The Tongue
Gossip
or talebearing is indulging
in idle talk or rumors; it is talking to someone and telling them something
about another person (whether what is
said about that person is true or not) with the object of belittling or
tearing down that person’s character or reputation, and whose business it’s
not.
Write down the principle or truth that’s taught
in each of the following passages:
Prov. 11:13
17:9
18:8
25:9, 10
26:20-22
1 Tim. 3:11
Titus 2:3
Slander is to attack, make, or spread false statements about someone that are
harmful to that person’s character or reputation.
Prov. 6:12-15
Col. 3:8
Titus 3:2 (first word)
1 Cor. 4:13
1 Pet. 2:1
Filthiness is whatever is morally hateful; deformed;
revolting; what excites disgust, physical or moral; whatever is vile or
disgusting in speech or conduct; base; obscene (e.g., describing some masochistic or perverted sex scene).
Silly
or foolish talk is talk that
is characteristic of fools; senseless; frivolous; stupid and sinful together;
lack of forethought and wisdom and is godless (e.g., “your mama wears Army boots”; “let’s see who can spit the
farthest”; “my belly button looks better than yours”; “let’s jump across this
deep ravine that’s 7 ft. across”; “how many angels can fit on the top of a
pin?”).
Eph.
5:4 (second word)
Evil speaking is speech or words that destroy or tear down
another person wrongly.
Psa. 34:13; 1 Pet. 3:9, 10
Lk. 6:45
Worldly
and empty chatter or fruitless discussion is vain, empty-jabberings; devoid of godliness; unholy talk; useless
disputes about fictitious, genealogical histories and hair-splitting debates
about niceties in the Law of Moses; high sounding philosophies. The latter is useless reasoning,
argumentation that gets no where; wrangling about fanciful tales and
words. Knowledge (falsely called in 1 Tim. 6) is supposed, superior insight in terms
of fables and genealogies (e.g., how
Mary, Jesus’ mother, died and what happened to her body).
1 Tim. 6:3-5, 20, 21
(e.g.,
“Samuel” is “as a mule” – the letters in the word “Samuel” are rearranged to
say “as a mule”).
2 Tim. 2:14-18
1 Tim. 1:4-7
Titus 1:9-14
3:9
The tongue, mouth, and words are personified as the agents of destructive or
constructive communication.
(“love it” –
the tongue; are talkative); (“eat its
fruit” – suffer the consequences of what they say).
29:20
13:3
15:4
27:2
Psa. 17:3
39:1
Jude 1:4, 16
Matt. 5:11
15:18-20
12:34-37
James 1:26
3:2-12
Titus 3:9
Coarse
jesting is joking or
speaking that is skillful, witty, flippant, satirical, mocking, irreverent,
vulgar, crude, or morally offensive; a smart or shrewd intimation.
Eph. 5:4 (third word)
Unwholesome word is worthless, profitless; corrupt; putrid;
unedifying.
Eph. 4:29
Swearing is to use profane or blasphemous language.
Ex. 20:7
Lev. 19:12
Grumbling
or disputing. The first word means muttering undertoned
words of rebellion or discontentment against God’s word or will. The second word means arguing with God about
His word or will (i.e., Ex. 4:1-13; Jn.
1 Cor. 10:10
Lying is the utterance by speech or act of that which is false, with the
intent to mislead or delude.
Prov. 6:16, 17, 19
Col. 3:9
Abusive speech is improper or wrongly damaging speech.
Col. 3:8
1 Tim. 6:4
Uncontentious means not argumentative or quarrelsome (this does not apply to defending the faith,
however – i.e., Titus
Titus 3:2 (second word)
Speaking
against Christians is
criticism of believers because their outlook is different from our own. (James is not saying that one should eliminate constructive criticism
or avoid all judgment about the character and abilities of others – i.e., Jn.
7:24; 1 Cor. 5:12. Dealing with wrong teaching or ungodly living
of believers is not the issue here.).
Harsh
word is a grievous word;
calling foul names; to scold or chide for some wrong doing, offense, or error;
unpleasantly sharp, cruel, or rough (It’s not necessarily wrong to do in certain
situations – i.e., Matt. 23:13-35).
Reprove is to convict; express disapproval of, find fault with; it’s to show you
where you are wrong.
Prov. 19:25
27:6
9:8
Matt. 18:15-17
Admonish is to warn someone through instruction of their wrong doing.
1 Thes.
Correct is to instruct or discipline; it’s to show you what you should do.
Rebuke is to address in sharp and severe disapproval.
Lk. 17:3
Prov. 24:25
1 Tim. 5:1
What are the principles or instructions given
regarding the rightness of these statements:
Jn. 7:24
Acts
1 Cor. 1:10, 11
5:12, 13
6:1-5
1 Tim. 1:3
2 Tim. 2:14
Titus 1:9-14
2 Tim. 4:2-4
By whom, about whom, to whom, and concerning what
are these examples supportive?
Matt. 15:1, 2, 7-14
Matt. 16:23
Lk. 9:51-55
Matt. 23:1, 13-35
Jn. 21:21, 22
Acts 15:36-38
1 Cor. 5:1-5
1 Tim. 1:18-20
2 Tim. 1:15
2:16-18
3 Jn. 1:9, 10
Right
speaking is saying what is
true in love, with the ultimate object of edifying or building another person
up in his character or being; to preserve the purity of right doctrine; or to
instruct people in fruitful living and relationships.
Eph. 4:14, 15, 25
Prov. 16:21, 24
Col. 4:6
(“grace” – good taste); (“seasoned … salt” – worthwhile, thought-provoking, attractive); (“respond” – appropriately).
1 Tim. 1:3 (“instruct”
– confront).
(“charge” – command with authority); (“words” – wage word battles about endless myths and genealogies, 1
Tim. 1:3-7).
Titus 1:9, 11
(“refute” – to prove/show wrong through argument).
Acts
Encourage is to strengthen spiritually by word and/or action.
Acts
Heb. 3:13
1 Thes. 2:10-12
1 Thes.
Exhort is to strongly urge someone to pursue some course of conduct or action.
Acts
Titus 2:11-15 (vs. 15)
How to avoid speaking evil and instead speak
rightly:
Eph. 5:18-20
Prov. 21:23
22:17-21
James 1:19
Col. 3:16, 17
Psa. 141:3
Some questions to ask yourself:
Is what I’m saying true? And how do I know for sure
it’s true? Is what I’m saying
glorifying (bringing praise) to
Christ?
Is what I’m saying being
said for the purpose of evaluating someone who is aspiring to a leadership
position, and is it being said to those who have the authority to place such a
person in that position?
Is what I’m saying done
out of a motivation of love for God, the person or people I’m speaking to,
and/or the person I’m speaking about?
Is what I’m saying being
done out of a motivation to preserve truth (what’s
right biblically) and to warn those who are in error, or to warn people to
not get taken in by those teaching error?
Do I think before I
speak? Do
I pray about what I need to tell someone, if it’s of a negative tone, but for
right reasons?
Summarize what you’ve gained by
having done this study.
When
is it right or permissible to judge, criticize, or use harsh words?
1.
When as a
spiritual leader either you or your disciples/trainees are challenged by
religious leaders about not keeping man-made, religious traditions – Matt.
15:1-14. The purpose is to teach your disciples/trainees or people, who are
being led astray from what is true or right, about religious, hypocritical
leaders and their error.
2.
When your
disciple/trainee is used as a mouthpiece for Satan because his mind is not on
God’s interests, but on man’s — Matt. 16:23. The purpose is to teach your
disciples/trainees how to resist Satan-influenced disciples and their demonic
words.
3.
When your
disciples/trainees over-react either too hastily or too harshly – Lk. 9:55. The
purpose is to teach your disciples/trainees to not react too hastily or
untimely.
4.
When
exposing religious hypocrites – Matt. 23:1-35. The purpose is to warn and teach
your disciples (trainees) and/or
spiritually-naïve people about religious hypocrisy, error, and pride.
5.
When your
disciple/trainee is committing sin (e.g.,
jealousy, pride, etc.) – Jn.
6.
When
evaluating the qualifications of a Christian worker for a responsibility and
discussing it among those spiritual leaders in charge of the task – Acts
7.
When as a
spiritual leader you are guiding the church (Christian
group) in disciplining a person, who claims to be a Christian, who is
living in sin – 1 Cor. 5:1-5. The purpose is to keep the Christian group pure
and awaken the sinning Christian by exhorting the Christian group or church to
disassociate from the sinning Christian until such time as the sinning
Christian repents of his sin.
8.
When
warning, instructing, teaching, and/or encouraging your disciple/trainee to
keep the faith – 1 Tim. 1:18-20. The purpose is to motivate your
disciple/trainee to keep the faith by sharing a negative example.
9.
When
informing another spiritual leader about the status of affairs in your ministry
and the people you deal with, just in case they too might have to deal with any
of these same people – 2 Tim. 1:15; 4:10. The purpose is to warn the other
spiritual leader of potential problems that he might encounter should
problem-people from your ministry come to this other spiritual leader’s
ministry.
10. When instructing your disciple/trainee, who is a spiritual leader, what to do and what not to do in dealing with apostates – 2 Tim. 2:16-18. The purpose is to warn and instruct your disciple/trainee, who is a spiritual leader, of situations he may have to deal with or problem-people he may have to deal with.
11.
When exposing or talking about a corrupt political
leader – Lk.