T H E S I S # 29
Jesus: Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. (Mt.12:34) The spiritual health of a christian can be determined by the number of times he speaks the name of Jesus. The spiritual health of a church can likewise be determined by the number of times they collectively speak the name of Jesus.
Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
What’s in comes out.
We all have a reservoir, and we all have a tap. To see what’s in the reservoir we merely have to turn on the tap. The reservoir is the heart. The tap is the tongue.
Every heart contains a mixture of the good, the bad, and the ugly. The mixture of your heart is different from all others. That composite makes you you.
You are not your pretty face, and you are not your knobby knees, and you are not the shape of your body. You are your heart. You are what’s inside.
It’s easy to know what’s in the heart of an engaged couple. They talk about the other more than oneself. She is in his heart, and he is in hers. They’re in love.
Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
During one encounter with “the scribes and Pharisees” the Lord Jesus called them “hypocrites!” seven times. They were pretenders, pretending to be what they were not. Obviously, pretence filled their hearts. Even their prayers, which seemed to resonate with sincerity, were for the purpose of impressing and subduing. (“For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.”)
What was in, leaked out.
As the pretender speaks pretence, so does the proud speak pride, the humble speaks humility, the anxious speaks anxiety, the doubtful speaks doubt, the confused speaks confusion, the religious speaks religion, the hopeful speaks hope, the peaceful speaks peace, the angry speaks anger, the joyful speaks joy, the kind speaks kindness, the impatient speaks impatience, the sad speaks sadness. And the Christ-centered….
And the Christ-centered speaks Christ. Can’t help it. Because He is the main element in the reservoir, He comes out the tap.
Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
Because Christ flowed out of Paul’s life through his writings, perhaps it’s safe to assume Christ also flowed through his speech. (“I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”) Same with Matthew and Mark and Luke and John and Peter. They were not shy to proclaim Christ. Couldn’t help it.
Each of us can determine the content of our reservoir by simply monitoring what pours out our tap. Our speech reveals what’s in there. If Christ is predominant, Christ will be exalted.
Same applies to the group. Their collective speech reveals their collective spiritual health. This truism coupled with another truism – the group affects the outcome of all in the group – make evaluation a smart thing to do. And it’s easy to do, just listen.
Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.