Slow to Speak

It may seem odd to start off the schoolyear with a post about speaking less, particularly because I am a teacher. I literally get paid to talk.

That’s really the reason for this post, though. Over the past couple weeks, I have been thinking about this verse from James and how it relates to me:

“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” (1:19)

This is part 2 of my series on this verse, and for me, it’s one of the most convicting.

Part of being a good teacher, friend, daughter, church member, or anything else you or I might find ourselves called to be, is knowing when not to speak.

It’s not that speaking is altogether bad –we are commanded to tell the lost about Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. We are even commanded to exhort and encourage our fellow Christians with our words. The problem comes when we speak too much.

James 1:19 tells us to be slow to speak. The same Greek word is used in Luke 24:25, where Jesus says to His two bewildered followers on the road to Emmaeus,

“O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken”

As they walked, the two had been discussing the reports they had heard about Jesus rising from the dead, not realizing that Jesus Himself was walking with them. There’s more to Jesus’ response than the one verse I quoted above, but think with me of the parallel.  Just as those two were reluctant to accept the seeming impossibility of the resurrection, trying to sift through the facts, unwilling to rush to a conclusion, we, too are to be just as reluctant to speak.

It’s a compelling picture, and one I would have missed had I not looked up the word slow in my concordance. Those two are the only uses of that particular word in the Bible, and God did not choose His words haphazardly, so I have to believe that the parallel is a fitting one.

I don’t know about you, but I, for one, am not naturally reluctant to speak. I tend to rush in and begin talking before I even have thought through what I am about to say. But part of being slow to speak is making sure that what I have to say is worth saying.  Jesus said,

“A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement.” (Matthew 12:6)

While Scripture is clear that our salvation is not dependent upon our words, the saved are nevertheless responsible for whether their thoughts, actions, and attitudes glorify God. 1 Corinthians 3 tells us of a specific time when believers will be held accountable:

“Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” (vv.13-14)

Our idle words are part of what will be tried in that day, and Jesus makes it clear that we will be held responsible for each word.

This alone is ample cause for us to stop and consider before we speak: are our words idle? Do they have meaning and purpose, or are we just filling in a silence?

Being a teacher is a bit scary in this respect, because I am responsible to keep meaningful, purposeful words flowing at a rate that will keep my class engaged and on task all day long. I often think of the verse from Proverbs,

“In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.”(10:19)

When I speak, whether in the classroom, at home, or wherever else I may be, I have a responsibility to do so wisely, purposefully, and sparingly. That is what it means to be slow to speak.

“Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.

(Ecclesiastes 5:2)