First of all: Why are words so sacred? Perhaps because Jesus is the Word of God:
"In the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God. And the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelled amongst us." John 1:1
Now with that in mind, we can see why Jesus would condemn idle words...and how he blasted the Pharisees by telling them that they committed the unforgiveable sin by calling His Spirit the spirit of the devil. They sinned against the Holy Spirit by words...words that would condemn them to hell for all eternity. They were rejecting the Holy Spirit's forgiveness...by saying that Jesus' words were from the devil not God.
Now there are two great quotes about idle words:
1) "You shall give an accounting for every idle word spoken." said by Jesus who aught to know since He is God.
2) "Never let evil words pass your lips; say only the good things men need to hear, things that will really help them. Do nothing to sadden the Holy Spirit with whom you were sealed against the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, passioin and anger, harsh words, slander and malice of every kind. In place of these, be kind to one another, compassionate, and mutually forgiving, just as God has forgiven you in Christ." St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians 4: 29-32.
Wow! St Paul not only says to not let "evil" or "harsh" words pass our lips, he truly gives a list of those kinds of words generated by evil thoughts and feelings within that generate those kinds of idle words.
How are these above descriptions of evil and idle words connected to idol worship? Let us look at the next Chapter of St. Paul: 5: 3-6:
1) "As for lewd conduct or promiscuousness or lust of any sort, let them not even be mentioned among you; your holiness forbids this. Nor should there be any obsecene, silly, or suggestive talk; all that is out of place. Instead, give thanks. Make no mistake about this; no fornicator, no unclean or lustful person -- in effect an idolator -- has any inheritiance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."
Thus words of obsenity which are the language of "unclean or lustful person" is the expressions of the "idolator".
Let us see a few examples idle or idol words:
1) Words of Detraction do not help the person uttering them or the hearers hearing them nor the person about whom they are uttered: thus these are idle words that do no good for anyone. St. Paul warns against these kinds of words.
2) Idle gossip is idol gossip: this is calumny and the destroyer of reputations and will be accounting for on the last day.
3) Words that just waste time of the speaker and the hearers: much of compaigning speeches fall into the category; but also words about nothing important: a kind of language of trivia institutionalized.
4) Words that seem important but are not because of the circunstances: while my dearest mom was dying - a few days before - there was a big discussion in the living room about real estate. My mom sighed a bit and said: "This is not important talk". There was a lack of sensitivity here; but most of all, how much of our talk is important under any circumstances.
5) Words of exaggeration: almost all advertizing are idol words. They do not good to those who hear them. Children hear about 70 commercials a day.
6) Word of ego-centricism: words that help only the speaker and do no good to any else.
7) Any words of obscenity in prival in public and used in pornography....these will not inherit the kingdom of God.
8) Addictive streams of words that are unceasing: There are men and women that are speaking all the time. If another takes a breath, these people say something in that short time to get something in. You can hear these kind of people who are addictive to speaking at restaurants. Their volunm is above the others because they need to hear their own voices. These are working out some neurotic stress and are projecting [inflicting it] on others/ These people cannot be silent. Even on retreat, they have to keep on talking. They cannot be silent to listen to God...or to hear any one else...and most of the time the subject is about them. If the subject is about someone else, they look totally bored. These stream of consciousness words that keep you from having a peaceful thought to yourself are broadcasters of idle words and they speak about the idol of self. You can even hear these at postoffices while in line..as they are constantly talking..and loudly...as if others do not need to think about anything but they are speaking about.
9) Words in writing that are not true: Roe v Wade case written by the Supreme Court Justice except for these words that he uttered: "If it could be shown that the fetus is a person, then the fetus would be protected by the 14th Amendment: no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law." Yet that judge lobbied and gave speeches to promote abortion after that trial in many states. That is idle talk: untrue talk that killed over 50 million babies since Roe v Wade. Any document or speech that promulgates lies is idle and idol speech. These people will not inherity the Kingdom of God unless they repent. Any word that is not true ..any lie...is an idle/idol word.
10) Flattery for manipulation or words toward enticement to sin..all are idle/idol words that can be mortally sinful. "Any one who causes some one to sin, it would be better that a milstone be tied around his neck and be thrown into the sea."
11) What about silly talk in jokes? A true and good sense of humor is not sily talk but a special way of making a point. Bob Hope said near his hour of death at age 100 in answer to his wife's question: "Where do you want to be buried?" And Bob said, "Surprise me!" That is not silly; that is excellent good humor. Jesus had a good sense of humor: he called James and John: "sons of thunder"...and Herod.."That fox!"
Father, in Heaven, save us from speaking idle words and forgive any idle word we have ever spoken. In Jesus' Name we pray. Peace and love, Pio
No comments:
Post a Comment