Council Grove Christian Church

7/15/26
Servants of God,
“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
-Luke 6:43-45
“Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush…”
-Jeremiah 6:15a
When I was a child, adults would threaten a corrective action for inappropriate childish speech. We children were instructed to be careful about using dirty or inappropriate words lest an adult wash out our mouth with soap. Mostly, that was a metaphor but the fear it generated was quite literal. Vulgar speech was a sign of a poor upbringing and defective character. And, we were assured, it proved that we had a sadly deficient vocabulary. The adults in our lives took seriously their role in training our childish consciences so that we would act properly when we reached adulthood. They knew that what comes out of the mouth matters.
Unfortunately, even seasoned Christians can say or do things that we know to be wrong or harmful. Because our conscience has been trained with biblical truth, when shame occurs, we blush at our guilt. But what happens to a culture when its members lose the ability to be embarrassed by bad behavior? That culture becomes increasingly course and eventually, dangerous. Other humans can become dumping ground for our verbal toxic waste. Like many of you, I am troubled by the coarsening of American culture.
Language is the vehicle that carries the thought life into the public domain. When Jesus said that …out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, he was stating a truth that we all need to take seriously. What we say matters. What we say at unguarded moments reveals the condition of our inner being—our heart.
Recently, when Senator Lindsey Graham died, many on various social media and some mainstream media personalities quickly did what was once considered socially unacceptable—they brazenly spoke ill of the dead. They seemed to relish verbally dancing on his grave. Graham, a senator from South Carolina, was an easy target. Anyone who served in congress for decades (including time in both houses) accrues a long list of opponents and detractors. His political flip flopping and vocal push for war earned him plenty of  foes, political and otherwise.
 Sadly, the vulgar comments and lack of restraint signal that Americans are losing our ability to conduct civil discourse. Americans, as a whole, no longer have a healthy respect for either life or death. Increasingly our language patterns show it.
I was no fan of Senator Graham, but I do not believe it is either wise or proper immediately to denigrate his life and desecrate his memory. Death is a sobering event. Death ought to give us each pause and time for reflection on the precious nature of the stewardship of life. It calls not just for reflection but for restraint. As citizens we should at least show respect for the office he held. There will, I trust, be plenty of opportunity to voice all the things we might have found to be quite objectionable. Americans once knew better than to vent one’s spleen at every possible opportunity. This is what happens when a culture loses the ability to be embarrassed by bad behavior. Christian moral influence (including proclaiming God as the ultimate judge of humanity) once seasoned the society with respect and restraint. We should work and pray toward the recovery of that kind of influence upon our nation.
Because humans are fallen creatures, we must discipline our thoughts and emotions. Self-control is a biblical virtue—a gift of the Holy Spirit. Christians know that conversion to Christ means forsaking the standards of the world and embracing the Holy Spirit’s guidance in relationships—both private and public. The Bible’s wisdom about God-glorifying thoughts, words and deeds is clearly taught throughout the scripture. It is the soft answer that turns away wrath. The proper response to the mighty and wonderful works of God is praise. Our speech is to bring help, hope and encouragement into the lives of those who receive it. Sin is knowing what is right but failing to do it.
As Christians, we must not join the jackal chorus of the social media verbal vomit parade. The church of Jesus must know the difference between exercising prudence and being a prude. One of the worst things about social media is that it gives every fool the theater in which to display his character.  Pompous and disrespectful words do not have to characterize speaking the truth. Vulgar terms do not have to be used to denigrate other humans. Christians must work hard to disagree without being intentionally disagreeable.
Christians need to remember that there is a time to show appropriate restraint. We also need to train our consciences (and that of children) so that we will blush when such a reaction is appropriate. As we grow in grace we will increase in our ability to both initiate and respond properly to the realities around us. Maybe we need to revisit what the Bible teaches us about how to speak of other human beings—both the living and the dead.
Blessings,
Pastor John
Coram Deo