WATCH YOUR MOUTH! What a lesson. There is a classic story
about a minister who comes to church one snowy Sunday morning to
find that only one lady has been able to make it to worship. As
it happens, the text and sermon for the day came from this third
chapter of James and focused on the damage done by gossiping. It
also turned out that, of all the people in the congregation, this
one lady was more guilty of this particular sin than anybody!
So, one-person congregation or not, the pastor proceeded as if
there were a full house - for twenty solid minutes, the word
thundered from the pulpit about the dangers of the too-loose
tongue. After the service, the sweet lady prepared to depart and
was effusive with her compliments: "Marvelous sermon, Pastor.
It's such a shame that those who needed to hear it were not
here." Uh-huh.
Another story, one of the "minister, priest, and rabbi"
variety. These three, the only clerics in town, had become good
enough friends to take a fishing trip together to the northern
wilderness of Canada. While they were there they became even
more cordial than they had been and began to talk about their
innermost thoughts. The priest confessed that he had a terrible
time with his vow of celibacy and occasionally slipped off
incognito to visit the strip joint in a neighboring town. The
rabbi confessed that he too had problems within his tradition -
he LOVED bacon, and every so often would indulge himself with a
huge (and secret) plate of bacon and eggs. The pastor remained
silent for a long time. Finally when pressed by his brethren to
reveal his weaknesses, he said, "Well, since you insist, I am
going to tell you. I just love to gossip, and I can hardly wait
to get home." (Tee hee.)
I am more deadly than the screaming shell of the
cannon. I win without killing. I tear down homes,
break hearts, wreck lives. I travel on the wings of
the wind. No innocence is strong enough to intimidate
me, no purity pure enough to daunt me. I have no
regard for truth, no respect for justice, no mercy for
the defenseless. My victims are as numerous as the
sands of the sea and often as innocent. I never forget
and seldom forgive. My name is GOSSIP.(1)
And we would all say Amen. "It isn't the things that go in
one ear and out the other that hurt as much as the things that go
in one ear, get all mixed up, and then slip out the mouth.(2) Is
there anyone here who has not heard that? Does not KNOW that? I
doubt it. This is "common sense" stuff. That means I have no
intention of going on any further in this direction. We are all
aware of the damage to be done and the danger to be avoided from
the too talkative tongue. BE CAREFUL. 'Nuff said.
Actually, something else SHOULD be said. In the context of
our life together as the church, another danger exists as regards
the tongue. It is not used enough! Jesus asked the disciples in
our gospel lesson, "Who do people say that I am?" They
responded, "John the Baptist...Elijah...one of the prophets."
Then Jesus pressed them further, "But who do YOU say that I am?"
Peter answered him, "You are the Christ." Good for Peter. Truth
be told, most church folks these days would be just as happy to
stand quietly still in response to the question - let Peter (or
anyone else) answer. Not that they have no answer; they are just
a bit reluctant to talk about Jesus or God or anything "churchy"
outside the context of church. The tongues that can be so
dangerously talkative at one moment fall strangely silent the
next.
Why? Do they not care? No. People care. They have heard
that part of the Christian calling is to witness to our faith,
and, even though there might not be much evidence, they do want
to do it. Most folks, I think, are just plain scared. They do
not feel comfortable sharing their faith because they do not feel
COMPETENT in sharing their faith - they do not want to get the
story WRONG. On top of that, our culture says that religion is a
private matter, so we all have a wonderful excuse to just keep
quiet about it. That ought not to be.
Perhaps you have seen the same bumper sticker I have seen
paraphrasing the "Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk"
campaign. This one reads, "Friends Don't Let Friends Die Without
Jesus." OK. But I would rather it read "Friends Don't Let
Friends LIVE Without Jesus." Or without the church. Or without
the friendship and fellowship that comes with being an active
member of a caring congregation. Or something like that. The
concern about friends dying without Jesus betrays a belief that
salvation is pie-in-the-sky bye-and-bye. Not so. A truly
Biblical understanding insists that salvation (from the Latin
salus - health) is a here-and-now experience as well, and is best
found in the life of the local church.
Want proof? Listen to these numbers. The Gallup
organization reports that frequent churchgoers are 48 percentage
points more likely to rate themselves as "very happy" than those
who attend erratically or not at all. An article in Emerging
Trends says this: people who are active in worship are more
family oriented, less often divorced, three times more
benevolent, lower candidates for alcohol or drug abuse, give
considerably more time to civic causes and contribute more
substantially to social values than do those who do not worship.(3)
One of the things that we hear regularly from the Baby Boom
Generation as well as the Generation-X'ers is a desire to find
opportunities for meaningful service. Where do we find the best
outlet for that need? The church. Another study, Giving and
Volunteering in the United States, shows that people who are
members of congregations are far more likely to be generous with
both time and money to a wide variety of non-profit activities.
Gallup's studies indicate that almost half of church members did
unpaid volunteer work in the past year compared with only a third
of the unchurched population; nine out of ten church members gave
money to a charity, while only seven of ten non-members gave.(4)
Teenagers. Someone has said that the average teen gets more
temptation to sin on the way to school in the morning than his
grandfather got on Saturday night when he was out looking for it.
The teen years are tough. Gallup says that of the 76% of teens
who said they were members of religious congregations, 62% were
also volunteers, and 56% made charitable contributions. By
contrast, those who had no church affiliation volunteered only
44% of the time, and only 25% gave to worthy causes.(5) If these
teens are the generation who will soon be in charge in this
nation (and managing my Social Security and Medicare), I would
prefer to take my chances with the ones IN churches than those on
the outside, wouldn't you?
So how do our unchurched friends learn all those benefits?
(And if you are worried that you do not know anyone who is not
already a part of a church, the truth is that, if you are
anything like the rest of America, approximately HALF of your
friends have not been to church within the past six months except
for a wedding or a funeral, a Christmas or an Easter - that makes
them "unchurched." They might have their name on a roll
somewhere - even HERE - but if they do not attend, they are
unchurched.) How do we get those unchurched friends of ours
"churched?" Some TONGUE has to tell them. How about yours? The
timing could not be better - today is Evangelism Sunday!
How do you go about it? Just invite. Simple. No deep
religious discourse necessary. You do not need any formula, no
Four Spiritual Laws, no Two Questions, the way the TV folks do
it. Just invite, and the more specific the invitation (to some
particular event or activity), the better. Even if they are not
able to accept your invitation to THIS event, try again for
another. If they want to talk about spiritual things, fine -
tell your story...how you came to faith, the church, what it has
meant in important moments in your life. That is a story worth
sharing. And all the studies indicate that your friends will
appreciate your interest in them. We live in perhaps the most
religious nation in the technically-advanced world - 95% of us
say we believe in a God or Supreme Being. Eighty percent say we
pray regularly. Forty percent say we were at worship in the past
week (even though only about half of those saying that actually
were in attendance). Many of those not currently attending
anywhere were active members in some church in the past, and
three out of five say they would respond positively to an
invitation. When is the last time you invited someone to come to
church with you? When is the last time you invited FIVE? THREE
might come! Get that tongue going.
Now, one thing to be wary of - if you invite your friends,
as the statistics indicate, they might actually come. And if
they come once, they might want to come again. And again and
again and again. They might even want to join. Even more so as
they bring THEIR friends...and then THEIR friends bring THEIR
friends. Oh, I know - that is what the church needs to grow.
And the more growth, the better - more people, more programs,
more money. Lots going on. That will change this place.
Suddenly First Presbyterian will be different...and for us to
presume that everyone would be happy about that is naïve.
This is a loving congregation, and that is wonderful - we
are FAMILY. Not perfect, by any means; after all, when
Christians gather in churches, everything that can go wrong
sooner or later does. That would be SAINT Murphy's Law. No
matter. Believe it or not, there is a danger with a "loving
congregation" - the "family" circle of love can be so strong that
outsiders cannot get in. We have to be careful.
One of my cyber-friends, Roy Lloyd, interviewed the late
Mother Teresa a few times over the years and her answer to one of
his questions jumps out in this context. He asked her, "What's
the biggest problem in the world today?"
She answered, without hesitation, "The biggest problem in
the world today is that we draw the circle of our family too
small. We need to draw it larger every day."(6) Amen.
Another friend has a picture gallery in his church with
photographs of many of the members. He says, "I don't know how
many times at a wedding or some other function in the building
that someone has looked at the pictures and stated, 'I
didn't know they went to this church.' Why didn't they know?"(7) he
asks. You know as well as I do. Do YOUR friends know where you
go to church?
I think the point has been made. James says watch your
tongue. Be careful about what you say. And Christian
discipleship says we do need to put that tongue in motion in the
right ways. It will require some thought, some preparation, and
surely some prayer as you ask for God's guidance in opening doors
for your invitations. One final bit of advice: DO NOT GET
DISCOURAGED! In the words of the Apostle Paul, "Let us not
become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a
harvest if we do not give up."(8) This is, after all, a story WORTH
sharing.
An ancient legend recounts the return of Jesus to glory
after his time on earth. Even in heaven he bore the marks of his
earthly pilgrimage with its cruel cross and shameful death. The
angel Gabriel approached him and said, "Master, you suffered
terribly down there. Do they know and appreciate how much you
loved them and what you did for them?"
Jesus replied, "Oh, no! Not yet. Right now only a handful
of people in Palestine know."
But Gabriel was perplexed. He asked, "Then how will people
learn of what have you done and your love for them?"
Jesus said, "I have asked Peter, James, John, and a few more
friends to tell others about me. Those who are told will tell
others in turn. And my story will be spread to the farthest
reaches of the globe. Ultimately, all of humankind will have
heard."
Gabriel frowned and looked rather skeptical. He knew what
poor stuff humans were made of. He said, "Yes, but what if Peter
and James and John grow weary? What if the people who come after
them forget? What if they just fail to tell? What is your
alternate plan?"
Jesus answered, "I have no other plan."(9)
Amen!
1. Morgan Blake, sportswriter for the Atlanta Journal, quoted in Bible Illustrator for
Windows, diskette, (Hiawatha, IO: Parsons Technology, 1994)
2. James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc,
1988), p. 256
3. Herb Miller, "Are We Inviting?" Invite a Friend Action Guide, (Princeton, NJ: Religion
in American Life, 1996), p. 5
4. George Gallup, "Faithful Congregations and the Good Society," Invite a Friend Action
Guide, (Princeton, NJ: Religion in American Life, 1996), p. 9
5. ibid.
6. Roy Lloyd, via Ecunet, "BOTTOM DRAWER CHAT," #1202, 9/12/97
7. Brian Stoffregen, via Ecunet, "Gospel Notes for Next Sunday," #482, 9/8/97
8. Galatians 6:9
9. Hewett, pp. 70-71
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