June 13-17, 2022
Reflections on Excelling in Speech
Mmmm...Salty!
June 17, 2022 • Kevin Beavon • Colossians 4:2–6
I have had the opportunity to work professionally with a lot of different churches over the years. I have seen many different approaches to evangelism and how to “reach the lost” and the only thing I have learned definitively that none of us have it all figured out. Strangely, people insist on having different opinions, motives, spiritual gifts, and personalities, and those tend to get in the way of our one right answer. However, in his letter to the Colossians, Paul does give us some insight into how we can take all those differences and still be effective ministers of the gospel to those around us who do not yet know Jesus. "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone" (Colossians 4:2-6). First, pray. Paul asks the church to pray, with thanks and anticipation for the things God has done and will continue to do. He then asks the church to pray for doors to be open to the gospel, and to pray for him to be able to speak clearly as he declares the mystery of Christ. Second, Be wise. What we do and say, matters. We must consistently and faithfully reflect the character of Christ to those who do not know him. Third, make the most of every opportunity. Paul reminds us of the sometimes exciting, sometimes scary fact that our time is short, and we should have an urgency in declaring the gospel. Finally, let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt. Salt is a preservative, adding value and flavor to meat. The way we speak to others should be kind and gracious and ought to preserve the message of Christ, add value to the conversation, and reflect a flavor of a life lived differently.
Your Father's Children
June 16, 2022 • Kevin Beavon • Ephesians 4:1–3, Ephesians 4:29
Quick-witted. Sharp-tongued. Sassy. Smart aleck. Some of the many words that have been used to describe me from time to time. I admit that I love good verbal jabs more than I should, and I use them more often than is wise. While funny at times, they often are hurtful or mean. It’s also a trait that I passed on to my kids. After a recent dinner conversation that went too far, my wife sighed and said, “you are your father’s children.” It wasn’t a compliment. I think Jesus liked language. He was a master at using language to its full effect. I read the gospels and I see Jesus joking with his friends on one page, teaching with authority on another. Speaking clearly and directly at times, and at other times telling stories and explaining great truths through metaphors. But Jesus was truthful without being mean. He used his wit to teach and explain. He spoke without being careless. In Ephesians 4, Paul challenged the church at Ephesus to keep unity within the body by becoming more like Jesus: to be humble, gentle, patient, and peaceful with each other. And he emphasized that how they spoke to and about each other was a key part of that unity. Ephesians 4:1-3, 29 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace…Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. As you reflect on these verses today, think about how you talk to and about those in your church family. I hope you can laugh and joke with your church family. I hope you can tell great, funny stories about your church to others. And I hope you can do it because the stories build those people and relationships up, and benefit those who hear them.
Orange you glad I didn't say Banana?
June 15, 2022 • Kevin Beavon • Luke 6:43–45
Luke 6:43-45 "For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." Through much of Luke 6, Jesus is teaching a master class of what it means to follow him to the multitudes that gathered to hear him speak. Jesus used lessons and scriptures they would likely be familiar with and took them “next level”—things like love your enemies, do good (even to those who aren’t good to you), lend without expecting anything in return. Seth Scott penned an article for http://christianity.com where he wrote, “In our culture today, we tend to think of the heart as the home of our emotions…but the biblical concept of the heart is broader than the emotions. The Bible does not distinguish between the head and the heart, combining the elements of mind, will, and emotions together with the language of an organ that can feel, think, and act.” This concept of the heart being a combination of our mind, will, and emotions gives more context to Jesus’ teaching about the tree. Jesus is calling us to a lifestyle where we don’t do what we do to check a bunch of boxes or obey a set of rules. He says our lives reflect the very nature of who we are as people. An orange tree could never produce bananas. Likewise, as sinful people, we cannot produce a life that models Jesus without him first fundamentally changing who we are as people. That process is not something we can do on our own, but only through the life-changing power of the Holy Spirit working within us. Only then we can produce the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.
Socrates, Rumi, or Something Else?
June 14, 2022 • Kevin Beavon • 2 Timothy 4:1–2
Is it true? Is it good? Is it useful? So goes the saying usually attributed to Socrates regarding our speech. The Persian poet Rumi is credited with a similar quote. Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind? The lesson being that if the answer to any of these is “no,” then it is best left unsaid. I like both these quotes, and generally think that either one offers good advice as to when I should keep my mouth shut. On the surface, both are honorable tests on which to grade the things we say. However, as with virtually everything today, getting any agreement on what is good, useful, necessary, kind, or even truthful is almost impossible. As followers of Jesus, we can look to the things that Jesus said and how he said them for examples of how to be excellent in speech. Jesus said a lot of things that endeared him to his followers. He also said a lot of things that angered those who opposed his ministry. His speech reflected a kind, patient, and gracious teacher, who was also not afraid to confront and challenge those who opposed his teaching. We can learn from the way Jesus spoke, and how he interacted with those he met along the way. If our goal is to always confront with truth, we can miss Jesus’ grace. If our main goal is to express our opinions, we sometimes miss on whether those opinions are biblical. If we use our words to express our intellectual superiority, we miss the chance to teach and encourage, and if we just agree with everyone to avoid an argument, we can miss the opportunity to shine the light of truth into some very dark places. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul tells him to preach the word, and to reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. There are times to both speak critically and to encourage, but, at all times, we should be patient and edifying in our speech. Perhaps a better quote would be, “Is it biblical? Is it truthful? Is it edifying? Is it gracious?”
You Shouldn't Teach
June 13, 2022 • Kevin Beavon • James 3
Several years ago, I was part of the teaching team at a former church. We were temporarily without a pastor, and I was one of several people who filled in on Sunday mornings delivering the weekly sermon. I didn’t think much of it, when initially asked. I had quite a bit of public speaking experience, liked to write, and had been in church my whole life. I mean, really, how hard could it be? Start with a joke, tell a few stories, and then say something “Jesus-y”. Plus, I had such a deep well of life experience to share being in my 30s and all. Surely, they would be hanging on my every word. I reached out to a former pastor/mentor of mine to let him know (in a humble brag) that I would be preaching and asked if he had any advice. He emailed me back a single scripture reference; “James 3:1.” Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly (NIV). In one nine-letter email, my friend dramatically altered my teaching experience. He was both being funny and challenging me at the same time. He was setting a course correction for me that I remember almost weekly to this day. The things that I say…particularly the things that I claim the Bible or Jesus says…had better be Spirit-led, informed, truthful, and useful for building the kingdom. Later in the same chapter of James, he goes on to compare the tongue to a fire and uses the analogy of a great forest being set on fire by a single spark. That fire can be useful and purposeful and create a great movement of God, or it can be careless, destructive, and extremely damaging. As a Christian, being excellent in speech starts with understanding the impact your speech will have on those who know that you claim to follow Jesus. Today consider what people know about the person and character of Jesus because of what has come out of your mouth. Also today, pray for our speaking team and the challenges and pressures they face each week as they present the Word of God. ************ The devotions this week are written by Kevin Beavon. Kevin is the husband of a better woman than he deserves, the father of one good kid (he likes to keep both his kids guessing which one it is) and is now the grandfather of the best one year-old in the world. He also likes peanut butter. That pretty much sums him up. Our theme for this series is 2 Corinthians 8:7. “But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.”