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About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman Godly
Speech Trumps Free Speech I certainly embrace our
western-world's civil rights of free speech.
At the same time as a Christian I believe the Bible is the ultimate
authoritative constitution to which we as Christians must conform, and
thus, it takes precedent over all national constitutions which include all
amendments. I also believe
from experience that some American Christians will disagree with what you
are about to read. James 1:19 and 20 read:
"My dear brothers
and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow
to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce
the righteousness that God desires." A detailed study of
James' letter tells me that part of his motivation for writing it was to
encourage Christians to live as Christians.
Like many of us today, the recipients of this letter were quick to
speak, slow to listen and easily angered, and according to James, that was
not Christian. Furthermore,
James 1:19 and 20 is a command, as seen in the Greek imperative verb that
is translated into English as "take note."
As I attempt to apply
James 1:19 and 20 for us today, I ask this question.
Does our heavenly constitutional command of godly speech place any
limits on our national constitutional rights of free speech?
The verbs "be quick
to listen and slow to speak" are translated from the aorist, active,
indicative Greek verb. This
means that with all certainty we are to once and for all decide to
actively be quick to listen and slow to speak.
That goes against our natural compulsion to freely and quickly
speak what we claim is right, making everyone else wrong.
That results in angry outbursts that show we don't live as
Christians we claim to be.
As Christians, we are
called to communicate the gospel of Jesus to others.
Effective communication includes being slow to speak.
There is a time to speak and a time to be silent, and during the
silence we weigh carefully what we believe we should speak.
Thoughtful, precise speech can produce a more positive response.
We should be quick to
listen. Hearing the position
of others show that we are interested in them and their position, which we
should be. This leads to
constructive and redemptive dialogue.
Being slow to anger in
the midst of communicating is simple common sense because anger kills
effective communication. Angry
outbursts blur and distort what is being communicated, and that
accomplishes nothing constructive.
As Christians, the
bottom line to the issue of free speech concerns how we view the Bible in
relation to our national constitutions.
I believe the Bible trumps national constitutions, and where the
two differ, I stand on the side of the Bible.
If James 1:19 and 20 set boundaries on free speech, so do I.
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