Rhetoric Complaints

For my mouth will speak truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are with righteousness; nothing crooked or perverse is in them. They are all plain to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge. Proverbs 8:7-9

Now that the campaigns for political office are again in full swing, I have a complaint. In fact, I want to complain about everything that is said that is untrue, wicked, crooked, perverse and just plain wrong. We have seen so much of that in recent years in the political spectrum, in the reporting of “news” and in our society at large. We would be dishonest if we did not also acknowledge the Church is guilty of the same kinds of things.

I wish the war in Iraq was over. Who knows what is going on there? Certainly if one listens to the news media we are losing big time. If we listen to our President and some others, we are winning; slowly but surely. Somebody is not telling the truth, and I am praying it is the media. During the election cycle it seems as if no one is talking about anything except the “other candidate.” It’s almost never about what one can do to be effective in government, rather always about how the “other” candidate is a failure, a crook, a liar or just pain stupid. It is difficult to know who believes what, or who has done what, unless one knows the candidate personally, and even then it is “iffy” sometimes.

Since the Church of Jesus Christ, in opposition to God’s command, has become defensive against the onslaught of evil in the world, rather than offensive attacking the very gates of Hell, we too have succumbed to this problem of speaking truth. It’s getting more difficult to know who is on the Lord’s side. With pseudo-prophets waxing eloquent, false teachers populating the air-waves, and misrepresentation of God’s Word prevalent, we need all of God’s real children to get their mouths right and knowledgeable. Jesus said it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles, but what comes forth in our speech indicating what is in our hearts. (Matthew 11:15-18)

One does not have to listen long to hear wicked, crooked and perverse things. And God knows we cannot always be successful in keeping such things from our ears, but we can always control what comes from our mouth. We must recognize the only way to have a Godly mouth is to have a pure heart. The only way to have a pure heart is to be free from sin. When we are, then our mouths will speak truth. Truth is always apparent to those who have found the genuine knowledge of God’s Word. We need to get in the Word. We must confess our sin. We must allow God to purify our heart. We’ll notice the difference in our mouth.