Speaking

The universal experience of speaking is not as simple as it once was. Words are now reduced to bits of information that can be digitalized, processed and transmitted. The net effect of this is the undervaluing of speech. In contrast, recovering a biblical view of speech and words can turn ordinary conversational speech, as well as prepared public speeches such as sermons, lectures, introductions or annual reports, into a personal ministry that is evocative of faith for both the speaker and hearer.

The Mouth as an Organ of Human Expression

Speaking is humankind’s distinctive privilege. Adam names the animals (Genesis 2:18-23), though his speech is not recorded until his first poetic exclamation of joy in finding a suitable partner (Genesis 2:23). Later in the Old Testament the mature person is pictured as meditating on God’s Word (Psalm 1:2) and continuously declaring in speech God’s righteousness (Psalm 71:24). The rich vocabulary of the Old Testament for the mouth (at least five different words) is matched by an even richer vocabulary for different kinds of speech (over twenty different words; Wolff, pp. 77-78). In the New Testament James bemoans the fact that the same tongue is capable of blessing God or cursing men (James 3:9), giving an ambiguous personal expression that reflects the confused interior of the person so speaking. The tongue is hard to control (James 2:3-12) because persons are.

Words Express Persons

Every act of speech involves an unconscious revelation of the source of the words. Jesus said the mouth speaks for the heart (Matthew 12:34; Matthew 15:18). Whether words are expressed in a casual remark or a carefully manuscripted speech, one’s self is revealed. Even the attempt to conceal oneself, to give a message that is impersonal and disconnected with one’s character, is a powerfully revealing message. One cannot stop up a water hose fully turned on by putting one’s finger over the outlet. In biblical anthropology words are bodily expressions of a person’s soul: “Behind the word stands the soul which created it” (Pedersen, 1:167). So the person comes out of the mouth, and our speech reveals the state of our inner integration or disintegration (Matthew 15:18; James 1:26).

In one sense lying is impossible because the attempt to deceive, disguise or conceal something tells the truth about the speaker’s personality (Pedersen, 1:411-12). So the indissoluble link between word and person is the source of the power of speech. This is especially true for God, whose word is utterly reliable (Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29) and incisively powerful (Hebrews 4:12). God’s word will never return void (Isaiah 55:11).

The Power of Speech

In the Hebrew language word (dabhar) is used both for the idea and the matter itself. Words are themselves neither abstractions nor representatives of abstractions. God speaks, and the world comes into being (Genesis 1:3, 6, 11, 14, 20, 24; 2 Peter 3:5). In the same way, words and the events they cause are totally interconnected (Genesis 15:1; Genesis 21:10; Genesis 22:15; Genesis 24:66; Genesis 44:7). A most revealing example is the act of giving a blessing; it cannot be recalled if it comes from the soul (Genesis 27:35-37). In the same way, weightless words (“empty talk”; 2 Kings 18:20) are not backed up with substance in the soul of the person. Normally the tongue has the power of life and death (Proverbs 18:21) because people have such power.

Our words touch others—even God—powerfully, and the speech of a parent, child, brother, sister, enemy or friend can heal or wound, thus belying the ancient children’s rhyme that “sticks and stones may break my bones, but names can never hurt me!” In a special sense those whose life is found in God will, like Samuel, be those whose words are not allowed to “fall to the ground” (1 Samuel 3:19).

Sins and Graces of Speech

A spirituality of speech involves attending to the heart, not merely improving the technique of communication. The three vices of the tongue listed in Ephes. 5:4—aischrotēs (shamelessness), mōrologia (silly talk or fishing for a laugh) and eutrapelia (facetiousness)—are expressions of inner disintegration. Instead, says the apostle Paul, let there be thanksgiving, that use of the tongue that is quite possibly the highest and holiest since it expresses the truth that a person loves God enough to be content (Romans 1:21). Thankful people live in joyful dependence on God (Ephes. 5:19-20), and their speech reveals this authentic godliness. Our speech should, indeed it will, reflect the new life planted in us by Christ (Col. 3:9). A controlled tongue—so much a concern of James 3:1-12—comes from being a self-controlled person manifesting the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:23). That person has no fear of being manipulated by the controlling words of others and no need to control others by his or her words.

Speech as a Spiritual Discipline

Richard Foster says, “The tongue is a thermometer; it tells us our spiritual temperature. It is also a thermostat; it controls our spiritual temperatures” (p. 89). Speech is inescapably personal, experiential and substantial. Thus full human speech can only be partially expressed through a media experience or partially processed in a computer. Human beings will always hunger both to receive and give interpersonal speech, face to face, in groups, congregations, classrooms and auditoriums. And “Christian” oratory that is not backed by authentic Christian character will be a dehumanizing experience. People will be most godlike when they use their words to build up, rather than tear down. Further true godliness is sometimes expressed in refraining from speech in order to attend to the speech of others. As the Old Testament preacher said, “There is . . . a time to be silent and a time to speak” (Eccles. 3:7). Knowing when to speak (and not to speak) is one of the secrets of beautiful speech, which according to Proverbs is “like apples of gold in settings of silver” (Proverbs 25:11).

» See also: Conversation

» See also: Gossip

» See also: Listening

» See also: Preaching

» See also: Promising

» See also: Storytelling

» See also: Teaching

References and Resources

R. Foster, Celebration of Discipline (New York: Harper & Row, 1978); J. Pedersen, Israel: Its Life and Culture, 4 vols. (London: Oxford University Press, 1963); H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, trans. M. Kohl (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1964).

—R. Paul Stevens