When We Speak

How shall we separate them, smart and not so smart, intelligent and dumb, those of understanding and the stupid. These terminologies are of course relevant in only one way, when they are made in comparison to another individual. “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.” (Prov. 21:2)

This is one way of saying that what we believe we are is correct, that we are in no way dumber or smarter than any other person. The man on a deserted island is the smartest person on that island, but that does not mean that he is proficient enough to survive on that island. “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.” (1 Cor. 3:19) And so in that respect when compared to the Spiritual things of God, all the lost are dumb, and the profit that any attain here will be of absolutely no value. But what I would like you to see in this particular letter to you is how those who have been blessed with Spiritual discernment and understanding from the Lord are to wield this great gift, this incredible power.

One of the first things that you must realize is that those you are speaking to, those who do not understand fully what you are attempting to impart to them, will not ask any questions, they more than likely will either attempt to leave your presence, they will stand there simply nodding their head, or they will find an occasion to rebuke you. On our part, we must constantly keep one thing in mind, this is another human being that we are speaking to, someone who will either be with us in the presence of the Lord for all eternity, or in the Lake of Fire, they are a living soul.

Their response must be paid attention to of course, but we must not use what we have been blessed with for our own personal, selfish gain, we are not the inventor of what we have been given. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning,” (James 1:17) we are no more than a vessel for the glory of the Lord.

I have been in the presence of men of God much wiser than I could ever hope to be, and have rarely if ever felt intimidated, I have found no reason to belittle myself because of the blessing of wisdom that has been imparted to them, I did not count them as “smarty pants” attempting to prove to me that they, because of what they know that I do not know, are better than myself. But you need to know this, whether saved or lost, this is how you will be seen by most people when you attempt to lead them in the ways of wisdom and understanding.

Most of these individuals do not hear your words, they see you, they know you are speaking, but they are not listening, for they have already determined within their own minds that what you are attempting to do is show to them how smart you are, how well informed you are, in fact, how much more Spiritual you are than they themselves are. In truth, what we are attempting to do is seen as the exact opposite by them. I believe this may be one of the reasons that our Lord spake in parables so often, besides the reason stated in Matthew 13:13. A parable is not directed at a particular individual, but is in itself a story, an account of an incident, and that allows the listener to not be “put on the spot,” it gives them an opportunity to place themselves, as it were, into the position of one of the individuals within the action of the account. It assists them in seeing themselves without saying to them, “This is you that I am speaking about.”

Think of the incredible wisdom that said, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” (John 8:7)

The majority of people are self-centered and selfish individuals, they are concerned at their core with themselves, that knowledge must always be kept in our minds as we speak to them, for of a truth, what we are attempting to tell them is that all glory goes to God, that our lives only matter when they are in service to Christ, and that goes against every single fiber of every single person on this planet. Not only the heathen, but the speaker must always be aware of this.