The other day I was cooking something. And I reached into the shelf above the stove for a seasoning. And I was “dashing” the seasoning into the pot I though of this Bible passage…
Col. 4:6: Let your speech be always with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.
As I encounter people over and over on the web forums I am continually amazed at the lack of grace we show each other. A few posts back I made the comment that integrity is who you are when you are on the internet, shrouded in anonimity. But, yet people continually treat their brothers and sisters with contempt as they commnicate with them over the internet about the love and the grace of G-d. Ironic!
Often I have heard people use the excuse that they are simply reacting to tothers the same way that Jesus reacted to the Pharisees. There are a few things that we should take into consideration when using the example of Jesus and the Pharisees.
1. Jesus had the right to correct them. He is perfect in his Torah observance and in his love and his grace. He is entitled to righteous indignation (if it was indeed that). Perhaps when we become perfect in our Torah obedience we then would have the right to treat people with directness and anger.
2. The Pharisses were the ones who should have known better. It is one thing to rebuke a person who has studied and learned certain aspects of the faith and still do not follow them, but it is a whole other thing to correct those who are new to Torah observance and still learning.
3. Yeshua (Jesus) was more than likely a Pharisee himself. Therefore his correction of the Pharisees was in a way an “in-house” form of communication. You have more responisbilty to your own people then you do to people in the street. You can talk more plainly with people you are connected to than you can to people you do not know or cannot see.
I think that Paul’s advice to the Colossians is sound advice to us. Our speech to each other should be seasoned with grace. Not so much that we do as the scriptures tell us, but also that we treat each other with the same love and respect that the Master wants us to treat each other with.
When I was a little boy I remember my father telling me, “Be careful with the words that come out of your mouth. One day you may have to eat them.” If my words are seasoned with grace? MMM that is an interesting thought!
Shalom,
Bill