Tasteful Speech

 

“Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”

Colossians 4:5-6 ESV

 

There’s been a trend that has deeply troubled me the past several years. What I’m referring to is the vitriol expressed by those with differing beliefs. What I’m referring to is the brashness and the condescending words that are spoken to others.

 

Christians have been as guilty of this as anyone else. But we haven’t spoken in this way to each other. We don’t tend to speak in this way to those who share our beliefs. However, when it comes to outsiders, when it comes to those who don’t share our worldview, it’s been a common occurrence.

 

Perhaps we’ve justified this behavior with the fact that the issues are serious in nature. Perhaps we’ve excused our behavior because of the evil we see in the opposing view. But, as we see in the verses above, this is something we cannot do.

 

Even though we may spend a good amount of time at church, and even though we may interact with other believers of other congregations throughout the day, most of us spend a majority of our time among unbelievers. As we engage with our coworkers, customers, clients, neighbors, and perhaps even family members, we are engaging with those who don’t share our faith.

 

And, as Paul tells us, we must not squander these opportunities. We must not waste them with our hateful attitude. We must, rather, walk in wisdom and make the best use of our time.

 

As believers, we represent the Lord. As believers, our calling is to love our neighbor. As believers, our mission is to share the gospel with everyone and to make disciples of all nations. And this is something we cannot do if we are spewing hatred and animosity.

 

Paul says that our speech is to be always gracious. Grace, as most of us know, is an undeserved gift. Speaking graciously, then, is to interact with others in a way they do not deserve.

 

What I’m saying is that, even if they have it coming, we aren’t to give them a tongue lashing. Even if they’ve spewed hatred toward us, we aren’t to return it in kind. We are to speak to them as if our interaction has been completely positive and as if their words to us have been kind and loving.

 

We’re to let our speech always be seasoned with salt. In other words, our speech is to be tasteful. It is to be pleasing to the ear and uplifting to the soul.

 

Emotions, of course, can get the better of any of us. We will all, at times, respond in a way that is anything but gracious and tasteful. And, for this, we must repent. We must seek the mercy of God knowing that, for the sake of Christ, he will readily forgive us. For this reason, we must ask God for the grace and strength to speak to others in a kind and loving manner.