Tammy On Tuesday ~ Our Speech Gives Us Away

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Our family has been enjoying a wonderful time of rest at a family vacation spot in Marquette, Michigan. We come up every year to the Upper Peninsula to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation. It is overwhelmingly beautiful!

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Yesterday we attended a little Baptist church in Harvey, Michigan as we’ve done many times before. We sat while the preacher, our family friend, Pastor Carl Miller, brought a message from God’s Word.

He talked about the time Peter denied Jesus out by the fire when Jesus was being taken to the authorities. A servant girl accused himPINIMAGEof being one that walked with Jesus. Even though he continued to deny it, she said his speech gave him away. He was indeed a Galilean.

While Pastor Carl delivered the message, one phrase stuck with me throughout. He said, “Our speech should give us away.”

My mind drifted to a conversation I had with a young man just Saturday evening. We were at a small burger joint called Burger Grill and while I was placing our order at the register I noticed two small bowls sitting side by side – one with quite a bit of money in it and the other with just a few coins. A word was written on a piece of paper and fixed to the front of each bowl. One said “sow”na (sow pronounced like cow) and the other said sauna. In front of the bowls was a sign that said, “How do you say it?” Basically when you leave a tip you can put it in one of the two places.

I examined the contents of the bowls and realized that most people from these parts must say “sow”na because there was ten times as much money in that bowl. Without thinking I said out loud, “Who in the world calls a sauna a ‘sow’na?” The young man behind the counter said, “Well, I do.”

Insert record scratch here.

All I could say was, “Oh.”

I went on to explain to him that I was from Delaware and that in fact people from these parts say a lot of things differently than we do.

Pop (sounds more like Pah-p) – instead of soda.

Oh Yah – instead of yes

Aye – instead of “Say it again?” Or “Right?”

After a short conversation the young man behind the counter could tell we aren’t from around here.

Back to the sermon we heard Sunday. Pastor Carl preached out of 1 Peter 4.

In a nutshell the first seventeen verses urge us to be self-controlled, sober-minded, prayerful and to love in word and deed.

This is truly an example of the life of the believer. When people encounter me, does my speech and more importantly, my behavior give away that I am a child of God?

The tip bowls weren’t the only thing my mind went to while Pastor Carl preached.

Earlier Saturday, before we went for burgers, we went for a day at the beach with the jet skis. While we were at the dock backing in to unload them, a boat sped in and pulled up to the dock. Rob was a little bewildered since the boat was making it impossible to back up any further. The men told him they were loading up and he clearly needed to pull out and let them bring their trailer down. Mind you, we had waited our turn amidst several others waiting to dock.

Another gentleman waiting behind us shook his head and said, “Sometimes people don’t show any courtesy to others.” I kept my mouth shut because I knew I’d regret anything I said.

After a few hours of fun at the beach we began having trouble with one of our jet skis. We weren’t sure what had gone wrong – they are older jet skis so you never know. I volunteered to ride it back to the dock where we launched. The only problem was that I had to keep it idling without giving any gas and just point the handlebars toward the dock as I putted along.

Click here and you can watch a clip my sister videoed of my Journey to the Dock

It was a short distance but without any speed it took me about 30 minutes. When the dock was in view I noticed some women pulling in to unload their wave runners into the water. I was still a good 10 minutes out so I figured it would be perfect timing for them to pull out and Rob to back in with the jet ski trailer. I inched along and got closer and closer. Their vehicle sat at the dock with the trailer still not yet unloaded.

Finally I arrived and the two women who were docking their wave runners were nowhere to be found. Rob was waiting off to the side in his car. Then one of the women returned and Rob got out to see if he could help. He asked if they needed any help unloading. They really didn’t seem to want the help.

Then they proceeded at their leisure to unload one. My dad was now also at the dock and helped by holding it by the handlebars. Then one of the women disappeared again. The other woman stood on the dock looking unsure about what she should do.

I looked at my dad from about 20 feet out in the water and put up my hands as if to ask what was going on?   He shrugged his shoulders.

About 5 minutes passed and the woman returned to the dock where the other woman waited. Still they had not yet unloaded the second wave runner or pulled their vehicle and trailer from the water. A line had formed of people waiting to unload but neither woman seemed aware or even interested in that fact.

So I’m out idling in circles in the water and honestly my patience was running thin. In my mind I was thinking of all the things I wanted to say.

“Who does this?”

“When you dock you’re supposed to do it quickly so people don’t have to wait on you.”

“Docking a vessel shouldn’t take more than 5-10 minutes. Not 45!”

“There’s a line!”

“Do you even know what you’re doing?”

“Are we on candid camera??”

“Why is it taking you so long to unload?”

I mean I have a really high tolerance but isn’t there a limit to what we find acceptable?

I wrestled with the frustration because I honestly don’t like how this ugliness rises up in me – this sense of entitlement. This idea of “I’ll show them!” Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Funny thing is, it doesn’t take much. That really bothers me!

Anyway, I thought to myself, “When these ladies board their wave runners and pass me “my speech is going to give me away.” What impression do I want to leave?

My flesh wants to yell out, “Finally!” and give them a disapproving look nodding my head in disgust. I mean, I’ll never see them again so why should I care? And don’t they deserve it anyway?

The Spirit in me wants to reflect the light of Jesus. As they passed I could give them a warm smile. It may not be the Gospel but the impression I leave will be one of love just like my Savior.

In case you’re wondering…I’ll tell you how it played out. They were too far away for me to actually speak when they passed but I smiled kindly and pushed down the urges of my flesh.

This is a silly illustration.  Maybe you’re wondering if the Michigan air has done something to my brain.

But here’s the deal, we all give ourselves an “out” when people behave outside our expectations…when they push us beyond our limits.

• Do you get ugly with the cashier at the grocery store who’s working too slow for your liking?
• How about the old man that’s driving slow in the fast lane?
• What about the umpire that makes a bad call or the coach that isn’t your favorite? Do you give yourself permission to unload?
• What about the waitress that makes more mistakes than you can count on your order. Does “your speech give you away?”

Does your poor behavior in seemingly unacceptable situations matter to the Lord?

Absolutely!

The Bible has a lot to say about the power of words. Want to read more about the importance of our speech?

Ephesians 4:29

Proverbs 13:3

Proverbs 17:28

1 Peter 3:9

James 1:19

Proverbs 15:23

Proverbs 15:1

Ecclesiastes 10:12

Today’s lesson is simple but often overlooked or excused. Your speech gives you away…who do you reflect when things become difficult?

Spend any time at all talking with me and you’ll know quite clearly I’m a Delawarian. It’s in the vowels I think. But my prayer is that when my speech gives me away, more than anything else, I am a reflection of Christ.

Today my prayer will be:

“Lord, help me to live in such a way that my speech (and actions) make it obvious to others that I’m Yours. Help me to do what Romans 13:14 says, ‘But put on the Lord Jesus and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.’ In Your name I pray, Amen.”