James 3:1-12 “THINK Before”

I am not sure where I first heard this acronym, but I offer it up to you today as a way to check what we say before we say it. We start with the word “THINK.” The first “T” stands for our asking ourselves if what we are about to say is true. If we cannot be sure that it is true, then we should probably not say it. And we should remember, that it must be true to the greater standards of truth that we as Christians maintain. We do not as Christians ever think: “Well, it is technically true, even though it really is not in its intent true.”

What is Truth? With deepfakes online and constant other deceptions, it is becoming harder to know. I will give you an example. For the THINK acronym I wanted to give the proper credit as a footnote for the person who came up with it. So, I asked AI on the computer who first shared the THINK acronym, and learned that it was a man named Rev. Dr. Stoner in 2017. Then, I paused for a moment and realized that I had heard it long before 2017. I searched my own writings on the computer, remembering that I had used before in something. Sure enough, I found my own reference to it in 2006. Did I come with it? No.

This is what I am saying to you. It is really hard to know the truth of an issue today, but know this: In John 14 Jesus himself says “I am the Truth, the Way and the Life.” There is a godly Truth in this world that we can and need to focus on.

The “H” in “THINK” stands for being helpful. Is what we say helpful to another person or in a given situation? I struggle with this because I would like the “H” to mean “humorous, hilarious, or just plain happy.” I am always saying things that are less than helpful for the sake of a hearty laugh. Sometimes the jokes fall flat, and then the “H” stands for humiliation.

Let me share with you all, therefore, the worst sermon joke ever told: “Did you notice in reading your bibles that Daniel was asleep in the Lions Den? Then, Jesus was asleep in the bow of the boat in the middle of the storm? Next time I want to do something exciting, I will just go take a nap instead.” See, that is not even funny. And, it is not helpful. So, yes, let us keep the “h” as helpful rather than humorous.

The “I” in “THINK” is for “Inspirational.” Not only can we as Christians be truthful and helpful through our words to other people, but we can be inspirational! We can call down the Holy Spirit into others’ lives with the words we say.

Next week we will celebrate the feast of Pentecost that is the time we can read about in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit came down as tongues of fire upon all the people who were gathered in the Temple. We are talking about thousands. We can see then that Saint Peter himself is given utterance by the Holy Spirit to give his first public sermon in which he recites the Prophet Joel verbatim. How does a fisherman from Galilee recite word-for-word ancient prophecy? He is inspired to the point that really the Holy Spirit is just using his mouth and vocal cords.

You do not have to say a lot to speak volumes when the Holy Spirit is speaking through you. You do not have to speak a lot to gain that harvest of righteousness for God. There is an old Malaysian proverb that says that when the sea turtle lays its eggs, it can lay a thousand eggs without hardly making a sound. When the chicken lays just one egg the whole countryside will have to hear about it. Don’t just lay an egg; create that harvest of righteousness with your words. Let the Spirit speak through you. Be the inspired Word of God in the hearing of others!

Let us just jump for a moment into Luke 12:11-12 when Jesus says: “When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers and the authorities, do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you atto say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.” Remember that this is exactly what is happening in James’ time. He is addressing his words to the believers in the early synagogues.

The “N” in “THINK” is for “Necessary.” It seems so often that when it is really necessary to speak up, we tend to be silent. We as Christians are told be careful with our words, but not completely vacant of having anything at all to say. We must speak up for what is good and right in this world—when it is necessary.

This is just as if you see your best friend getting into a car to drive when he or she has had too much to drink already. It is necessary as a Christian to say something. You cannot just hold your tongue.

Proverbs 31:8-9, “Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute. Speak out, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

At this time I am reminded that I am a mandated reporter as a pastor. If I see or hear of a child or an elder being abused, I am legally bound to report this to the proper authority. Pastoral privilege or the rights to secrecy of the confessional do not apply because it is NECESSARY for me to speak up for those who cannot for themselves.

In your own lives, you will run into situations when it is absolutely necessary to speak up. And, it would seem to be easier to look the other way or not mention anything to anybody, but then you will have to take the hard route, the bitter way, and just say what is needed to be said–whatever the consequences. This is our Christian witness. This is our martyrdom as followers of Jesus.

I am fairly sure that when Jesus saw the moneychangers in the Temple he would have rather taken the easy way and just not said anything. Instead we see pure righteous indignation as he turns over the tables of the moneychangers. Also, it would have been a lot easier for Jesus to let the crowd stone the adulterous woman; but no, He found it necessary to shame the crowd and save the woman.

Just ask yourselves: “Is it necessary for me to speak now?” Just like in NAZI Germany in 1939, it might become too late to speak soon enough.

This takes us to the last letter of “THINK.” That is “K.” What do you think “K” stands for? Kindness. In some ways, I think that this is the hardest. Too often we want to be witty and/or funny to entertain others. Sometimes we say things that are not meant to be hurtful but others take them the wrong way perhaps. Without a doubt, this is a major failing in my own life!

I remember as a young man living in Germany being with a group of students who liked to tell racist jokes. I am sure that they did not even realize what they were saying or doing. They were just kids having fun.

Once I was at a party at which there happened to be a young lady who did not speak any German, so the group asked me to spontaneously translate the jokes that they were telling. A good friend of mine told the first joke that had to do with Jewish people. He finished telling the joke and the room exploded in laughter—all except for the young lady who did not speak any German. So, my friend urged me to hurry up to tell the punch line in English. The problem was that I already had, and this poor young girl was petrified by what I had said. Then, the whole room realized that she had been deeply offended. I asked her if she were Jewish. She said that she was not, but that it did not matter. She excused herself from the group.

How often we are unkind and excuse it afterwards by saying that we were just telling a joke or having fun. “I was just ribbing you! What? You took that seriously?” We need to really think about whether what we say is in its very essence kind or not. I know that in the heat of the moment, sometimes the last thing that comes out is a sense of kindness. But, if you cannot say it in kindness, it is best not said.

Kindness is one of the fruits of the Spirit that we find in Galatians 5:22 and on. Hopefully we are having this also come to us through the Holy Spirit like our spoken words themselves. We pray that what we say is useful and sweet to God in heaven.

Yes, we must think before we speak. We must make sure that what we say is true. We must hope that what we say is helpful. We should use our words to inspire. We should speak up when it is necessary. And, most of all we must be kind always in what we say.

Amen.