The Power Of The Tongue

As you're making way back to your seats, I was reading earlier this week in preparation for today. And was thinking to myself on there are occasions when you stumble across this in the word of God where you see Jesus say, "He that hath ears, let him hear." I don't know about you, but it always makes me want to laugh a little bit because I'm like, pretty much everybody has ears and pretty much everybody can hear. There are obviously those with disabilities, but he makes that statement, but if you really dive down into it, what he's saying is there's something more than just hearing. There's the actual active part of listening. Jesus was trying to grow draw the attention to the crowd and say, "Look, don't just hear, listen." Cuz I think sometimes those of us who have been in and around church for a while, we do this. we will hear where the teaching or where the sermon is going. And when we know that they're talking about that specific thing, we will make a determination whether I'm going to engage or whether I'm going to turn it off. I already know about that. So, I'm I feel like I'm pretty good there. So, I'll kind of go on a coast mode. And then we think about what we're going to do this week or what we're going to eat after church or what laundry I get done when I get home or what project is due at school or work.

And we go into autopilot mode. And I feel today to say he that hath ears, let him hear. Like what if we actively engage? What if as an individual we say to oursel today, whatever is fixing to be preached is for me. It's for me. I feel like it has a whole lot more potential to do a work in us if I have that mindset that whatever is coming across it's meant for me. Not listen listing and being like, well, you know, I'm glad sister so and so is in service. Boy, they need that message today. Like we all probably have somebody in mind from time to time. But instead of doing that today, what if we just determine God what do you have today? It's for me. It's for me. So, I want to pray one more time so that we all get our hearts and our minds right. Will you will you pray with me along those lines? Jesus, God, you've given us your word. And Lord, I know the direction that you've led me in today. I pray that our hearts and our minds could be ready to receive. That we would have a mindset, God, that I would have the mindset today. Lord, this is for me. Help me see it. Help me identify it. help me apply it in my life. To you be all the glory and praise in Jesus name.

Let the church say amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. You know, one of what I feel like is the biggest milestones in the North American culture, specifically here in the United States, at least in my mind at this age I'm fixing to talk about, was one of those one of those big moments when life just changed. And that was the moment I was allowed to get my driver's license. Now cultures shifted and you see a swing in what used to be so anticipated to where nowadays we have people who are 17, 18, 19 years old and still have never gotten a driver's license. That's a foreign concept for me. I mean I counted down the days before I could get my permit. And on the day that I turned 15, I had hounded my dad to death and he took me down there to get my learner's permit. And what a great and grand day that was that I walked out with that little that little plastic card with my picture in my wallet. I mean, I was you couldn't tell me anything. I had a learner's permit. I was allowed to drive with someone with me. And then I turned 16 years old and I remember the day I turned 16, my dad come and check me out of school early, midm morning. We went to the driver's license center and I took my driving test and I got my driver's license and oh man, I already had a car and it was shined up and it was waxed and it was looking good and I drove back to school.

Now, nobody ever does that unless you have a point to prove. I went back to school that day. I signed myself back in cuz I wanted to go after when school was out. I want everybody to know, hey, look at me. I got a car in the parking lot. I am driving by myself. Anybody remember those days? That was a big day when you got a driver's license. And you do that, you get a license, you go through the testing because driving is something that you have to take serious because there's a lot of potential for risk and danger that is there. Laws have changed, but it was several years ago. I remember going and getting my concealed handgun carry permit because, you know, having gun ownership and gun gun responsibility, that's something you were responsible for. And it used to be that if you're going to do that, I know they've changed some laws now, but you know, I don't know how I feel about that because I do feel like you need to have some training when it goes in. I'm a gun owner. I don't know if I automatically offended everybody in this church, but I have guns. I have daughters, therefore I have guns. And there may or may not have been a moment when I had a boy come over and I was actually cleaning guns in my living room and he showed up as he sat in my living room and talked about what he was going to do with my daughter.

So there's just that. But I was thinking this week that there's a force that's more powerful than cars and guns because it means life or death, not just to the body, but to the soul. And every human being has been issued one and it's called the tongue. All of us have one. I was thinking, wouldn't it be interesting if we were required to have to have a license to operate our mouth? Cuz I know some of you would fail. Yeah. I feel like that might be something worth investigating that we have to go get registered. And if you can't have you can't pull that out of your car like you can't talk right now or you only have a learner's permit. So you get three minutes. It's powerful. And we know it's powerful because the word of God tells us this in Proverbs 18:21. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. See, I feel like if the church continues to be in line with the goal of being the church that we have to do the hard work of self assessment to be aware of what it is that I do and specifically for today to be aware of what it is that I say because death and life are in the power of the tongue with our words. We got to be careful because if we're careless, we can do some damage.

Whoever the person was who pinned the words, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me," was wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. In fact, it is my opinion that I feel like words can do far more damage than a stick or stone could ever do. Because words have a way of lingering. Words have a way of coming back up. Words have a way of hanging around. And we have to be careful because if it's not dealt with correctly, it has a way of sticking in there and causing you and I to struggle with who we are and what our worth is. Got to be careful. We can't be careless because of damage. But on the other hand, if words are handled correctly and things are done right, a right word at a right time, somebody who thought they were alone realizes they're not alone. Someone who needed some encouragement gets encouragement. I feel like we probably have all at one moment, at least one time in our life, been a been a been beneficiary of a well spoken word. Anybody ever had somebody just come along at the right time and say something to you, gave you a word of encouragement or just told you, hey, hey, I love you or I appreciate you or I see you. And that the use of words made such a difference in your life and nothing changed about you physically from one moment to the next, but because someone used right words, it caused you to look differently and feel differently and be differently about yourself.

It brings the ability for us to have hope. The right words can sometimes give correction to a person who's about to make a big mistake in their life. Power is there in the tongue. Life and death. Anybody ever had somebody in a loving way correct you? And you were thankful for that now in your life that someone stepped in and said a hard word to you. Maybe you didn't even like the word when they first spoke it, but you still heeded the word and you look back on your life and you're thankful for that now in your life. Yeah, I know I am. Wisdom is there. And what I want to do for a little while today, and I'm going to go a little bit slower and kind of ramp my way up if it's all right, is I want to talk in this message today, and I want to look at the wisdom that is in Proverbs and what instructions are given there. I want to talk about the power of the tongue, what we need to be aware of when it is there. There are a number of proverbs we're going to look at today. And the next one is from Proverbs 29:20. Says, "Seeest thou a man that is hasty in his words, there is more hope of a fool than of him." I don't know about you, but Solomon wasn't really trying to sugarcoat that, was he?

Now, you ever been around somebody that that had the ability to just say things to fill space? Don't point fingers like you're just having a conversation with them and you're like, I feel like you're on a mission that meet a word quotota. My youngest daughter, I think, has a word quota to meet every day. She I love her to death. I love my Emry Jane. She is a sweet, precious girl. But she loves to talk. She wakes up talking, she goes to bed talking, and there are times when she talks in her sleep. But there sometimes we get around people and they just they're hasty in the words. Now, part of why wise people are in no rush to speak is they understand that almost there's this infinite potential for misunderstanding and communication when there's too many words. I had a couple of professors like that when I was in college is they used a lot of words but they didn't really say anything. You ever experienced that? Like there was a lot of there was a lot of noise that came out of your mouth but I don't know that I'm any better for it. I heard a story one time and I I've used this illustration before back when I was teaching life class on a regular basis about a preacher who was trying to put together put put together a sermon illustration.

So he thought he was sharp and he came up with this illustration. He knew it was gonna be brilliant. He got four jars. And each one of those jars he put an earthworm in there. In the one jar, he poured chocolate sauce in there. In the other jar, he poured a beer in there. And the other jar, he filled it full of cigarette smoke. And the other jar, the last jar, he had this good, clean dirt. As he was preaching his sermon, he was talking about what we put in our bodies and the effect that it has and the impact it makes. And he said, "Just look right here. If you can see that in all three of the jars where there's smoke and when there's alcohol, where there's chocolate, the worm is dead. But where there's good earth, the worm has lived. He said, "Do you guys see this powerful illustration? Does this make sense? What conclusion do you draw from this?" And the little lady on the front row raised her hand and said, "Well, if I smoke and I drink and I eat chocolate, I won't have worms." Well, yeah, but that really wasn't the point, was it? So we got to be careful how we use our words where it comes at. Somebody who speaks in haste, there's more hope for a fool than from them. Wise people when the subject gets sensitive, pause before they speak.

And really wise people say a little prayer because God says in the book of James 1 verse 5, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men libery and abideth not, and it shall be given to him." I don't know about you, but I pray specifically in my daily morning prayer time. God give me wisdom for today. And there are many times I find myself moving into difficult conversations and talking about sensitive things. And as I know either this is happening right in the moment or if I know I'm going into one of these conversations, I ask again, God, give me wisdom for what I'm fixing to do. Help me have understanding, Lord, for what it is I'm about to face and what it is I'm about to say. There's a wonderful illustration of this also in the book of Nehemiah in the Bible where we see Nehemiah who is there in captivity and he's been able to be elevated by God into a position of some influence and power. He's the king's cup bearer. And he finds out through some news that has come back from his homeland that the place is just tore all to pieces and it's left desolate and the gates are broken down. And this information to Nehemiah is overwhelming to him. He doesn't like what he hears and he's very broken up about it.

But again, he's the king's cup bearer and he has to go stand in front of the presence of the king and he's trying his best to compose himself. And the and the king sees his countenance has changed because this isn't a normal look for Nehemiah. So he says to Nehemiah like, "What's wrong with you? It seems like something's bothering you. What what's the matter?" And you can read there in the book of Nehemiah in chapter 2 verse number four. Then the king said to me, "For what dust thou make a request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven. I want you to notice the pause here. He has a moment where he's been asked the question, but before he before he answers the question, because here's the deal. You were not allowed to have a downcast countenance by the king. It could cost you your life. So you weren't allowed to be sad in front of the king. But the king's picked up on this. So here's a moment. This is an important pivotal moment in Nehemiah's life. And I love how he has responded because it gives you and I some insight that sometimes some things are going to come your way and you may be caught in a difficult moment and the best things that you could do before you open your mouth to respond is to pray. Verse five. And I said to the king, if it pleases the king, if thy servant found favor in thy sight that thou wouldest send me to Judah.

Now this phrase I feel like is so important. I prayed to the God of heaven. I prayed, "God, help me." So, here's what I know, ladies and gentlemen. There's hardly a week goes by in our life. Rarely a day, but hardly a week that goes by where we're not faced with some kind of difficult decision, task, or conversation that's going to come our way. I wonder how different things would be in our life if we would learn before we open our mouth to respond to simply pray first, to pray. Because here here's my life. And maybe this is just me, but there I' I've come to realize you you're going to pray one way or the other. Either you're going to pray ahead of time or you're going to pray afterwards. God, please help me deal with what I did when I opened my mouth. So to me, I think it's, you know, my wife has this statement that she says quite often, I don't know her, but she's like, you got to choose your hard. You can do the hard things now and reap the rewards or you can you can choose the hard things later after you didn't make the right decision and deal with the consequences that are left over. And to me, when I view this as our times and opportunities we have in prayer to be prayerful about conversations is you can either pray ahead of time, God, please help me or you can pray, oh God, please help me for what I did.

I don't know about you, but I think the former is better. Don't you? Sometimes wisdom of God will be don't say anything at all. Proverbs 17:28, "Even a fool when he holdeth his peace is counted wise, and he that showth his lip is esteemed as a man of understanding." Sometimes you don't always have to weigh in. Now, here's where I feel like this one is really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really important when you're on social media because, man, we become keyboard bandits behind a screen. things we would never say, things we would never say to someone's face. And I'm going to get into that in just a few minutes, but things we would never say in a public space. All of a sudden, we will type out when the best thing you could do is to say nothing at all. Is to just leave it alone. Just let it go. You know, I've heard it said before that light travels faster than sound. That's why some people appear wise until they open their mouth. Sometimes verbal wisdom involving is involves knowing when I need to speak and when I need to remain silent. And sometimes the best thing you could do is just to keep your mouth shut. You don't always have to say something even if you're invited to speak. Proverbs 26 and 17. To me, I think this one really makes a great point here.

He that passeth by and meddleth with strife belonging not to him is like one that taketh a dog by the ears. Now let me let me paint this one out a little bit better because we look at this in our 2025 North American culture sanitized eyes and we all have these the these animals, right? How many how many dog owners are in the room? Yeah, a lot of dog owners. Smart people. You dog owner, you're smart. You're brilliant. Not like cat people. It's funny. Don't shoot me. I'll get an email. I know. I don't hate cats. I just don't like cats. You can be that way. It's okay. But those of us who have dogs, right, most of us, most of us, I know there's always an exception. Most of us, our dogs are pretty calm. They're pretty laid-back. Most of us, let's be honest, most of us, our dogs are spoiled rotten. It's ridiculous. I'm guilty. I'm guilty. I got I got two horses that live in the house, Trip and Lulu. And they are rotten. They are they are absolutely rotten. So I can go to Trip and I and I do this to Trip and Lulu all the time is I'll take them by their little heads. I'm look at you. Look at you. And I'll grab them by their ears. I'm so cute. So you got a domesticated animal. Okay. When you read that someone who me into some business that's not of theirs is like taking a dog by the ears.

That's not like me taking trip by the ears. That's not in those days, you didn't have domesticated animals in the house, okay? You had wild jackals and animals. So, this would be like going up to wild. It's like it's like when you go on that run or that bike ride and you got that one dog, you know, that comes at you and makes you run faster, makes you pedal faster. Yeah. It's like what he's saying there is saying it's like you stopping and taking that dog by the ears. You're not going to do that. You know why? Because he's going to eat you up. No one in their right mind's going to do that because no one wants to get bit. So the wise man says for you to meddle in business is not your own. It's like for you to go buy a wild dog and take it by the ears. You're going to get bit. So sometimes it is beneficial. It's to your advantage to leave it alone, to not get in there, to not meddle with it. If two people want to get into political debate about elephants and donkeys on social media, you don't have to weigh in on that. Don't be an elephant or a donkey. Be a new creature in Christ. That's what we're called to be. Just leave it alone. Just walk away. Power restrained is better than power exerted every time.

Just because you have something to say doesn't mean you need to. Especially if it has a high potential to ruin your witness. And there's been so many people that I have seen over the last 10 or 12 years that have ruined their witness because they meddled in business that didn't belong to them because they just could not stop themselves from posting or speaking or talking. You don't always have to take sides. You don't have to go around passing judgment every time something's going on. You don't have to jump in. If you listen next time there's a quarrel between two people and you're the third person, watch. I want you want you to see how sometimes how long it is before people disappoint to wage right in jump right in and make a mess and stir it all up and then ruin their witness. People do it all the time. Proverbs 27:6, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." Now, isn't that a great thought? So, we I know I talk a lot about my relationship with my wife because she is my best friend in the whole world and she has no issues at all calling my hand when I do something wrong in a good way. Faithful to the friend wounds of a friend. Now, this has been several years back. We were downtown Nashville. We were we were watching some event.

I don't remember if it was a play or what. I just remember the episode that happened that we got out and everything everybody left at the same time. We're in the parking lot and you have that whole moment when everybody's just there's just a log jam in the parking lot. You experienced that before? Now, I don't know how to turn this part of my brain off. I wish I did, but I don't know how. My brain is always looking for a way out. So, I happen to glance over to the side and I see that there's a street that doesn't have any traffic on it. So, I'm like, why is nobody there? So, I get to the ground. Well, then I realize it's a one-way street. I'm like, "But there's nobody on it." So, I start maneuvering the car and Chasse said, "What are you doing?" And I said, "Well, I'm going to get us out of this parking lot." She's like, "But you can see plainly it says it's a one-way street." I'm like, "I know, but nobody's on it." And she's like, "But you can't do this." I'm like, "Well, but don't tell me I can't do it because that means I really want to do it now because you said I can do it." So I so I nudged out over across the speed bumps in the parking lot and the sidewalk and through the grass median over the cross side.

I didn't tear anything up. I get out on the road and she's like, "You just always think the rules never apply to you." And I'm like, "I don't understand that the rules up. I think sometimes it's circumstantial, you know." And I go through my justification list for why it's there. I know you guys don't do that. This is me preaching, but there are times when I think through this situation. Of course, I get out on the road and we get out on the interstate and she's quiet and she's like, "You know, that wasn't right." I'm like, "You're right. It wasn't right. I shouldn't have done that." And so, I made a decision. I was driving home that I was never ever going to do that again when she's in the car with me. I really should never do it ever again. So, confession time. Jesus, help me. When you love someone, you want your words not just to feel good to them, but you want your word their words to build up their character. I'll say this about my wife. I am a better man because of her. I am I'm a better me because of her because she's willing to hold me accountable. You need someone to hold you accountable in your life. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. What does that mean? If you unpack it, it means that you need people in your life who have the ability to call your hand and say, "Hey, what are you doing?

what are you doing right now? This isn't good. You shouldn't do that. That's not a good decision. That's not a wise decision. And see, what happens is far too often we don't like that. So, we tend to shy away from it. Or if we're the friend, sometimes we're a little hesitant to say that because we don't want to ruin the friendship. But the reality is it's really no friendship at all that's worth anything if I can't be honest with you. If I can't be honest with you, if I can't bring it in, then what kind of friendship is there? So what Solomon was saying, what the what the wise men was giving us is that that you should have friends in your life who at times have the ability to say that's not a good decision. You're not making a right choice. I love you enough. I love you enough to tell you this isn't right. You can't do this. Faithful of the wounds of friend, but the kiss of the enemy are deceitful. People always tell you what you want to hear. It's not beneficial for you in the long run. We need people in our life that we trust. We need people that we can bring in. One of the questions maybe you'll face this week and maybe I'll face it is will I have the courage to say a wise rebuke when it's needed because I love somebody.

The Bible says to speak the truth in love. Will we have the ability because of the dynamics of the relationship and the people that we have in our life when we see an opportunity there not to not to make them feel bad but to be able to say, "Hey, look, I love you. I want to ask you a question. Are you are you aware that you're doing this? Like I see where you're going. I don't think this is a good I don't think you're making a right choice here. I love you enough to say I don't think this is good for you in your life. You need people like that. If you only have people who tell you what they think you want to hear, they're not your real friend. Proverbs 26 and 28, a lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it, and a flattering mouth workketh ruin. Proverbs has a lot to say about the damage of deception and how it creates these the these holes in our life. You know, kisses from an enemy may be profuse. That sounds pretty good. It may feel really good for a moment, but it's destructive. Faithful and true are the wounds of a friend. Faithful and true. You need somebody. You And if you don't have somebody, then I'm going to tell you, if you don't have a friend that really can speak that to you, you need to get some new friends.

You need to get some new friends. You need to you need to have somebody in your life who has the ability to guide you and direct you. And here's the other side of that. If someone says something that maybe you don't want to hear, but you know it's a true statement, don't you dare walk away from that. If God has gifted you a friend who can speak true things to you in a loving way, then accept the rebuke and own up to your mistakes and be a better person. God has put someone in your life. How why would you waste that? We need each other. That's what I feel like the problem. You know, the word of God says, "Confess your faults one to another." We don't like that, right? We like the word of God. We just don't like all the word of God. And no one likes admitting faults. No one likes admitting failures. I don't like admitting those things either. But part of my maturing, part of my process of sanctification is knowing that I need accountability in my life. Because if I don't have accountability, if I'm left to myself, I will make bad choices. I have proven it over the last 49 and a half years. I'll make bad choices. I'll do wrong things. I have to have accountability in my life. I have to have you in my life.

We need each other. That's part of us being the church is learning to confess our faults. And here's the other side of that. If someone confesses a fault to you, love them enough to keep that to yourself. To pray for them, to walk with them through that. Hold them accountable. Be a true friend that loves and walks with and prays and be honest. And if you say you're praying for somebody, let it be more than just empty words you say. Pray for them. Be there. Help them with what they're going through. There's a whole other category of speech that involves the way we talk about each other. Proverbs 18:8, "The words of a tail bearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly." Gossip, man, it's as quiet as if I was talking about tithing and offerings right now. Proverbs has a whole lot to say about gossip and how destructive it is and how it reres havoc in our life. Some people thrive on this. Some of it, you know, the word of God says it's like tasty trifles. Like I like it. Like when you find out something, why is it why is it that we like the gossip? Why is it that we like when we find out somebody's got something going on in life that's scandalous? We're like, "Oo, did you hear?" Oh, oh, oh.

Let me let me tell Hey, I got a prayer request, but I got to unpack it first. Why? Why are we that way? Why is it that we sense this need that we always have to know? Why do you always have to know? Well, I just need to know. Maybe I've heard people say that car, well, I just need to know. I just need to know. I just need I know there something's going on. I just need to know what it is. Like, I can't sleep until I know. What's wrong with you? Why do you need to know all those things? What are you going to do with that information once you get it? What's your goal? Is it so that you can feel better? Because that's what usually happens to us. Let's be honest. It's like when I see someone else who's a little bit worse off than me, I feel better about me. When you find out that they're struggling with something, like, oh, all of a sudden, not so bad. I didn't like that they seem to have it all together. in this mediadriven society and culture that we're in where everybody has the perfect life on all of the social media pages, right? Because social media always gives you the real picture. None of it's filtered. None of it's altered. It's all real life right there. Right? That's what it is.

We know that's a lie. That's not the truth. We know that there was probably 75 pictures taken before one was posted. We know that mama threatened all them kids to smile. She lost her mind and cussed at them and they finally got in line and she took a picture and said, "Living our best life for Jesus." And then everybody else looks at that and they're like, "Well, look at them. They're perfect." You know, they never get mad or they never yell at their kids. That's a lie. That's a lie. That's a lie. But that's what's portrayed and all of a sudden we buy into all that. But then when we find out that that perfect family or that perfect person or that perfect couple has a dent, has a secret, has a struggle, and then we're like, "Oh, did you hear? Oh, girl, let me." And there we are. And it just spreads like wildfire. This proverb gets to why it's so hard to get rid of because it feeds something deep inside of us. Something dark in me feels kind of good at passing judgment on another person and it makes me feel superior. So I just want to say a word about this to as a church and I say this as somebody who wrestles with the words as much as anybody does. There is no verbal sin in this world that I'm not capable of.

gossip and careless words and passing on unfounded rumors, saying things that may not even be factually accurate, but to the wrong person at the wrong time, in the wrong way, with the wrong spirit, it just kills. It just kills. It just destroys. And that's not what the church is supposed to be about. We're here to love. We're here to encourage. We're here to correct. We're here. We're here to walk with. We're here to bear one another's burdens. That's why we're here. That's what the Bible says we're supposed to do. Not to grab a hold of the gospel. Not to say, "Hey, can I tell you what I found out that?" No, that's not anytime that wells up inside of you, you need to take control of that because you're killing brothers and sisters everywhere. We do it for such stupid reasons. Words can end friendships and splinter families and shatter reputations and split churches. So, we have to ask God to help us to aim for something higher. Proverbs 11:12, "He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbor, but a man of understanding holdeth his peace." Just because you know something doesn't mean you have to tell anybody about it. If you're going to do something with it, if you're going to do something with it, pray about it. Earnestly pray. God, help them. I don't know all the story, God. I only know what I seen.

I only know what I heard. Let the gossip train in with you. Let you be the caboose. And me, the best thing you can say when someone starts to gossip is say, "Look, I just I love you. I want to have relationship with you, but I just I can't like we can talk about a lot of things we talk about, but if you're going to do this, I just I'm respectfully. I'm just going to back away from this because I don't want this in my life. I love you. I want to be better than this. I want us to be together. I want us to be able to encourage you. I want us to be able to fellowship. I want us to be able to hang out. But if this is just going to be a gossip session, I can't do it. I can't I can't be a part of it. I can't get down in the weeds where that's at. That's not that's not who we are supposed to be. I'm not trying to be better than anybody. I'm trying to work on me. I'm trying to work on myself. I'm trying to be a better person. I'm trying to be a better mom. I'm trying to be a better dad, a husband, a wife, a brother or sister. I'm trying to be a better friend. And I just I don't want to get down in all that.

It's okay. It's okay to say those things. It's okay to be bold. It's okay to be radical. It's okay to go contrary to what culture says. We don't always have to know all the tabloid headlines of what goes on around Centerpoint Apostolic Church or in our district or in our movement. It's okay to be ignorant sometimes of things. It's okay for somebody say, "Well, did you hear about so and so?" I don't know what you're talking about. And frankly, I don't from the way you brought it up, I don't think I want to know. Like if it's that big a deal, then we should pray about it. And let's leave like no details. Let's just pray. God, you know, you know where they're you know what they're facing. You know what they're going through. God and I know enough to take it to you. Take it up. Take it up. Don't take it to somebody else. It doesn't do any good. Take it up. Just God, I lift them up before you, God. This is my brother. I don't know what they're going on, but there's something's there. Lord, you know, you're familiar. God, you help them, Jesus. I can't. You can do it. One of the tests I try hard to use is, would it be okay with me to have this conversation I'm having the way I'm having it with those people beside me in the room?

If you're talking about somebody and that way you're talking about them is not the way you would talk about them if they were sitting in the room, then you're probably not talking the way you need to be talking. And here's a sidebar note. If you're around somebody who talks about people all the time, they're going to talk about you when you leave 10 out of 10 times. So, if you think they're not going to they're going to respect your boundary, no. The moment you're out and somebody else beside them, they're going to be like, "Oh, did you hear about them?" Well, girl, I got the dish. Da da da da da da da. So, be forewarned. If you find you wrestle with gossip and sometimes talk about people in an unhealthy way and you have a hard time breaking the habit because it can get to be addictive over time, the best thing you can do is have somebody a true friend who can faithfully faithful the wounds of a friend. You can say to them, "Hey, I'm struggle with this and I'm ashamed to admit it, but there's been times that I've spread gossip. There's been times I've talked about things and I probably shouldn't have done it and I want to be a better person and I want you to help me with that. Can you help me be accountable? Can you help me the next time you see me that I'm going down this road?

Can you just pat my hand or just say, "Hey, hey, remember our conversation? Just help me with this. Bring somebody alongside with you. We need each other." It's kind of interesting thing. Seven times in the book of Proverbs, the writer connects the heart to the mouth. Many of you noticed that as you read through Proverbs seven times it connects these two things together which to me is summarized by Jesus who had mastered the material in this book when Jesus said in Matthew 12:34, "Oh generation of vipers, how can you being evil speak good things? And out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." So here's the deal. If you got a mouth problem, you got a heart problem. If you got an issue posting things that you shouldn't post or respond anyway, you got a heart problem. And I can try to work by willpower, but it doesn't work. If it doesn't change my heart, it's not going to change my mouth. Another piece of information that I feel like is so important for us, especially when it comes to wisdom and us, you and I being the church, is Proverbs 15:1 says, "A soft answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stir up anger." Now, just because I give a soft answer does not mean does not mean that I am weak. Just because I give a soft answer doesn't mean that I agree with somebody just because I didn't get really mad.

We need to be truth tellers. The whole lot of us, we need to be truth tellers. We need to work and have the courage to be truth tellers. You know, to me, this proverb is an observation that when another person gets really amped up and they're shouting or name calling or using emotional loaded language, my response is to get up as amped up as they are and to talk as loud as they are. And I want you to know that never solves a problem. If I'm just meeting your energy, you raise your voice. I raise my voice. Let's be honest. Most all of us in this room are adults. Most all of us have experienced enough of these disagreements to know that never ever fixes the problem. It doesn't. If you're just yelling at each other, all you doing is yelling. You're a bunch of house old yellers. To me the observation and to me the general rule to me when I think about this the more I see the other person is getting out of control the more I need to deescalate the problem. Someone has to stay rationally minded. Now this mostly has been the tongue and has the power of life and death. And mostly today we've been talking about how that implies in our life. But the hard side of that, the death side seems to always get the most lion share of the attention.

But let's talk about the life side for just a minute before I end today. We've talked about death. We talked about correction. We talked about gossip. We talked about anger. We talked about how all those things we need to make changes. But let's talk about good words. Proverbs 19, excuse me, Proverbs 10:19. In the multitude of words, sin is not lacking. But he that restrains his lips is wise. If the whole goal of life was to avoid sin, then we would never say anything. But God's goal was not just to have people who never said anything about anything. Because if that was the case, he would never gave us a mouth. He never gave us a tongue. But God's goal is something a lot bigger than that. The goal is for there to be an explosion, a revelation of goodness and joy that will come flowing out of us. You never talk, you would never be able to express love, never have creative ideas, never articulate hope, never have any direction, never have any wisdom, never have any counsel. So God's goal is way more than just you and I avoiding verbal sins. Okay, I know you guys are quiet. I know there've been more teaching today in this, but this principle I feel like is so important as we continue to try to foster connections as you as I are on the mission of fulfilling the vision for this church, which is for us to be the church.

If we're going to be the church, then we have to be kind in how we deal with each other. We have to cut these things out. We have to cut this gossip and this double talk and this and this we got to that's like a cancer. It eats away at a church. You got to get rid of it and cut it out. But you can't just cut it out because it leaves a void. You got to replace it with something. You take something away, it leaves a hole. You got to put something else back in there. What do you got to put? You got to put goodness back in there. Yeah. It's not about us not talking. We need to be talking. We need to be speaking to each other. But we need to be speaking words of encouragement and words of joy and words of love and words of care, words of concern. That's what we got to implement and put back in there. That's why God gave us the tongue to use it in a proper way. Proverbs 25:11 says, "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold and pictures of silver." Gold and silver, two of the most precious things in society. That's how valuable right words are. The right word at the right time to the right person with the right spirit has the ability to breathe life into a dead situation.

This week you're going to have some people that are going to be in your life and for lack of a better way to put it, they're gonna be some deflated tires. Anybody ever had a flat tire before? Yeah. Did you enjoy that ride? No. And usually what happens, unless it's just a blowout, but if you just have one, all of a sudden you're driving. Just a few weeks ago when we had David McGovern in town with us, we had taken him downtown Nashville. We were leaving the parking garage. John's with me. We pulled out of the parking garage and all of a sudden I'm like, "Something ain't right." The truck's going, got a deflated tire. You're going to have some deflated tires in your in your world. You're going to What I mean by that, you're going to have some people that are void of what you have. And you're going to have the ability to allow the Holy Ghost to operate through you for you to be able to speak life into their situation. You're going to have an opportunity to speak an encouraging word. What I want to know is when that moment presents itself, are you ready for that? Are you anticipating that God's going to send someone by your way that you are going to be able to talk about the goodness of God, too? Are you going to be able to be an ambassador the way we're called to in scriptures?

You can be impatient if you want. You can be judgmental if you want because you're going to run into some people that are just deflated. Or you could say, "God, help me. Help me represent you. God, help me be salt and light today. Help me to be able to breathe life into them." The writer of Proverbs says, "There's nothing like a right word at the right time to the right purpose of gold, settings of silver." Proverbs 15:4, "A wholesome tongue is a tree of life." A tree of life. Wow, that that language, brother Moore, when I when I read that again this week when I was studying that there, instantly I went back to the Garden of Eden, there was the tree of life, right? So, we know that the fall of mankind happened because they parttook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But what did they get separated from because of their sin? It was the tree of life. But we see here there's a direct correlation between what it is that you and I have the ability to do when we speak. A wholesome tongue is a tree of life. It takes us back to the beginning. It connects us back into something that's bigger than ourselves. That's what you and I have the ability to do when we encounter individuals when you and I will allow God to use us for good instead of instead of allowing ourselves to be so consumed with our own desires and our own thoughts and our own judgmental ways.

Instead, when I am allowing God to use me, when I'm sensitive to where his spirit leads me, I have the opportunity to help someone connect back into the tree of life. Think about the power that is there. What the separation, right? They got kicked out of the garden and he put a cherub there to guard the tree of life. But if I do what I'm supposed to do, a wholesome tongue is a tree of life. That little phrase there, it's so rich in scripture that that you and I have the ability because of our speech being led by God's spirit to can connect people back to where we got disconnected to start with. The tongue brings healing. It's God's gift. I was thinking about this and trying to remember and I keep a I keep a file of stories to where you guys that have been around here a long time know I like using stories. Now, here's the deal. When you get to where I'm at and you've been preaching messages here for 20 years, sometimes I repeat a story as I was praying about this and going back to I brought back to this story that I used to use in my life class again. And I referenced that a long time ago about Johnny the Bagger. There was a lady who was representing a major food grocery store chain and she was chained and she was talking about to a group of leaders about how that they had realized some untapped potential that they had through one of their local grocery stores through a young boy named Johnny.

Now, the deal with Johnny was he had some special needs and the best position that they could put him in at the grocery store was bagging groceries. Now, he was just a guy who's full of life and he did not allow his physical and mental limitations to keep him from being the best person he could be every day. Sermon right there by itself. So he began to talk with his dad about all the people that were coming through his checkout line. He just felt like he wanted to do something good for them. So as he and his dad were brainstorming potential ideas, Johnny said, "You know what? I feel like I feel like if I could just leave them with maybe one good thought for the day that that would be that would be so amazing." So he and his dad come up with this plan where Johnny would come up with a thought for the day and he and his dad would sit down on the computer and they would type the thought out and they would copy and paste it. So they had a pays worth and it was set there. So Johnny would get the copied pages and he would cut out the little phrase he had for their, you know, little blessing that he want to put in their grocery sack. So he cut out, he would get 300 every day and he would sit there at his grocery line and as he was bagging the groceries, he would put that little piece of paper in the top and he would hand that last bag and say, "Hey, I got a gift for you today.

I got a thought just for you. Hopefully it makes your day better." So over the few weeks led into a few months and then one day the store manager comes out and she notices the lines at the checkout line and she notices that Johnny's line is all the way down the freezer aisle all the way to the back of the store. The other checkout clerks are like begging people to come over and nobody would move. So she went out and just asked. She said, "Why is it that you're here?" And they're like, "Oh, we're waiting on Johnny's thought for the day. I wouldn't miss it. I love it. Makes my whole shopping trip because Johnny has got something special for me in the bag. All because somebody took the time who really probably had a legitimate excuse to not even care. Decided, I can be better than this. I can encourage somebody today. I wonder what would happen, Center Point, if you and I made the mission of being the church is that every day I was going to find one person that I was going to speak life into. One person. Just one person. If we could affect one person every day, that's 365 people a year that each of us could positively impact if we purposed in our heart. What kind of testimony does that give for our church in our community? That we're a church who cares, that we're a church who's active about being the church everywhere we go.

You know, I feel like that's pretty scriptural. That's really really in my mind about how it is that we are about the kingdom business that last or first and first are last and that the servants are the greatest of all. As I get ready to close this out today, I wonder how many of us are willing to pray, God, I want your kingdom to come. I want up there to come down here through me. Because I feel like what happens more often than not, and I'm not saying that we purpose to do this, I just feel like sometimes because we don't purpose to be better, this is what happens is that we become very self-centered and self-focused with my needs and my wants and my desires. when the truth of the matter is I got a whole lot of Bible for me to be aware about all those that are around me that you and I in order for us to be the hands and feet that he asked us to be I can't be the hands and feet if I'm concerned about me that doesn't mean you can't ever pray about what you have need of pray it's important to pray I pray I pray every day for God to help me with the with the things I'm going through but if that's all my prayer is then it's impossible for me to be hands and feet if I'm not trying to reach out to the ones that are around me.

When I when I when I don't think about the brother and the sisters that are around me, Michael, it was just the other day we went to lunch and you and I walked out that restaurant and that lady was sitting there on the bench and she wanted a dollar is what she wanted. Well, we anointed her and prayed for her that day and we gave her much more. We gave her a dollar, but we gave her much more than that dollar. We gave her an opportunity to be connected with God. How many God moments are right there every day in our life that you and I pass by because we're so consumed with self. How many moments for you and I to truly be the salt and the light that he calls us to be? But I pass it by because I'm so consumed about talking about so and so and what I seen on social media or trying to correct somebody who was who was incorrect with their political affiliation. How many moments have we missed that we will never get back because I was so worried about me and my you know my little concerns when the truth is this and this is a true statement is there's never a day that goes by that you unless you stay home all day long there's never a day that goes by that you don't pass by somebody that needs a good encouraging heard somebody that needs it.

So, I challenge you today. I know this has been a different Sunday message. I knew when I was preparing it. I knew when I was going going and put this together, this would be different. It's okay. Next Sunday is going to be Pentecost Sunday. And I promise you, I'm going to be very apostolic Pentecostal next Sunday. I'm going to wear a shirt that doesn't tie on my neck so I can yell and scream and do all the things. We'll do it. But today, as I as I as I got to the office this morning around 5:00 and I went to my little prayer, my little altar that's in my office, I just knelt down, put my head right there on that little little bench and immediately felt his presence so strong. So, I know today is anointed. I know this is a message that somebody needed to grab hold. This is a word for all of us. Amen. Do we have power in our tongue? Are we using it for good or we using it for bad? And here's the deal, guys. Sometimes just going into autopilot mode, it ends up going bad by default. You and I, you and I, we can focus. You and I, we can pay attention because he was the word who became flesh. He is the master of the word and he can change our words. You and I, the reality is we all can be better.

We all have the ability. We all could be Johnny the Bagger. Every one of us. You can let people know they matter. You can let them people know their lives matter. Because I want to tell you a little secret about all people you see, no matter how well put together they look. Everybody needs healing. Everybody needs encouraging. Everybody needs to feel loved. And that that center point is how you and I can be the church. Hallelujah. Jesus, I love you and I'm so thankful, God, that you walk with us, that you instruct us, that you give us wisdom through your word. I pray today that we would do some serious self evaluation, God. That we would look inside to see, Lord, is there is there something there I need to work on, God? Have I if I misrepresented you some way? Lord, to know that I should be representing you always in my speech, in my talk, in the way I conduct my affairs. Lord, I pray that you would open our eyes to see the hurting and the broken and the wounded that are all around us and that God, we truly could be the hands and feet that you ask us to be. Lord, I pray in this moment today, Lord, as we reflecting inside that if we see something that needs attention, something that needs to be addressed, God, that you would lead us to an altar where you could help us make the changes we need to make.

God, let us be courageous today. Let us be bold. Let us step out and trust like never before. For God, I know that you have a work for us to do. In these last days, Lord, help us to be the church in Jesus name. This altar is open. I think it'd be a wonderful time for us all to do some personal reflection, to evaluate where we are in him, to make sure that the life we're living and the way we talk and the way we conduct ourselves is according to his purpose and according to his plan. So, it's prayer time, church. I invite you to come. This altar is open.