The new fireworks ordinances here in Eugene sparked some explosive discussion. I clicked on a news article about the number of illegal fireworks citations given this year, then scrolled down to comments by other readers. There I was dismayed to read a nasty give and take between people criticizing fireworks ordinances as destructive of our liberty and the American way of life and others who described those who shoot fireworks on the 4th as drunken, flag-waving Nazis with no regard for safety or their neighbors’ peace. Nowhere to be found was any quiet, reasonable respect for the other parties in the conversation.
The fireworks in that conversation about fireworks is just one tiny sample of the low level of much on-line dialogue. All of it cries out for attention to this week’s text from Proverbs 12:13-28, where all sorts of wrong and imprudent speech is addressed, and where “good talk” is encouraged.
It’s hard to imagine that all the vituperative exchanges found in discussion groups, blogs, Facebook posts, etc. will ultimately do some serious damage, if not through physical attacks then through the marks left on the souls of the participants. To speak insults of a person from another political persuasion or social milieu seems destined to harm both parties. Just prior to our text Proverbs 12:6 says, “The words of the wicked are a deadly ambush.” It’s both the speaker and the hearer who are ambushed. Verse 13 tells us, “The evil are ensnared by the transgression of their lips.”
The pairings of these Proverb texts with the assigned Gospel lesson each week is totally random, since I’m working sequentially, replacing the Old Testament lesson with a Proverbs text each time. However, there’s an enlightening fit between Proverbs 12 and Matthew 13 this time. Jesus’ parable of the sower is all about the different ways people listen to the word of God and is nicely punctuated with 13:19, “Let anyone with ears listen!”
This Proverbs passage teaches us that, as common sense also reveals, listening is an essential part of good speech. Verse 15 declares, “The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.” Those mean on-line dialogues almost always consist of two or more people absolutely convinced they are correct about the matter at hand and absolutely refusing to listen to facts or advice coming from another point of view.
As Jesus declares, the way out of the log jam of bad talk is to listen well, to discern the truth when it is spoken, perhaps by others but most of all when God speaks. Perhaps if we spent more time trying to listen well to the Word of God we would engage in less ill-mannered and harmful talk. Our talk would be the good talk described in these phrases from our text, “the tongue of the wise brings healing,” “truthful lips endure forever,” “those who counsel peace have joy,” and “a good word cheers up [the human heart.]”
May our Lord forgive us all for too much talk and not enough listening, and when it is time to speak, may He give us good words that bring healing, truth, peace, joy and cheer to those who hear us.