Does Eph 4:29 apply to blogs? (Monday with Mounce 25)

This post is a little off topic, but I have gone through a series of events that have encouraged me to bring up this topic.

Ephesians 4:29 says, "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear" (ESV). Our speech is not to tear down but to build people up. Our words should be appropriate to the situation and should be an extension of grace.

Two verses later Paul adds, "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice." I am pretty sure that the type of corrupting talk he has in mind is the result of human anger, anger that should have been dealt with and sin that should have been forgiven, which is the topic of the next verse.

"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

This issue is sufficiently significant that it resurfaces a few verses later. "Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving" (5:4).

One of the patterns that I have noticed is that we often are justified in our anger, and that anger vents itself in ungodly language that clearly violates the clear teaching of Scripture. But because our anger is so strong, and our justification so deep, we feel that not only are we justified to speak in corrupting and graceless ways, but that we have some sort of divine mandate to do so. It would be wrong, we reason, to speak any other way.

I have often commented to myself (and those around me) that gossip, slander, and critical speech are the native tongue in the church. I was talking to a friend the other day who said that when they first started to attend their church, they decided to go to Sunday School. The two ladies in front of them (and it could just as well been men) were gossiping up a storm. In fact, one in particular was ripping on other women, so much so that my friends were uncomfortable and started to leave. Just then an elder came into the room, sat down next to the woman spewing poison, put his arm around her and started talking to her. She was his wife.

This kind of story can be replicated over thousands of churches, thousands of church leaders, and most everyone else. Our anger makes us strong, but it does not satisfy. We gossip and slander and tear down; but it never satisfies, so we continue to violate the clear teaching of Scripture. And we wonder why people are not attracted to the grace of Jesus Christ.

This attitude of entitlement—"I have a right to express myself in angry and violent terms"—shows itself in many venues. When I was pastoring, I had the rule that if someone wanted to encourage me, email was great. If they wanted to criticize me, it had to be done face-to-face. I have a file of happy notes that I read and reread, from students and others. They are a source of great encouragement and edification. But if someone has something against me, the only biblical option is to talk to me face-to-face. Scripture makes no other allowance.

Email gives us great strength. Because we are not looking right at the person, we lose a sense of accountability and are often more willing to use stronger language, words that do not convey grace, make conclusions that are based more on imagination than fact. We make more ourselves, and we make less of the person to whom we are writing.

This sinful fact is exaggerated in the academy. We are taught, and we teach others, that in an academic situation it is right to be critical. At one level this is true. The academy is the place to exchange ideas, critique arguments, and evaluate judgments. I love this type of debate. But at what point does helpful, grace-giving evaluation and critique move over the line and violate the words of Paul. And when this conflict does arise, who is right? The academy or Paul?

As a teacher and pastor, I have thought a lot about this issue, but a few days ago it surfaced again. Someone responded to a blog I had written that talked about a person who shot a bullet through a certain translation and mailed it to the president of the publishing company.

I cannot repeat the response because of its vulgarity, but basically the person said a bullet was too good for this translation. The title used sexually vulgar language, and the content of the blog used the F-bomb to describe their opinion of the translation.

What is amazing to me, but not unexpected, was that this person felt fully justified in the use of vulgar and profane language. His anger had established patterns of thinking that kept him from seeing his clear violation of God’s law. How does that happen? It reminds me of the student who spent 30 minutes cussing me out, and when I suggested that his use of the S word was inappropriate for a Christian and a pastor, he justified his language by saying it wasn’t swearing, just vulgar. Somehow, in his mind, that justified his language.

It seems to me that all of us need to be aware of this trap. I remember being confronted by a good friend. I was speaking with another pastor about a person in the church I was frustrated with, and I wasn’t very kind. My friend loved me enough to take me into the other room and in no uncertain terms let me know my attitude was inappropriate. I had justified my speech because I was a pastor speaking to another pastor, and somehow I had built patterns into my thinking that allowed this type of ungracious speech. I was wrong.

Perhaps this is a lesson we all need to learn. There are ways to disagree—even strongly disagree—with people and their ideas that do not violate Jesus’ or Paul’s instructions on speech. We all have established patterns of thought that justify sin, even to the point that we can’t (or don’t want to) see an obvious lack of grace. And this is nowhere more obvious than in emails and blogs.

So what if we accept the following guidelines:

1. Take every thought captive to Christ. In other words, think before we speak and write, weighing everything we say and write against the teachings of our Lord.

2. Feel free to disagree when it is appropriate to the situation, but always do so as an expression of grace.

3. When wanting to encourage, write it.

4. When wanting to criticize, if possible, do so face to face. If it is not possible, write only what you would say face-to-face.

5. No matter how angry or justified you feel, there is never a place for cruel or vulgar speech.

Maybe then we wouldn’t have to moderate blog comments.

 William D. [Bill] Mounce posts every Monday about the Greek language, exegesis, and related topics at Koinonia. He is the author of numerous books, including the bestselling Basics of Biblical Greek, and general editor for Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of the Old and New Testament Words. He served as the New Testament chair of the English Standard Version Bible translation. Learn more and visit Bill's blog (co-authored with scholar and his father Bob Mounce) at www.billmounce.com.

Comments

[Andrew Faris]

Dr. Mounce,

Great stuff. I have caught myself being needlessly harsh in blog comment boxes before, and have had to repent because of it. Praise God for gracious bloggers!

Let me add a word of encouragement, since written form is apparently acceptable: I love your posts on this blog. It's the main reason I have it in my reader.

Though your posts are consistently longer than most of what I read on blogs, I still push myself to read through them because they are almost always exceptionally articulate, thoughtful, and indeed gracious. Clearly the pen (or keyboard!) of a pastoral scholar, and it is much appreciated.

One more thing: a prof of mine at Biola who I was TAing for at one point confided in me that you had some interest in coming to teach there. Do it. As a student of both Biola and Talbot I was taught what it means to study the Bible for the sake of the church, and I learned that because every professor I had, without fail, had that attitude to the core. It is an amazing place in that respect.

I'm just saying...

Andrew

[Deron]

Well said, Dr. Mounce!

[Ed Franklin]

Dr Mounce,

I'm thankful for the opportunity to echo the sentiment expressed by Andrew, above.

Your writings are new to me and I'm most appreciative of your gracious approach to the subject matter.

It's a great encouragement to us "old geezers" to find young men such as yourself proclaiming the sufficiency of God's word.

[Bill Kelly]

Dr. Mounce, greetings in our Lord.

Thank you for your excellent illustrations and Biblical foundations for them.

Please pray that in my home, church, and newly established blog addressing the omni-present infulence of popular media on our youth, that my thoughts, attitudes, and words would be marinated in grace.

Thanks again,

Bill Kelly, M. Ed.
Founder/Co-laborer, Building Minds Multi-Media (BM3)

[Bill Mounce]

Thank you for the many words of encouragement. Glad the thoughts are helpful. As for the question about Talbot -- at one time there was some discussion, but these are uncertain times financially. Most schools are pulling back a bit to be careful. I am just throwing myself into writing and BiblicalTraining.org.

[Jordan]

I'm glad Dr. Mounce took the time and effort to make the connection between Scripture and Christian communication in a digital age. I've done some thinking about these topics myself, and Eph. 4:29 could make a great "mission statement" for Christian bloggers.

http://blog.acton.org/archives/2310-Toward-a-Theological-Ethic-for-Internet-Discourse.html

[Melissa]

I like the point you make. Our written words should be under the same spirit as our spoken words.

Although I agree that vulgar speech is always inappropriate, I don't quite buy your unspoken implication that swearing = vulgarity. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. Vulgarity comes from the intention, not from the specific words being used. Granted, it is harder to determine intention over the internet, but it is still worth considering. I've heard some very well-placed f-bombs, which I would not want to see maligned without cause.

[Tim]

Thanks for your post. It was a nice way to start the morning.

[Bob Porter]

Bill,

Thanks for this good word. This is an area where I continually need to be reminded (and not the only one).

[Miriam]

I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Miriam

http://www.craigslistposter.info

[Nono]

Is there any verse in the Bible where God asks us to "critizise" other? God wants us to correct others based on the Bible.

We should always ask ourself what is the purpose of bringing up a critic against a person

1- Is it because that person has done something that is against God's word? Then speaking face to face with that person and showing the Bible verse where it is stated is enough
2- Or is it because that person has done something that I do not like? Then I should go and pray the Lord that he delivers me from that critic.

Then altogether it is about growing together in faith on the basis of the Scripture. In anycase it should not be us who "critizise" but the Scripture.

Peace

[JJ]

Thank you, Dr. Mounce. If only I could say that I have never posted a critical response, I would be even happier with your words. :( My best remedy to this type of critical response is choosing carefully who I read (reading blogs is generally a time-waster) and then setting a time limit (which nearly always prohibits me responding!).

I do believe you are right, these overly-critical responses are based on our own anger within. Something we must not excuse within ourselves.

JJ

[Dave Johnson]

"Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak, say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God."

- Isaiah 35:3-4

Pray, pray, pray - and don't worry. We are called to constantly turn ourselves and others to God with hope. We must be uplifting to those who are bitter, stop them mid-sentence, and say, "Let's pray for so-and-so, let's give it to the Lord." This is so powerful.

Through prayer, God worked a miracle and brought all my aunts and uncles together for the first time in 20 yrs for Thanksgiving. Now I hear my family saying, "I was really hopeless about so-and-so but now I will pray for that person, God can do anything to those who trust in Him!"

By the blood and water from his heart to which John bore witness, may we grow trusting always in Him, and may He constantly live in us and convert us. Praise, Alleluja!

[Dave Johnson]

Our hearts are emptied. We look always to the cross, which is the deepest symbol of love. The cross is in the center of our hearts, there is nothing else. Because we are constantly giving ourselves over to death everything we do is a kind of resurrection, worked by a miracle of the one who rose Christ from the dead. Our life is more than a witness, it is an act of God, not us. And we constantly kneel before Jesus and kiss his feet, looking at his wounds we see the Father-who sees us through those wounds with his eyes of love. In that gaze we are reborn, in that light we have life, we see the world in "The Light" that the world stands against and yet cannot stand. All enemies crushed.

We are children of God living in the glorious freedom won by Christ, we who are unconsciously the priests and kings of all creation.