MUTE
Gotta love the mute button! In these times of boom boxes and headphones, Ipod Touches, Nanos and 1000 inch plasma TV’s, isn’t it great just to press “MUTE” now and then to halt the noise which threatens to drown our lives and damage our ear drums? If only for a few brief seconds, we are able to think and allow our minds to wander, even to wonder. Today, we’re gonna get hip (is that still a word?) by allowing a text shorthand into our world of acronyms. As you meander through the next few hours, allow your mind to focus on the “word” MUTE. Even if you don’t remember its deeper meaning, at least you’ll have a lifeline for the day and a button to press when everyone and everything around you is screaming for your attention.
So, MUTE: Manage Ur Tongue Everytime. I know. It’s a little corny. I’d call it an “acronym at a push”, stretching the bandwidth of our acronomyic world. I had to work hard on this one to extract an application from James 3:3-12.
So…Why is Managing Ur Tongue Everytime so important? Quite simply, every time we open our mouths to speak, we either build up or put down; encourage or destroy; motivate or deflate; instruct with wisdom or lead astray with words of folly. James tells us in 1:19 to be “slow to speak”, and Scripture is chock full of guidelines on the use of words. Consider Proverbs 10:8, “A chattering fool comes to ruin.” Ouch! Or Proverbs 12:22, “The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful.” Proverbs 18:6 reveals that “A fool’s lips bring him strife, and his mouth invites a beating” while Proverbs 15:1 provides a recipe for dealing with an argument, stating, “A gentle answer turns away wrath.” Choice words are called a “rare jewel” in Proverbs 20:15, and a guarded tongue is said to keep oneself from calamity (Proverbs 21:22).
Time and time again we find God’s Word speaking to our hearts on the issue of MUTE – Managing Ur Tongue Everytime. If only Ananias and Sapphire had not had a lying tongue, or Peter a denying tongue. And what of Jacob’s conniving tongue, Judas Iscariot’s betraying tongue and Thomas’s doubting tongue? If only they could take their words back. Alas, once they’d left their mouths, the words spoken in haste could not be retrieved. The damage had been done and the repercussions were immense.
In much the same way, our words can never be taken back. We should never buy in to the old saying that, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Not true. “The tongue has the power of life and death…” (Proverbs 18:21). Words can wound, destroy and yes…kill.
So today, let’s watch what we say everytime, as well as the way we say it. And “If in doubt, say nowt” (Yorkshire slang for “nothing”). Shut up. Be quiet. Yes…Be a MUTE!
