So Christ in Communication, and if we were to subtitle the sermon, it would be Redeeming Eloquence for the Glory of God.
! So I want to pause right there to ask for your prayers, because what I'm essentially battling against all morning is speaking well for any purpose other than the glory of God.
Which is tough when you're actually talking about speaking well. So if you'll join me in praying and continue praying for the grace to get through this and to do it well, I would appreciate that.
Let's petition the Father now together.
God, you're a great God, an awesome, mighty God, sovereign over all things.
Yet you've chosen to use your servants to accomplish your will. You've chosen human means to accomplish divine purposes.
Let it be so this morning that you move powerfully in each of us, through each of us.
Use the words that I've prepared and the words that I speak to impact all of us in such a way that we might live more to the glory of God.
That we might experience the joy of loving and serving Christ more through this message.
What's the reading of your word?
What's this time that we might all be filled up?
Not only challenged to change, to repent, but encouraged to fight the good fight.
In your name, amen.
Okay, so I have...
I'm notoriously long-winded.
I know that, and I'm trying to work on that.
With that said, I've cut quite a bit of the sermon that I prepared, but you can get the full thing on my website.
We'll talk a little bit about using resources like the internet this morning.
But westshallnot.com sometime tomorrow.
I'll have all my notes up there.
So I'm going to talk as fast as I can without stumbling to try to get through what I feel like is really powerful truth.
The truth that I've had to really wrestle with this week.
So we're going to dig into it, and I'm going to really be moving fast.
So if you're keeping notes, I'm going to give you the four main bullet points up front.
And then you can fill the rest in as we go, or you can go online tomorrow.
So let's go ahead and work on a definition of eloquence, and then we'll look at the text.
For today, purposes of today, eloquence is going to be defined as a style of speaking or writing that is intrinsically pleasing.
Okay.
Style of speaking or writing that is intrinsically pleasing.
Eloquence seeks a powerful verbal impact through an artistic, surprising, provocative, or aesthetically pleasing application of language.
So if you're taking notes, here are the four points that I'm going to try to work out today.
Basically, that there are right and wrong ways to use eloquence as Christians.
The wrong ways are anti-oratory.
We're going to talk about what that means.
And over-eloquence.
Anti-oratory and over-eloquence.
And the right ways are self-humiliation and Christ-exaltation.
Self-humiliation and Christ-exaltation.
Okay.
Now, but before we talk about eloquence, we have to discuss the building blocks of eloquence, which are words.
And the Bible is slap full of commandments on words, and of course it's made up of words.
The Bible has a lot to say about words, so we're just going to focus in on one part of Scripture as it relates to words,
and that's the Gospel.
So the Gospel as it relates to words, first, God has holy standards for how we are to speak and listen to words.
If we were to look at Matthew 12, verses 36 through 37, Jesus says,
I tell you, on the day of judgment, people will give an account for every careless word they speak.
For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.
Also, in Ephesians 4, 29, Paul says,
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up as fits the occasion,
that it may give grace to those who hear.
Second, outside the completion of our sanctification,
the Bible teaches that we won't fully live up to God's holy standard regarding the use of words.
We see that in James 3, 8, where James writes,
No human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
Next, we see in Scripture that Jesus fulfilled what humanity failed to do.
His words were perfect words, without sin.
By his substitutionary death, his words became ours.
His punishment for our words, indeed his punishment for all of our failings,
the punishment that we deserved, he took on himself.
So we see in Hebrews 4, 15,
Jesus is our great high priest who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
And in 2 Corinthians 5, 21,
For our sake he made him to be sin, who knew, knowed sin, that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
The final point that I want to talk about regarding words and the gospel
is that our day-by-day failure to use words properly, catch this,
our day-by-day failure to use words properly comes from a functional rejection of Christ,
the one true word.
If we accept that God has given us words for his purpose,
which I hope by the end of the day we will,
then when we reject the purpose of words through the way that we use them,
it proves that we have rejected the giver of the words as well.
So I'm going to illustrate what I mean.
Let's say that Nathan were to give me a Gibson J45, which is an acoustic guitar.
It's like the acoustic guitar.
Elvis played it, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan.
It's the rock and roll acoustic guitar.
So let's say that Nathan gave me a mint condition, 1965 J45.
And the next time he came over to my house,
I showed him the J45 that I had cut a hole in and turned into a wall caulk.
That would be not only the stupidest thing I've ever done,
but it would prove two things.
It would prove I didn't really care for the gift,
and that I wasn't considerate at all of the giver.
The same thing is certainly true of the way that we use words.
If we view words as a gift from God,
and then we misuse them,
then we're not only proving that we don't care about the gift itself,
but that we don't care about the giver or the intention of the giver.
We have to accept that language and words are God's.
He used them first.
They were his idea.
In fact, he created all that is through using words.
And beyond that, he has a very specific purpose for words,
which is not primarily to make our lives more comfortable and convenient.
So any time that we use words,
we're always borrowing from him.
If we find that we habitually misuse his gift of language,
we can know something about ourselves.
Luke 6, 43-45.
Jesus said,
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 thorn bushes,
nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.
The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good.
An evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil.
For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
So when our words get us into trouble,
it's only ever secondarily because of our minds.
What I mean by that is that our poor vocabulary or inferior diction
or total disregard for proper grammar
get us into trouble, but only secondarily.
The trouble in communication is primarily a concern of the heart.
Our words get us into trouble because our hearts crave anything but Christ.
Paul David Tripp said,
I am my greatest communication problem.
The greatest difficulty, the greatest danger,
and the everyday traps of communication that we fall into
exist inside of me, not outside of me.
He went on to paint a picture of two kingdoms,
of my kingdom and God's kingdom,
and pointed out that our words are tools.
They're just tools that we use for communication.
Those tools always serve the king of the kingdom.
And if I'm the king of that kingdom,
then it's a pretty small kingdom.
It's just as small as my life,
my mundane life.
And in fact, those words die with the kingdom.
But if God is the king,
then the words serve an eternal kingdom,
and they fulfill the purpose for which God's grace of words
to us was given.
So Dr. Tripp concluded,
you know nothing about the kingdom of God
unless you understand that it is a kingdom of love.
When you are filled with the glory of that love,
when your heart is taken up by the mystery of that love,
when what daily fills your heart is deep in worshipful gratitude
for the miracle of divine love,
then your words begin to be words of love,
words of service,
words of grace,
words of encouragement,
words of peace,
and words that heal.
So if we find that our words are serving us and not Christ,
if our words are hurting others and not helping,
if they're tearing down instead of building up,
if they're propelled by anything other than love,
then we can be assured
we need Jesus to repair not our tongues,
not our speech,
but our hearts.
So if you find that that's the case with you,
then pray to him now where you are.
I'm yours, Lord.
Save me.
There is no greater joy than to be his,
to be redeemed by his blood and secure forever.
Remember, don't let such an opportunity pass by
because we're not guaranteed another.
Confess your sins to God.
Turn from them.
And believe that Christ has been crucified on your behalf,
substituting the righteous for the unrighteous.
He's now seated at the right hand of God the Father,
interceding on behalf of his children.
Make no mistake,
one word meant for the harm of another person,
one word meant to bring any attention to you
rather than Jesus as an offense against the eternal God
and is therefore deserving of eternal punishment.
So before I talk about eloquence,
start at the beginning.
Words are a matter of the heart.
Do not delay in turning
from the disastrous course of rebellion
to the delightful path of his grace.
Words are a matter of the heart.
God, I pray that that would be the case
if anyone here stands apart from your grace,
that you would regenerate their hearts,
that you would give faith to them,
that you would move in our congregation
in a powerful way this morning
because Christ is all and in all.
God give light to the rest of the circle
that those who do know you
might be challenged to live more light.
Words are a matter of the heart.
Let's revisit our definition of eloquence
because I do want to get into talking about that.
Eloquence is a style of speaking or writing
that is intrinsically pleasing.
Eloquence seeks a powerful verbal impact
through an artistic, surprising, provocative,
or aesthetically pleasing application of language.
Our text this morning is 1 Corinthians 1.
You'll turn there.
1 Corinthians 1.
We're going to read verses 10 through 31,
and then I'll refer to just a couple of the verses
as well as give some background
to what Paul was talking about.
1 Corinthians 1, beginning in verse 10.
I appeal to you, brothers,
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that all of you agree
and that there be no divisions among you,
but that you be united in the same mind
and the same judgment.
For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people
that there is quarreling among you, my brothers.
What I mean is that each one of you says,
I follow Paul, or I follow Apollos,
or I follow Cephas, or I follow Christ.
Was Christ divided?
Was Paul crucified for you?
Or will you baptize in the name of Paul?
I thank God that I baptized none of you
except Crispus and Gaius,
so that no one may say
that you were baptized in my name.
I did baptize also the household of Stephanas.
Beyond that, I did not know
whether I baptized anyone else.
For Christ did not send me to baptize,
but to preach the gospel,
and not with words of eloquent wisdom,
lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
For the word of the cross
is folly to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved
it is the power of God.
For it is written,
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning
I will thwart.
Where is the one who is wise?
Where is the scribe?
Where is the debater of this age?
Has not God made foolish
the wisdom of the world?
For since in the wisdom of God
the world did not know God through wisdom,
it pleased God through the folly
of what we preach to save those who believe.
For Jews demand signs,
and Greeks seek wisdom.
But we preach Christ crucified,
a stumbling block to Jews
and folly to Gentiles.
But to those who are called,
both Jews and Greeks,
Christ, the power of God,
and the wisdom of God.
For the foolishness of God
is wiser than men,
and the weakness of God
is stronger than men.
For consider your calling, brothers.
Not many of you were wise
according to the worldly standards.
Not many were powerful.
Not many were of noble birth.
But God chose what is foolish in the world
to shame the wise.
God chose what is weak in the world
to shame the strong.
God chose what is low
and despised in the world,
even things that are not,
to bring to nothing things that are,
so that no human being might boast
in the presence of God.
He is the source of your life,
Christ Jesus,
whom God made our wisdom
and our righteousness
and sanctification
and redemption.
Therefore, as it is written,
let the one who boasts
boast in the world.
So pay special attention
to verse 17.
Paul says,
For Christ did not send me
to baptize,
but to preach the gospel,
and not with words
of eloquent wisdom,
lest the cross of Christ
be emptied of its power.
So remember,
we're talking about eloquence,
and Paul here seems to be
treating eloquence
with a fair amount of negativity,
and we're going to talk about
whether or not there even is
an appropriate way
to use eloquence
by our definition of it,
but to begin with,
let's talk about the wrong ways,
anti-oratory over eloquence.
I want to clarify a statement,
and I hope you'll agree with me,
that sin is by its very nature
anti-social.
Sin,
in the case of eloquence,
sin works itself out
by alienating our hearers
from our message.
So if we're sinning
in the way that we speak,
we're alienating people
from either ourselves
or from the message,
the truth.
And it does that
in primarily these two ways,
anti-oratory being the first.
John Piper said that eloquence
can either be
what he called high eloquence
or low eloquence.
What he meant was that
our words can either be
distractingly over people's heads
or they can be distractingly
dressed down and messy
and profane.
Ephesians 4.29 says,
let no corrupting talk
come out of your mouths,
but only such as is good
for building up
as fits the occasion,
that it may give grace
to those who hear.
So anti-oratory
is an application
of these types of words
or word styles,
which is aimed at harming
either the message
or the hearer,
in many cases the reader.
While dulling the clarity
of the idea conveyed
either by intentional
misuse of language
or by habitual neglect
of one of God's
greatest physical gifts,
brains,
anti-oratory portrays
the speaker as crude
and careless.
The scope of this way
of communicating,
this very base way
of communicating,
spans from grammar
and vocabulary
all the way to posture.
Being that we're
in the deep south,
I'm going to just guess
that I don't have
to belabor this point
because I'm sure
that most of you
at some point
heard your mom say,
watch your mouth.
And you know
what I'm talking about
when I say
distractingly dressed down,
messy,
full-bane,
this language.
But,
because a lot of us
are probably
in our minds
kind of replaying
worn-out recordings
of some southern preacher
rattling off a list
of mortal sins
that include
drinking,
smoking,
cussing,
hanging out
with people who do.
Let me take
just a moment
to kind of clarify
something about that.
And it is an aside,
but I hope we'll see
the value in it.
All language
is necessarily
socially defined.
That's to say
that words are
culturally generated
symbols
that convey ideas.
Just like different
cultures use
different words
to describe the same ideas,
such as Spanish-speaking
and English-speaking people
describe the same ideas
with different words.
Different cultures
also use the same words
to describe different ideas.
And profanity
is not the only example,
but it is an example.
I work with a lot
of international students
at Truett,
and let me just tell you
that if I wasn't aware
of the fluidity,
cultural fluidity,
of the meaning of words,
I could have definitely
gotten my feathers
rough a couple of times
because people in Europe
use language differently
than we do.
They regularly use some words
in their homes,
which when I was growing up,
if I had pronounced
some of the words
that I've heard them
use on the phone
with their parents
in the room,
I would have had
a bar of soap
in my mouth
for four hours.
And I would have been
standing up
because I would have been
too sore to sit down.
But they can use
that kind of language
because culturally speaking,
it's more acceptable.
it has a different meaning
or a different emotion
when they say it
because they're
in a different culture.
Just because a person
speaks English,
that doesn't mean
that their words
mean the same thing
as yours or mine,
vice versa.
There's no such thing
as a universally
defined cuss word.
That's a gray area
in our speech
that permits us
to use words
to best communicate
our ideas
to our intended audience.
Now here's the word
of caution.
While some words
that are considered
bad words
are really just
generally impolite words,
there are some words
which in our culture
are intended
only to hurt,
not to build up.
There are condemning,
judgmental,
ungodly words
as well as
graphically sexual words
that bring to mind
terrible ideas
and there is no place
for words like that
in the Christian dialogue
at all.
I'm not going to
make a list.
I think we can
piece those together.
But I don't want you
to miss the point
that the biblical principle
of Ephesians 4.29
is that wholesome communication
must not be reduced
to a certain set of words.
The biblical standard
is the intention
of the heart.
It's much higher
than a list of
you can't say these things,
you can't say these things.
Just like the biblical
calling on Christians
is much higher
than you can't do
these things,
you must do these things.
There's a lot of liberty
to please God
with the way
that we speak.
Furthermore,
our calling as Christians
goes way beyond
what is culturally acceptable.
So just because
some words,
culturally speaking,
may not be inerrantly wrong,
our calling as Christians
goes beyond
what is culturally acceptable
and love
always willingly sacrifices
our own rights,
even our rights
to vocabulary,
in order that we might
give grace to others.
And that's the point
of that text in Ephesians.
So if you use,
if you can use any word
in a way that
gives grace to your audience,
then do it.
But if not,
don't.
Okay?
So let's look at
over-eloquence.
And this, I think,
for most of us,
because of where we've grown up,
I think this is a
greater temptation.
This certainly is
a temptation for me.
I think that
this is a great temptation
among anyone
who can speak well.
And the temptation
is to use that gift
in such a way
as to elevate themselves.
This was the case
for a certain group
of people
whom Paul was addressing
in our text.
So if you look back
at 1 Corinthians 1,
verse 17,
he's actually talking
about a group of people
called the Sophists.
That's where we get
our word sophisticated from.
The Sophists used
eloquent language,
style of speaking,
as a goal in itself,
an intrinsic end.
And I get that phrase,
intrinsic end,
from Dennis Donahue.
He wrote a book called
On Eloquence.
And he defined eloquence
very similar to the way
the Sophists would have.
He said,
eloquence is a style
of speaking or writing
that is intrinsically pleasing
without any reference
to other aims.
So he made a distinction
between rhetoric,
logic,
which had a goal in mind,
a place that the audience
needed to get to.
He made a distinction
between that
and eloquence
just being beautiful language
for the sake of beauty.
Like a lot of art
is just pretty
to be pretty.
And the Sophists
really focused on
using form of speaking
and form of writing
just to be beautiful.
Now we've already charged
that Christians' speech
is to be propelled
by love of God
and love for others.
Since love was defined
for us,
primarily in the act
of the crucifixion
of Jesus,
we know that our words
will always be a misuse
if they don't come
from a desire
to see God magnified
and others served.
That's what Christ
was doing on the cross
and if we're to love people
with our words,
then that's what we must do
with our words.
It doesn't matter
how much they deserve
our love.
It doesn't matter
how much they might be able
to reciprocate our love.
That's the calling
that we have
and that's the way
that our words
need to work themselves
out in love.
But 2 Corinthians 5.15
teaches us that sin
causes us to live
for ourselves
instead of for others.
But Christ died
to free us
from living for ourselves
and that is central,
central not only
to the way that we speak
but the way that we live
as Christians.
We live for ourselves.
We need to understand
that we're living in slavery
and that Christ has already
died to set us free
from that.
So back in our text,
the Corinthians
had bought into this
sophist idea
that eloquence
was an end in itself.
And so what we find
them doing
is that they were
aligning themselves
within the church
with their favorite
preachers.
And this never happens
in America
so it's not that relevant.
Totally kidding.
Look at verses 10 and 12,
10 through 12.
Paul says,
I appeal to you brothers
by the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ
that all of you agree
and that there be
no divisions among you.
that you be united
in the same mind
and the same judgment
for it has been reported
to me by Chloe's people
that there is quarreling
among you my brothers.
What I mean is that
each one of you says
I follow Paul
or I follow Apollos
or I follow Cephas
or I follow Christ.
So two things
to note here.
One is that
Paul's opponents
had openly mocked him
for a lack of eloquence.
Which when you read Paul
today I'm like
are you kidding me?
He's a really eloquence writer.
But by the standard
of his day
he really wasn't.
And we see that
in 2 Corinthians 10.10
if you're taking notes.
Acts 18.24
tells us that
Apollos
was a very eloquent speaker.
He was from Alexandria
which is where
Philo had worked.
And Philo was kind of
like the front runner
of the Sophist movement.
So history tells us
that there was
a strong infiltration
of Sophists
in the education system
of Alexandria.
And Apollos
no doubt
being from Alexandria
being noted
as a well speaker.
He spoke like a Sophist.
He was slick-tongued.
Very enjoyable
to listen to.
To clarify
that doesn't mean
that he was
a false teacher.
Just that he was good.
He was a clever wordsmith.
And people were
gravitating towards him
because of the way
that he spoke
rather than because
of what he said.
They were doing
the same thing
with Paul
and with Cephas
and Paul just said
that's enough.
We're not putting up
with that.
Paul rebuked them
for caring more
about the way
that the gospel
was presented
than about the gospel
itself.
The trap
that these Sophists
had fallen into
and that these
Corinthian believers
had fallen into
was that they were
seeking their own glory
or the glory
of a person
as their achievement.
Their message
wasn't
Emmanuel
God with us.
Their message
was me.
Not me with you.
Me over you.
Me better than you.
Smarter than you.
And unreachable by you.
John Piper said
pride-sustaining,
self-exalting
use of words
for a show
of human wisdom
is incompatible
with finding your life
and your glory
in the cross of Christ.
So what Paul did
was he didn't try
to dress up the gospel
to make it easier
to understand
or easier to swallow.
He spoke plainly
about Christ
crucified.
He expected
the Holy Spirit
to do the work
of conviction,
of regeneration,
and of sanctification.
He fully understood
that his words
were only a conduit
of God's grace.
And that there was
no point in him
trying to persuade people
or to trick people
into believing
because ultimately
it's the Spirit
that does that.
Derek Webb said
it's not like
I'm some kind of
Holy Ghost
come to change
people's hearts.
And that's really
what Paul's getting
at here.
He said,
I'm not going to
play your games.
I'm not going to
try to dance around
some of the harder
issues of the gospel.
I'm just going to tell it to you.
And then God will work.
And the snare
of over-eloquence
has its roots
in a deep sin.
It's the same sin
as ethnocentrism,
which is just
the common human problem
of refusing to empathize
with other people groups.
Assuming that our way
is the best way,
our culture
is the best culture,
everybody else
just learned to be like me
and they'll be better.
It's the sin
that led to the Holocaust.
It led to America's
aberrant brand of slavery
and it leads to
modern-day racism
and hate crimes
every day.
It's the sin
of selfishness
and self-worship.
I struggle with this
a lot.
I hate it.
This study,
in fact,
has made me
more aware
of my problem.
Even in writing
these words,
I was aware
that I want
to lift myself up.
I want you to see me
as intelligent
rather than see
Christ as magnificent.
I believe it's one
of the most
pervasive sins
for me
and for us
because it's
infected us
on a more core level
down into the fiber.
We actually believe
we're better than others
at something
and so we act
and speak
so as to try
to persuade others
to believe it too.
It's the darkest
of lies
and if we're
to give grace
with our words
then we have to
cut the head
off of that serpent.
The serpent lives
in our hearts.
It's not something
outside of us
as we've said before.
Remember that
communication problems
are heart problems
and I'm telling you
that my heart problem
when it comes to
communication
is selfishness
and pride.
I hate the number
of times I had
to plead for forgiveness
and plead for grace
in writing the sermon
because I was
choosing words
that were the best
words for the idea
rather than the best
words for you
to understand the idea.
I was thinking
about myself
rather than you.
The sin of
self-worship
worked out
and over eloquence
had us
teach English
to whole tribes
of Native Americans
give them Christian names
and rob them
of their cultural identity
in the name
of evangelizing
the people group
rather than
becoming all things
to all people
learning their culture
and their language
and preaching the gospel
to them
in their words.
the
story
some
of
some
The problem is self-worship.
It tells us that we're better than others.
It tells them that if they want to be right, then they have to be like us.
And ultimately, it elevates the way that I present my message
over how important it is that you hear the message.
It shouldn't matter to me as much as it does that Christians use proper grammar all the time
in their online posts.
It shouldn't matter that we disregard classical grammar rules.
I mean, so what if the rule of the official language demands a comma?
If people don't understand my eloquence, then I may as well be speaking to them in another language.
I may as well be speaking to them in a language that nobody knows but me.
Their ignorance of the gospel is infinitely more a hazard
than their ignorance of how to use the thesaurus.
In North Georgia, this means that most of us need to familiarize ourselves with Spanish
so that we can speak words of grace to our neighbors
rather than allow our laziness to all but ensure their eternal definition.
It means that some of you who have gifted minds for understanding language
should take courses to become experts in exotic languages
that don't yet have a translation of the Bible
in order that God's lost sheep in other parts of the world
might hear and read the gospel of Jesus Christ
in words that resonate with them.
It means that others of us, most of us,
learn the language of our day,
the way that people best connect with it,
and in the method that they best connect with
in order to cross the cultural barriers of age and technology
and inject truth and love and grace into their lives.
Did you guys know that Ruth Cantrell has an email address?
She, I don't mean to throw you under the bus,
Ruth is the oldest person, oldest woman in our congregation,
and she's an email theme.
I mean, she will light you up with some emails.
But if Ruth can use the internet to encourage the members of the church,
then you can learn to use Facebook for the glory of God.
And not just to build imaginary kingdoms
or to gather and disseminate the latest gossip,
but to actually glorify God.
I know, I fully will confess to you
that I'm not the best example of redeeming the internet
and what that looks like.
Not by any stretch.
I've put my digital foot in my proverbial mouth
countless times
after tweeting or blogging something.
And it doesn't matter how truthful the words were.
I've said things online
that have hurt my brothers and my sisters.
I'm trying to do better about that.
I'm trying to use the tools of our day
to communicate words of grace
to people in their language
and by their cultural means.
And you should too.
A refusal to meet people where they are
is absolute selfishness.
It's the opposite of love.
It's blatant sinfulness.
And it's not at all following the model of Christ.
So we should avoid, at all cost,
eloquence that is base,
is lower eloquence.
But we should also avoid eloquence
that's high eloquence.
We should not try to speak underneath people
or over their heads.
And two ways to judge our use of eloquence,
whether it be good eloquence or not,
are self-humiliation and Christ exaltation.
And we're wrapping this up.
I know we all have physical limitations
and attention is one of them,
so bear with you.
But self-humiliation is the first.
And we see that in our text,
1 Corinthians 1, 26-29.
It says,
So God's design in the cross and in election
is that no human being might boast
in the presence of God.
So two questions you can ask yourself
to consider
if your eloquence is self-humiliating
the way that it should.
These questions are,
Do my words feed boasting?
If the answer is yes,
then don't use those.
And do they come from an ego
in search of exaltation
through clever speech?
If the answer is yes,
then don't use those words.
The positive is Christ's exaltation.
We see that in the final verses of our text,
verses 30 and 31.
And because of him,
you are in Christ Jesus,
who became to us wisdom from God,
righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
so that as it is written,
let the one who boasts
boast in the Lord.
So God's design in the cross
and election and in regeneration
is that all boasting be in him.
The question that we can ask ourselves is,
Do my words exalt Christ,
especially him crucified on my behalf?
And if the answer is yes,
then that's a proper form of eloquence.
We can use eloquence in a way
that glorifies God.
It shouldn't altogether be avoided
as long as it meets those criteria.
In fact, the Bible is full of eloquence.
I want to read one passage to you
from Deuteronomy
that's absolutely beautiful.
Give ear, O heavens,
and I will speak
and let the earth hear
the words of my mouth.
May my teaching drop as the rain,
my speech distill as the dew.
Let gentle rain upon the tender grass
and like showers upon the earth.
For I will proclaim
the name of the Lord.
Ascribe greatness to our God.
Eloquently,
the scripture.
In fact,
Proverbs 15, 23, 25, 11,
and 26, 7,
as well as Colossians 3, 17,
actually encourage
and command us
to speak well,
to give thought
to the timing,
appropriateness,
and potential impact
of our words,
and to make every one of them
an honor
to the name of Christ.
So we have to accept
if we're going to be
true to scripture
that God is absolutely
sovereign over all things
and yet
He chooses
to use human means
to accomplish His will,
just as I prayed earlier.
Now, He certainly doesn't
need our eloquence.
That's what I'm getting at.
But,
He can and does
use it
to accomplish His ends.
If we use eloquence properly,
we can hope for at least
five positive,
God-glorifying outcomes.
I know some of you are going,
I'm kind of hungry
for five good points,
but I promise
these will be
brief and easy to swallow.
If we use eloquence properly,
we can hope at least
for five positive,
God-glorifying outcomes,
knowing full well
that it is the Holy Spirit
who convicts
and regenerates
and sanctifies,
and that He may
at any time
and in spite of our
eloquence or lack thereof,
intersect our dialogue
and work in the life
of our audience.
And when I say audience,
I don't necessarily mean
this kind of audience.
An audience can be
one-on-one.
Okay.
So, five potential
positive outcomes
of Christian eloquence.
I'm borrowing these
from a book called
The Power of Words
and the Wonder of God
by John Piper
and Justin Taylor.
If you're,
the word you need
like me,
you'll really enjoy that book.
But those five
positive outcomes
are keeping interest,
gaining sympathy,
awakening sensitivity,
speaking memorably,
and increasing power.
I'm going to run
through those
just in brief.
The first is
keeping interest.
And in Matthew 26,
near the end of that chapter,
Jesus is taking
the disciples up
to the Garden of Gethsemane
to pray,
and they all fall asleep.
And He says to them,
the Spirit is willing,
but the flesh is weak.
He highlights
that we all have
a physical weakness.
The implication is,
I know you guys
wanted to pray with me.
Maybe if you got
more rest earlier,
you could have stayed
awake and done.
We, in our speaking,
need to help
people's physical weakness.
If the word
is a spring of life,
then eloquence
is a well-paved,
beautifully adorned road
through the spring's garden
that not only leads
to the water,
but beckons travelers
to drink.
Do you see that?
My presentation
of truth
has no bearing
on the reality
of that truth.
But whether you hear it
is in very large part
a factor
of how well
I present it.
Eloquence may
keep people awake
or focused
because they find it
interesting or unusual
or pleasing
for reasons
that they
can't articulate.
Sleeping people
or distracted people
don't hear the word.
And faith comes
by hearing
and hearing the word.
Therefore,
eloquence
is like a good night's sleep.
It won't save your soul,
but it might keep you awake
to hear the word
which can.
So the second possible outcome
is gaining sympathy.
Nathan talked about this
a little bit last week.
A writer and blogger
named John Acuff
describes people
as having a rock
in their hand
and that rock
is made up of
all of their cultural
and experiential baggage.
It's a rock
that they intend
to clobber us with.
The moment
that we begin to act
like they expect us
to act
is the fact of
whatever stereotype
that rock represents.
Well, if that's true,
then eloquent language
can take the rock
out of their hand.
It can disarm them.
Eloquent language
isn't always
speaking in a high way.
It's communicating
people's common language
and doing it well.
So when we begin
to connect with people
on a verbal level,
it disarms them.
It replaces
their anger
or boredom
or resentment
with respect
and attraction
and interest
concentration.
So,
possible and
positive outcome
of eloquence
is gaining sympathy.
The third thing
is awakening
sensitivity.
Eloquence may not
bring about regeneration.
Certainly it doesn't.
But as a means
to that end,
it may awaken
the emotional
and intellectual
sensitivities
for more serious
and beautiful things.
That's why we see
David writing in
Psalm 19.
He says,
The heavens declare
the glory of God.
And then a little bit
later he says,
In them he is set
a tent for the sun,
which comes out
like a bridegroom
leaving his chamber
and like a strong man
runs its course
with joy.
So why would he
compare the rising sun
to a bridegroom
and a runner?
To help the dull mind
awaken to the joyful
beauty of the rising sun.
In the hopes
that this natural
kind of awakening
might lead to
a spiritual sight
that nature is all
about the glory of God.
So speaking beautifully
can awaken people's
awareness of beauty
in order that they
might see God
who is ultimate.
Fourth is speaking
memorably.
Certain kinds of eloquence
like cadence
or parallelism,
meter, rhyme,
alliteration,
even brevity,
which I haven't
displayed a lot of today,
may not only
interest and awaken
the heart,
but increase the impact
of the message
by making what is said
memorable.
Finally,
we can hope
that our eloquence
increases the power
of our message.
John Piper said,
the attempt to craft
striking and beautiful
language makes it
possible that the
beauty of eloquence
can join with the
beauty of truth
and increase the power
of your words.
When we take care
to create a beautiful
way of speaking
or writing about
something beautiful,
the eloquence,
the beauty of form,
reflects and honors
the beauty of the
subject,
and so honors the truth.
So there's a synergistic
power of two things
working together
to accomplish a greater
good in combining
beautiful presentation
with beautiful truth.
And that's why fajitas
taste so good.
You guys didn't?
There's an example
of eloquence.
You didn't expect that,
did you?
Fajitas do taste good,
though,
and the reason
is that because
before we ever get
to taste it,
all of our senses
are telling us
this food is going
to be good.
And we hear it
come out of the kitchen.
We smell it,
it's bright,
and it's exciting
to look at.
And when it gets
to the table,
the waiter drops
a shot of tequila
and lights it on fire.
I mean,
what's more exciting
than your food
being literally
on fire in front of you?
We've become
so engrossed
in the experience
of being served
the food
that we're able
to most fully
appreciate its flavor
because our attention
has already been drawn
to the excellence
of the food
before we taste it.
People who can't yet
see the beauty
of Christ
should receive
in our language
both a witness
to his beauty
and an invitation
to behold it
with us.
They should,
in effect,
hear us say,
the beauty of my words
is a shadow.
Christ,
who created
and sustains
and thankfully,
mercifully,
accepts imperfect beauty
as the substance.
Turn to him.
Go to him.
And that's the calling
for each of us
as we fix our attention
once again
on Christ,
crucified on our behalf,
becoming sin
that we might become
the righteousness
of God in him.
As we prepare
to take the Lord's Supper,
turn to Christ,
look to Christ,
just as our words
are symbols
that convey meaning,
the elements
of the Lord's Supper
are elements
that convey meaning.
They're symbols.
The bread represents
his body
that was broken
for us.
The juice represents
his blood
that was spilled.
So,
as we consider
the extreme offense
of the cross,
but also the beauty
of what was happening,
I would plead with you
to turn to Christ.
Go to him.
Pray with me.