Ephesians 4:25-32 What is Useful for Building Up

Observation: Toward the end of his letter to Christians in Ephesus, Paul offers ethical advice on ow to live as Christians. He pays special attention to speech, and raises the bar: it's important that what we say not only be true, but "useful for building up."

Application: When I was six or seven years old, my dad had a very early model home computer. I don't remember the exact model, but I do remember that it was pre-windows, so if you wanted something to appear on that nice, green screen, you had to know the proper command to type in. 

Believe it or not, it was on that computer that I played a game with graphics that I've yet to see matched on any computer since. It was an adventure game called "Zork." The entire world of the game was created with words: descriptions of where you are, in simple, green text on a black computer screen. You simply told the computer what you wanted to do, and where you wanted to go, and it would create new rooms, new characters, new machines, new worlds for you, simply with words. I've played an awful lot of games since, but I can still mentally walk through the world of Zork, which I encountered first at age six, because that world was created with simple words, in my own mind. 

Words really do build worlds. Whether it's in a text-based game, or a good book, or a conversation with a friend about a wonderful vacation, we are created as story-telling creatures. The world we inhabit is heavily influenced by the words we listen to, and the words we speak. If we only speak and  only listen to words of anger and bitterness, the world around us becomes angry and bitter. If we speak and hear words of love and wonder, that's the world we will inhabit. Especially in this new era of information overload, where folks from all walks of life need to be on the watch for "alternative facts", it's essential that we pay attention to the world our words are describing, but also the world they are building. 

That's why it is so vital to heed Paul's advice, that it's not nearly enough that our words be true, but also that they be useful for building up. If a statement is true, but it will tear down the trust, confidence, or sense of wellbeing of the person you're talking to, think carefully about whether it needs to be said. We are building up Christian disciples: lives that look like the life of Jesus. Therefore, the world which our words build up needs to look like one of which Jesus is Lord. 

Prayer: God, thank you for your Word, Jesus Christ, who became flesh and walked among us.

Thank you for your Word, contained in Scripture, which challenges us, but more importantly saves us through faith. 

Thank you for your Word among us, as we proclaim your Gospel  and witness your great works to one another and to the world.

Help us in our hearing and our speaking to build the world you would have us build: a world in which your will is done on earth as in heaven. Amen.