Words have Power

What Kind of Power?

The title of this post is an old, old phrase. Some people point to the Bible as the source of this wisdom, citing passages like James 3 and Proverbs 18:20-21. Certainly, these passages acknowledge that the tongue has power, but notice of what sort it is:

Do not become teachers in large numbers, my brothers, since you know that we who are teachers will incur a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to rein in the whole body as well. Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their whole body as well. Look at the ships too: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are nevertheless directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot determines. So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things.

See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of unrighteousness; the tongue is set among our body’s parts as that which defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one among mankind can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way. Does a spring send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, bear olives, or a vine bear figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.

James 3:1-12 (NASB) (bold added by me)

With the fruit of a person’s mouth his stomach will be satisfied; He will be satisfied with the product of his lips. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. 

Proverbs 18:20-21 (NASB)

There is power, clearly, but it is a dread power, best used sparingly and with great caution. Personally, I’ve always prized the wisdom found in Proverbs 17, just one chapter earlier, on this matter:

One who withholds his words has knowledge, and one who has a cool spirit is a person of understanding. Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise; When he closes his lips, he is considered prudent.

Proverbs 17:27-28 (NASB)

It balances rather nicely with the mandates elsewhere in scripture to speak what we know to be true with boldness, such as the famed Ezekiel passage or the great commission.

“Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them a warning from Me. When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will certainly die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked about his way, that wicked person shall die for his wrongdoing, but I will require his blood from your hand. But if you on your part warn a wicked person to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die for his wrongdoing, but you have saved your life.

Ezekiel 33:7-9 (NASB)

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:18-20 (NASB)

Leading to the attitude we see modeled in Paul:

For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast about, for I am under compulsion; for woe to me if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a commission nonetheless. What, then, is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

1 Corinthians 9:18-20 (NASB)

God’s Word, that is.

An Infection and an Infestation

But lately, I’ve heard simply too many Christians copping an attitude towards words and the power in their tongues that has no genuine basis in scripture. They act as though, like God Himself, they, too, can create and destroy whole worlds with their tongues. They say that belief means talking about your will for your life as though it’s already happened, and that saying things like “I’m having a hard time right now” or “I’m not healed” makes that more true, and God’s help in that moment somehow less true. 

What do you do with the entire book of Psalms then? I have to wonder. When David sits there describing the worst horrors of his life as his present reality to God, is he displaying unbelief? And what is his answer to that trouble? “But I know that none of that complaining is actually true, and I AM happy, healthy and wise”? NO.

David’s answer, time and time again, is, “But you, God, are the LORD”. That is a truth, and was true long before David had the faith to say it. It remains true regardless of what some human, or all humans, have to say about it.

Job contains the same message. Job’s stance concerning his sufferings might cavalierly be summed up as, “This sucks, this isn’t my fault, and I have a right to complain against my God about it.” God’s response may, in a similar fashion, be summed up as, “I am God, and who are you to cast judgment on my plans?” This is what it means to speak truth into a situation, and it stands in stark contrast to the well-wishing disguised as prophecy that passes for “speaking truth” in many of today’s churches.

It isn’t just the churches who need to hear this, either. After all, the idea that your words can alter your reality is an idea that the church got from society. As per usual, the things infecting the church have long since infested society. For this reason, I wanted to make an argument that might possibly reach both sides of the aisle, might possibly melt the earplugs of people from all sorts of walks of life. Truthfully, my initial inspiration for this poem was the thought that it might be a valuable addition to the novel I’m working on, but as is usually the case, I discovered what I was really writing about along the way, and simply ran with it from there. Here’s the poem this produced:

I Doubt It

“I made this great tower,” 
said the man who merely found it.
“I’m not afraid of the beasts,” 
declares the man doomed to die by teeth.
“I don’t need anyone,” 
says the loneliest woman.
“Who is the Master?” 
bellows the bloodied bandit.

“This land is mine,” 
says the king who kills to claim it.
“Who needs to read?”
wonders the beggar and thief.
“Sometimes the law is wrong,” 
preaches the leech in song.
“What is truth?” 
philosophizes the hopeless pundit.

“Progress is always positive,” 
says those who tear down order and history.
“Trust me, I’m doing this for you,” 
purrs the predator, remorselessly untrue.
“To question is to be deceived,” 
assures the liars and their greed.
“To offer guidance is hate,” 
say the lovers of lawlessness and misery.

“Magic makes all things better,” 
claims the witch who curses.
“Power makes right,” 
say the powers who can’t measure their Maker’s might.
“You can be like god,” 
fibs the angel who claimed this sod.
“If you want it, claim it,” 
say his slaves whose bounty disperses.

Just because you say it, is it so? 
I doubt it.