Talking Too Much?

And don’t say anything you don’t mean.  This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions.  You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, “I’ll pray for you,” and never doing it, or saying, “God be with you,” and not meaning it.  You don’t make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace.  In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true.  Just say, “yes” and “no.” When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong.

Matthew 5:33-37 [The Message]

I have always been a “talker” – not in an outgoing, friendly way [I am introverted by nature], but in an “explain myself” sort of way.  It seems at times that my mantra is “the more words, the better.”  I don’t know why I have this feeling that people will not understand me the first time.  I blabber on and on, hoping, I suppose, that eventually the listener will thoroughly understand my issue/motive/reason, etc.  Often, I just make the situation muddier, which causes me to jump back in with a new round of blather.

I love the way Eugene Peterson has translated this passage in Matthew – a portion of the Sermon on the Mount.   Pious talk can be so easy for those of us who have walked the Christian path for a long time.  Well-worn “Christian” phrases can flow out of our mouths with little forethought.  “You don’t make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace.”  Flowing “Christian” speech can be thoughtless and meaningless.

Jesus’ advice?  Keep it to “yes” and “no.”  The issue here is all about truth – truth in life, truth in action, truth in utterance.  Can you say “yes” without an explanation of why you said that?  Can you say “no” and leave it at that?  It’s not easy – but it certainly saves a lot of embarrassment, heartache, and confusion down the road.  Don’t hide behind your endless words.  A transparent life demands clear, truthful speech.