Kevin Dibbley

In my first two blog posts about how we are to talk to each other as Christians, I focused on building a philosophy of speaking and developing an understanding of the principles that set the parameters of our speaking as Christians. I have rooted this study in the book of Ephesians. So far, it has looked like this: The Philosophy of Christian Speaking: ·          Be the temple of God ·          Build the temple of God Six Principles That Guide our Christian Speaking: Praise - Our speech must first be to the glory and praise of God's grace. Peace - Our speech must recognize that in Christ, we have been united as one people. Prayer - Our speech must be the overflow of our prayer that all God's people might know the certainty and depth of His love for them in Christ. Preserve - Our speech must recognize that it is our calling to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Pattern -

             In my previous blog post, I laid out a biblical way to formulate a Christian philosophy of speaking (see http://www.kevindibbley.com/2014/09/developing-christian-philosophy-for-all.html ). It is clear from the Scriptures that how we speak as Christians is no small matter to God. It is also no small matter to those upon whose ears our words fall. Words do much good and much harm.             When we speak, we reflect the image of the Triune God who is eternally communicative within the communion of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We have been created to share and to enjoy fellowship with God and with one another. Sin has made a royal mess of that. We all know that firsthand. Our words come out wrong intentionally and accidentally. Trying to express ourselves and to be understood has long been a major source of frustration for all people.             That is why one of the big blessings of the great news that we call the "gospel" is that God

                      Very few people doubt the power of words to do good or to do harm. Developing a strategic mindset that aims at making our words powerful for good rather than for harm is not optional. Proverbs 12:18 warns and encourages us with these words: " There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing ." Rash words are words that are spoken quickly, carelessly, and without thinking. They do a great deal of harm. The tongue of the wise, that is, the person who has thought about how to use his or her words for good, brings healing in a world of hurt.             A simple but not insignificant question that every Christian should ask himself or herself is this: Do I have a clear Christian philosophy of talking? Have I a mission statement that directs and governs each and every statement that comes out of my mouth? It seems to me that the Bible is pretty clear that this isn't optional. Jesus says that words

                       Every once in while, I try to find an "oldies" station as MariAnne and I are driving down the road. I especially like it when a classic sixties song like the Four Season's "Walk like a Man" begins to play. I pull out my rusty falsetto voice and begin to belt out in a high pitch voice "Oooo ooo oooo ooo ooo." MariAnne always looks over at me, smiles and says "You might be just a bit out of your range."  Which in my world translates "Keep singing honey, I am lovin' it."                What is particularly humorous about the song "Walk like a Man" is that no one sounds like they are walking or talking like a man. Most of the vocals are in the oxygen-less upper atmosphere such that you have to be a soprano in order to sing along. I will attach the link to an old video of the song here for your amusement ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpl_jPxSuFg ).  If you watched it, do you notice