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The Cornerstone
This is the Stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the Chief Conerstone." Acts 4:11
Pulbished to Support the Work of the West End Church of Christ, Richmond, Virginia
Volume 9 * Number 37* September 16, 2007
That Good Part
“Now as they went on their way, he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving; and she came up to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister did leave me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. But the Lord answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful: for Mary hath chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42
Mary and Martha were two of Jesus’ closest disciples. They were sisters, and Martha had opened her home to Jesus. Hospitality is important, but on this day, Jesus’ rebuke is intended to reprove Martha’s fretfulness which had both of her hands a stirring, and had her worrying and fretting. She had taken on to many unneeded things.
Sometimes we too become distracted or troubled over the things of less importance. Martha was worried about the meal. Mary was listening to the words of Jesus. Mary had chosen “the good part.”
We need to stop and assess what will be best for our spiritual well-being. Will it be a Wednesday night ball game or to sit at the feet of Jesus and His word?
Upon our assessment of things we need to choose what is best for our spiritual well being. The most important thing at that moment in time was for Mary and Martha to be sitting at the feet of Jesus, hearing His word. “The good part”
Stacy Crim
Being Religious Without A Bridled Tongue
Kent Heaton
The impact of the word of God is only found when one goes beyond the hearing of the word and begins to apply it in his own life. James describes the importance of not only hearing the word but making application when he wrote, "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." The word of God is to change our lives and by our example we will shine as lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation when we become "doers of the word.". (Philippians 2:15)
Our speech is the greatest evidence of our applying the word of God to our lives. James discusses the difficulty of the tongue in James 3:2 - "For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body." People judge us by our speech and rightfully so as our speech comes from our heart. Matthew 12:35-37 records the serious nature of the tongue when Jesus said, "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." If we wrap ourselves in a cloak of Christianity and yet our words are not "seasoned with salt," then we will be found wanting in the day of the Lord.
Slander is an evil that proceeds from the heart of the fool. Proverbs 10:18 says, "Whoever hides hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool." The child of God is not one accused of slander as his example is one of honesty and purity. To slander someone is to practice character assassination. The intent of the one who slanders is to destroy the character of another person or persons. To belittle others is not in keeping with the law of God. The admonition of Peter is seen in 1 Peter 2:12 - "Having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation."
In the same context we see Peter (writing during the reign of the Roman Emperor, Nero) exhorting the Christians to "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." (1 Peter 2:13-15) The conduct of the Christian should be one of example - even before those in ruling authority.
The mouth of slander is against the character of the child of God. The example seen by others will bring reproach upon the name of Christ and the church He died for. Again, James admonishes, "If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless." When the tongue is unbridled the religion of the one who slanders is useless to bring others to Christ. He deceives his own heart when he fails to see the example given by his coarse words and slander. "Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so." (James 3:10)
The difficulty with words is that when spoken - they can not be taken back. The same mouth that brought forth slander can also come words of repentance. If the heart of the child of God is seeking be a "doer of the word" then the admonition to repent and acknowledge sin is found in the mouth of confession. "The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue talks of justice. The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide. (Psalm 37:30,31)
THE GILCHRIST COUNTY JOURNAL 9-1999
Does Your Speech Betray You?
Jeff SmithSeveral years ago my family took a vacation out west, going as far as the Grand Canyon. During one of our stops in New Mexico, my father and I were in the motel office checking in. In the course of doing all you have to do to get a room, the clerk stopped, looked at us, and said, "You're not from around here, are you?" My father jokingly replied, "What gave us away?" The clerk answered, "Your speech. What part of the South are you from anyway?"
Our speech gave us away, or betrayed us. We were dressed like everyone else, but the way we talked was the identifying mark as to who we were. Please think about this notion of one's speech betraying him/her in view of some basic Biblical teaching.
In Judg. 12:6 we read of the difficulty of the Ephraimites in trying to pronounce a certain word. Under the leadership of Jephthah, the Gileadites were trying to capture and kill as many Ephraimites as possible. If an Ephraimite was captured and denied being one, he was asked to prove it by saying "Shibboleth." All he could say was "Sibboleth." Thus, his speech betrayed him and he was slain.
In Mt. 26:73, Peter is warming himself by the fire outside the house of Caiaphas while Jesus is inside being tried by the Jews. In his third denial of Christ, Peter is accused by some bystanders as being "one of them (followers of Jesus); for your speech betrays you" [NKJV]. Peter sounded like a Galilean because he was one.
Now, the application...
There is no linguistic dialect identifying whether or not one is a Christian. Christianity knows no geographical boundaries. However, that is not to say that Christianity does not have its own speech, and that a N.T. Christian should not be identified by the way he/she talks. Eph. 5:3-4 states, "But do not let immorality or any impurity or greed even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks." In a world full of ungodly speech, can people tell you are a Christian by the way you talk? When one has been converted to Jesus Christ, unfit speech gives way to thankfulness. Does your speech betray you? Hmmm....
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