politicians seem to go from one campaign to the next and only govern from time to time if they get the chance.

For the most part, politics is a war of words.  The down side is that, in this day and age, everything a person has said seems to be recorded in one way or another…videos of speeches given years ago, copies of emails, text messages, I-phone recordings, and articles written in an obscure paper or journal but now easily accessed by search engines.  Some of these were public records while others were obtained by someone hacking into a personal database.

When confronted with their past words, the typical result is denial, embarrassment, spin, and every other deflection the man or woman can think of to avoid the consequences of their verbal declarations.  Some statements seem to represent a policy decision they say they no longer believe.  Others seem have the scent of racism or bigotry or hate toward a group or an individual. Then the person, confronted with their own words, claims they were taken out of context or they didn’t really mean it. Failing at that, they simply issue a general apology for their totally improper remarks (which typically means I am sorry I got caught).

The truth is, most of us speak with little thought for the consequences that might spring from what was spoken.  If we are angry or frustrated, we blurt out whatever comes to mind before thinking at all. We find those words are hard to take back when the result of our speaking is not in our favor.  When confronted, we are often offended that someone is trying to hold us accountable for what we thought we could say without repercussions. We seem to live as if our words don’t matter…like bubbles floating into the air and disappearing.  Occasionally, I need a reminder that my words do matter…very much.

The Word of God puts a great deal of weight on what we say and paints those who blurt out whatever comes to mind as foolish people.  Wise men and women weigh their words.  They think before they speak.  They assess the consequences, for themselves and others, of the words they are about to let slip out.  One of the most sobering passages about our words was spoken by Jesus himself. “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matt. 12:35-37).

First of all, Jesus taught that our words are indicators of the content of our hearts. “But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them (Matt. 18:15). After saying something that embarrasses us later, we often say, “I don’t know why I said that.  That is not who I am!”  We must admit, however, that is was part of who we are or it would not have come out of our mouth. I admit demonic spirits can prompt us to say things that are “not who we are” or who we want to be, but then we need to deal with that spirit.

Rather than denial, blaming, or deflecting, if we would own what we said and submit that patch of darkness in our heart to the Lord, the Holy Spirit could do some scrubbing.  David prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Ps. 51).  I have had to offer that prayer on many occasions, and I think my heart is better aligned with the Fathers heart now than in was in the past.

Men will sometimes hold us accountable for our words, but the spirit realm will always hold us accountable.  Somewhere in the spirit realm, something or someone is recording every “careless word I have spoken.”  That phrase from Matthew 12, which is translated empty or careless is not just talking about bad language, cussing, or using the Lord’s name in vain.  It is talking about words we speak without thinking.  He is not saying our well thought our words expressing hate or lust will not be judged but he is saying that we will not be able to stand before the Lord and say, I couldn’t help it!” or “I didn’t mean it.” I am convinced Satan frequently gains a legal right to afflict us through our “careless words.”  A strong thread that runs through the book of Proverbs teaches over and over to be slow to speak, to hold our peace, and to carefully measure our words.  Just because we think something, we do not have to speak it. 

In addition to revealing our hearts, our words carry authority that releases power. The familiar proverb says, “The tongue has the power of life and death” (Prov. 18:21).  Your words have power…not just in the natural realm, but in the spiritual realm as well. The fruit of our lips can be sweet or bitter.  We can impart blessings or curses.  They can command healing or command destruction.  Our words are seeds sown in both the natural and spiritual realms around us.  One of God’s immutable laws is that we will reap what we have sown and harvest what we have planted.  Our words are seed that produce life, blessing, abundance, peace and success or that bring forth death, weakness, lack, failure, and torment…in the lives we have spoken over and in our own life as a harvest of what we have spoken over others.  

As we watch the pundits and politicians broadcast their words this political season and try to disown words they have already spoken, let it remind us that we are not to be careless with our words for we will have to give an accounting for them.  When our words tip us off that something dark is in our heart, take it to Jesus.  When we find ourselves popping off without thinking, ask the Holy Spirit to shut our mouths when we are about to speak careless words hurtful words, or offensive words. Pray that the Lord will make our mouths a fresh spring that extrudes life and blessings and not a spring full of salt that kills everything it touches.

God is serious about our words and we should be as well.  Our prayer should be, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight” (Ps. 19:14).

I’m currently involved in a study of Genesis.  The first nine chapters have turned out to be fairly controversial as nearly every writer and commentator tries to make the narrative of Genesis align with current scientific views of the beginning of the universe and the beginning of life on planet earth.  There are a number of ingenious efforts to do so…the gap theory, theistic evolution, progressive creationism, etc.  All of these are ways to try to adjust what seems to be the natural reading of Genesis to the age of the universe and earth as projected by many contemporary scientists and to find a place where evolutionary theory can also fit into the Genesis account.  Some of these attempts have some merit and are possible interpretations of Genesis, as scholars study possible meanings of Hebrew words, etc.   But many of these attempts seem to be a result of giving science more authority or, at least, the same authority as scripture.

The question arises…what if you cannot marry current scientific views with the Genesis account in any satisfactory way?  Do you choose science over scripture or do you keep insisting that science find other explanations for their observations and theories until they can match the Genesis narrative in satisfactory ways. By the way, there are a number of high caliber PH.D’s out there who do hold to the natural reading of Genesis. They assign dating miscalculations to results of a world-wide flood and point to many geological and paleontological observations that don’t fit the evolutionary model.

I really don’t want to try to evaluate all the views that arise from the first few chapters of Genesis, but I do want to point out the danger of letting culture have so much influence over us that we begin to choose the current views of intellectuals and influencers over scripture.  When it comes to faith, it is imperative that we constantly align our thoughts with God’s thoughts.  It is imperative that we give God’s word more authority than the words of men.  Does that mean that natural science, history, archaeology, and so forth cannot inform our understanding of scripture? Of course not.  But we dare not begin to ignore scripture that conflicts with those views or do violence to a text in order to make it fit the “current scientific view.”

I keep saying “current view,” because science is always changing, while the word of God is eternal.  If you scan the New Testament, you will find dozens of scripture warning, us to be directed by heavenly wisdom, rather than the wisdom of the world.  You know the old propaganda adage that says if a lie is told often enough and with enough conviction, people will begin to believe it is true.  What we see in our culture, in our schools, and in the media is a steady promotion of anti-biblical views and values designed to desensitize us and indirectly make us believe that a cultural stance is true because we see it and hear it all the time.

In our culture, theories are regularly presented as proven facts, as if, no one with any intelligence even questions what is being presented.  Many are “following the science” because it lends credibility to their narrative, rather than because it is true.  Evil is called good and good is called evil so often that we begin to wonder if we have misread our Bibles.  If we don’t read our Bibles, we are certainly easy prey for the world’s propaganda.  There is always danger in coming into agreement with Satan…the prince of this world.  Adam and Eve adopted his view of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and their alignment with Satan ushered sin and death into the world. Alignment with Satan, in any part of your life, will open a door for his activity in your life and the life of your family and the results will be destruction.

I am simply posting a warning here that choosing between the values and positions of the world and God is a serious thing that has real consequences.  As believers, I think we need constant course corrections in our thinking because we are so inundated with lies from the enemy with every facet of culture as his vehicle. With the steady drum beat of culture everywhere we look,   we can slowly but surely be drawn away from God’s truth.  When we feel the pull to agree with something that doesn’t seem to agree with God, we need to slow down and pray for wisdom.  Perhaps, our biblical understanding needs to be tweaked but, perhaps, we are being drawn away from truth in the name of science, education, religion, art, or tolerance.

Paul wrote, “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord” (1 Cor. 1:26-31).

This verse suggests that much of what the world presents as wisdom, intellect, and truth are just the opposite of heavenly wisdom, intelligence, and truth.  So, evaluate what you are hearing, seeing, and being told by the voices of the world.  Do not be afraid to disagree and do so without being disagreeable. Do not be afraid to stand on biblical truths and values, even in the face of criticism and ridicule because you will be receiving praise from heaven.