RELATIONSHIP ROAD TRIP
FALLING ROCKS
DR. JIM DIXON
OCTOBER 14, 2007
JAMES 3:1-18
As you travel by car west out of Denver, you go up on I-70 into the Rocky Mountains heading towards the continental divide. When you come to Georgetown on I-70, the road begins to climb more steeply. On the way to Silver Plume, you begin to see those signs on the side of the road: “Falling Rocks.” You can see cliffs on the right side, on the north side, as you’re heading west. Over those cliffs, there are vast nets that are strung over the cliffs, which are meant to keep rocks from coming down on the road. I’ve noticed, as I’ve driven that stretch from time to time, that some people get a little bit spooked. They don’t like being near the cliff. They’re afraid that rocks might fall. They move their car into the center lane, further away from the cliff. I’ve even noticed some people close their sunroof, as though that would be of any benefit. But from time to time, as you’re looking at the newspaper or watching the news, you notice that a rock does fall and hit a car. Occasionally, tragically, somebody dies. Falling rocks are dangerous.
Now, we’re on a road trip, we’re on a journey; and by God’s design, this road trip is all about relationships. And there are falling rocks called “words.” They can be very dangerous. So, this morning we look at words. We look at falling rocks. I want us to examine this subject in light of our passage of Scripture from James chapter 3. We’ll have two teachings. The first teaching will concern cursing, and the second teaching will concern blessing—words of cursing, words of blessing.
First of all, God warns us not to use our words in ways that curse people. Some of you have at least some knowledge of World War II. You’ve studied the battle between the Allied forces and the Axis powers. During World War II, there was one ship that was more feared than any other, one ship considered to be the most dangerous on the seas. That ship was the Bismarck, a German battleship that was state-of-the-art. It was fast, it was powerful, and its guns were huge. It was a feared enemy.
It was May 23, 1941 when British warships encountered the Bismarck in the Denmark Strait between Greenland and Iceland. These British warships decided to engage the Bismarck, and it was tragic for the British and for the Allied powers. The greatest British battle cruiser, the Hood, went down at sea that day, sunk by the Bismarck. A brand-new destroyer, just built in the shipyards of Britain, went down that day, sunk by the Bismarck.
That was the day when the great chase began. British warplanes and warships began to chase the Bismarck for 1,750 miles across the Atlantic until the Bismarck came to the coast of France. About 600 miles off the coast, the war planes caught up with the Bismarck. One battle cruiser, five British destroyers, and two British battleships came up on the Bismarck. The Bismarck was alone; they had caught her. But to their amazement, she was going in a circle, 600 miles off the coast of France. She was just going in a circle. Although the British had power in the air and power in the sea, they were afraid of engaging this great ship, the Bismarck. And when they finally just began to engage her, to their amazement, she went down. She went down to the bottom of the ocean. They didn’t think they had even damaged her.
In the year 1989, not that long ago, scientists and explorers found the Bismarck at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. They discovered that the Bismarck had actually sunk herself. She’d taken herself down. She didn’t want to be handed over to the British and Allied naval forces. She didn’t want her technology to be discovered, those things that were state-of-the-art. She was damaged, as historians had suspected. Her rudder had malfunctioned and was stuck in a position. That’s why the Bismarck was going in a circle. Her rudder was stuck. Her rudder was dysfunctional.
James chapter 3 tells us that the human tongue—my tongue and your tongue—in a sense, is like a ship’s rudder. A ship’s rudder is very small, but very important. Your tongue is very small, but very important. When a rudder malfunctions, there is great danger. When our tongue malfunctions, again, there is great danger. Our tongue malfunctions when we slander someone. Our tongue malfunctions when we gossip. Somehow, it seems that in the Christian world and throughout Christian communities, it’s like gossip is the one acceptable sin. Of course, Christians don’t gossip; they just share “prayer requests.” But God warns us about this sin and the dangers of it.
The world does not like slander. Nobody likes to be slandered. No one likes gossip that is spoken against them. This has always been the case. You can go back to the first century before Christ and you’ll see this is true. I’m sure you remember Cicero. Cicero was a Roman statesman and orator. He was a man of great eloquence and great skill, but his tongue got him into trouble. His words got him into trouble sometimes. His words were falling rocks. It was the first Triumvirate—Pompeius, Caesar, and Crassus—who banished Cicero from Rome because his words were falling rocks. Cicero had slandered them.
Then the second Triumvirate—Octavian, Lepidus, and Mark Antony—executed Cicero because he had used his eloquence, his words, to slander and to malign the leaders of the second Triumvirate, particularly Mark Antony. Mark Antony was famous, the co-ruler of the Roman world, a statesman in his own right, and the husband of Cleopatra. Historians tell us that there were many Cleopatras, but only one that was truly significant; she was the wife of Mark Antony. Mark Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus ordered that Cicero be apprehended. After his incarceration, he was executed by hanging. According to tradition, he was hung by the tongue. What a way to die . . .
The world hates slander, but how does God feel about it? How does God feel about slander? Well, you come to Numbers 12 in the Old Testament, and you see Miriam. Miriam is a woman, the sister of Moses and Aaron. What a family that must have been, with Moses and Aaron and Miriam. They were great. Moses was the greatest of the Jews, a leader of God’s people. Aaron was the father and founder of the priesthood. Miriam was a prophetess, endowed and gifted by God. She was a leader in her own right.
In Numbers 12, Miriam becomes jealous of Moses; and in her jealousy, she begins to speak against him and to slander him. She thinks, “Why Moses? Why not me? Why shouldn’t I lead? After all, I’m a prophetess. I’m greatly gifted of God. I can do anything Moses can do.” Then she began to slander him before the people. And what does God do? His judgment falls upon her, and she’s afflicted and oppressed with disease. And it’s Moses who cries out for her healing and salvation.
God hates slander. Don’t slander His anointed. In fact, don’t slander anybody. The word for “slander” in the Bible is the Greek word “diabolos.” The strange thing is that this word, “diabolos,” is the same word that we use for the devil. The devil is a slanderer. He loves to accuse people. The word for slander is a word which also means “devils.” In the sight of God, slander is from the pit; it comes from the mouth of hell. This is how God views slander. This is how God views gossip.
In Romans 1, the Word of God says that those who slander and those who gossip deserve death. That’s what God says in Romans 1. When we slander, when we gossip, we deserve death. It doesn’t say that God kills those who slander and gossip. I mean, if I slander or if I gossip, it doesn’t mean God will kill me; but it does mean that I deserve to die. If I gossip and I slander, in the sight of God, I deserve to die. That’s how serious this is.
The word “diabolos” is not the Greek word used in Romans 1. There are two Greek words used—one for “slander,” which means “whisperer.” Are you a whisperer? God says, “Be careful.” Whisperers are oftentimes gossips and slanderers. And the other word for “gossip” in Romans 1 is the word “katalalia.” “Katalalia” literally just means “to speak against.” God tells us to be careful. Even if we speak against someone . . . it doesn’t even have to be slander; it might even be true . . . but be careful. Be careful.
Now, why does God hate gossip and slander so much? I mean, why is this so grave a sin in the sight of God? I think it’s because God loves people and God loves justice. God hates anything that is unfair, and God hates anything that hurts. I’m sure most of you have seen a starfish. Perhaps you’ve seen a starfish in an aquarium. Maybe you’ve seen a starfish at the beach. Certainly, you’ve at least seen a picture of a starfish, and you know that a starfish usually has five appendages. Zoologists and scientists tell us that starfish can have as many as 40 appendages. I’ve never seen such a starfish, but, apparently, a starfish can have as many as 40 appendages.
The amazing thing about a starfish is that if you cut off one of its appendages, it just grows back. Did you know that? So, if you take a five-appendage starfish and just cut off one of the appendages, it’ll grow back . . . not instantly; but over the course of time, it will grow back naturally. The scientists tell us that if you cut off all five appendages and just leave the heart, still all five appendages will grow back. Cut off all five, and all five will grow back. If you have a 40-appendage starfish, and you cut off all 40, all 40 will grow back. In fact, scientists tell us, if you take the starfish and cut it in two, it’ll grow back. The two halves will become two wholes. You’ll have two starfish. Isn’t that amazing?
The problem is, we’re not like that. We’re not like that physically. We’re not like that emotionally. I’m not like that emotionally. Somebody slices and dices me, and I don’t recover that quickly. I don’t heal that well, and neither do you. God knows that slander and gossip can produce damage that never heals; and God hates it.
Now, in marriage relationships, we really need to be careful with regard to falling rocks, the words we say and the way words can hurt. Sometimes, in a marriage relationship, if the couple gets kind of mad at each other, they say things they should never say—those are falling rocks . . . and how they hurt. Many years ago, I was reading a section of the newspaper here in Denver. It was a local paper. I think it was the Rocky Mountain News. At that time, they had a section on paramedics and what they had done in the prior week. Sometimes, it involved police reports. There was one occasion where they went to this house where, on the prior night, this couple had had a fight before they went to bed.
The wife had apparently revealed that she had bought something that day, and the husband thought it was too expensive. He became upset, and they began to argue. As they began to argue, it accelerated. They began to say things to each other that they should not have said, and it really hurt. They became very, very mad. When they went to bed that night, they slept at the far ends of the bed, their backs to each other. The heat was palpable. The next morning was Saturday morning. The wife needed to go to work on Saturday, and the husband was off on Saturday. So, the wife went to get dressed; and she put on a nice dress because she needed that for the day. She hadn’t spoken to her husband that morning; but as she was putting the dress on, she asked her husband to come and zip the zipper in the back of the dress.
He came over and took the zipper. He zipped down and up and down and up and down and up, and then he left it down. He left it unzipped and walked away. She thought, “Man, I can’t believe he’s still mad. I can’t believe he’s still angry.” She managed to zip her own dress, and she went to work. About midday, she came back. She came back to the house, and she saw that her husband was under the car in the driveway. He was working on the car, and his feet were sticking out. She thought, “I do love him, and I really want to forgive him. I want him to forgive me.” And so, she got down on her knees. She went up and grabbed hold of his zipper playfully, and she zipped down and up and down and up and down and up, and then she left it down.
She just thought he would laugh, but he didn’t make a sound. And she thought, “Man, I can’t believe he’s still angry.” She went into the house, heading towards the kitchen. She sees her husband coming out with two beers, and realizes that her husband had invited a friend over to the house to work on the car. She had just flipped this stranger’s zipper up and down. Apparently when she did that, this friend that was under the car was so shocked that he jumped up, hit his head against the bottom of the car, and passed out. So, the paramedics had to come. It was all caused by words. It all began with falling rocks. So, on this journey, on this road trip, God warns us to be careful of falling rocks. Words are powerful.
There’s a second teaching this morning. It concerns blessing. God’s will is that, on this journey and on this road trip, we use words to bless people. I know that some of you have heard of Carlo Lorenzini. He was born in 1826 in Florence, Italy. In his childhood, he lived in an Italian village called Collodi; he took this as his pen name, and he became Carlo Collodi. Perhaps you know him by that name. He was an author who wrote stories and books. One of his stories was called “The Adventures of Pinocchio.” I’m sure that all of you have read that story; and you know how whenever Pinocchio lies, his nose grows.
Wouldn’t it be cool if it were that way in real life? Or maybe not. If somebody was talking to you and began to tell a lie . . . if you saw their nose begin to grow when they told that lie . . . I think that might be kind of cool. But have you ever wondered why people lie? Have you ever taken a deeper look and thought about it? Why do people lie? Psychologists tell us that most of the time people lie because they’re trying to bless themselves. I mean, there might be rare occasions when people lie because they want to protect somebody else or bless somebody else. But most of the time when people lie, they’re trying to bless themselves. Maybe they’re trying to impress somebody they’re talking to, or maybe they’re trying protect themselves. But in some fashion, they lie to bless themselves.
In Acts chapter 5, we read the story of Ananias and Sapphira. They were in the Jerusalem Church, and they were fairly wealthy. They sold a piece of property, they took the proceeds, and they kept part of it for themselves. They gave some to the church, but they told the church they were giving all the proceeds of the property. They lied. Why did they lie? Well, certainly, they wanted to bless themselves. They wanted to impress other people. They wanted to be elevated in the sight of other people. The judgment of God came upon them.
As an aside, I would remind you that, certainly, the cause of Christ needs the gifts of Christ’s people. We need to bring gifts not only to churches, but to ministries—anything that serves the kingdom of heaven. We need to be generous givers. Ministries fail or succeed oftentimes because of the faithfulness or lack of faithfulness in God’s people. Hopefully, you’re committed to the cause of heaven on earth.
But, you see, we live in a world where many people lie like Ananias and Sapphira. Many people lie, oftentimes to bless themselves. Most people get up every morning, and they really want to bless themselves. They want to protect themselves. That’s the way of the world. But if you’re a follower of Christ, if you believe in Jesus Christ and you are in His family, He’s called us to live in a whole different way. We’re supposed to wake up every morning and think about blessing others, protecting others, and serving others. We are to use our words to bless other people.
In the 17th century, European settlers came to South Africa. When European settlers came to South Africa, they saw some things they’d never seen before. They saw one animal that they called the “earth pig.” The earth pig had a snout that looked like a pig, and it had ears that looked like a donkey. Today, we call the earth pig the “aardvark.” The word “aardvark” simply means “earth pig.” The amazing thing about the aardvark is really not its nose, and it’s not its ears. The amazing thing about the aardvark is its tongue. I mean, God has blessed this animal with amazing dexterity in its tongue. The tongue is 12 to 18 inches in length. The aardvark feeds its face and blesses itself with its tongue.
But scientists tell us that the aardvark also blesses mankind. The aardvark is a blessing to the world. And how is that? Well, aardvarks help control ant and termite populations. This is the plan of God. Aardvarks help control ant and termite populations. And so, in parts of the world where aardvarks live and there are human civilizations, those people are blessed because of the aardvark.
Of course, aardvarks are not altruistic. I mean, there’s no intentionality, there’s no level of thought that would involve that kind of complexity. But human beings have complexity. We can be altruistic. We can, with intentionality, decide to bless the world and to bless people. And Christ commands us to do this. So, every morning we’re supposed to wake up, and we’re supposed to think about how we can bless people. We’re supposed to go beyond what the world can even understand. Jesus tells us that we’re supposed to bless even those who curse us. We’re supposed to pray for those who abuse us. We’re supposed to love those who hate us. This is not an easy road trip. This is not an easy journey. The call of Christ is hard, and it is high. We’re supposed to use words to bless everybody.
I get a magazine called “The Christian Century,” and I’ve received this magazine for a number of years. I get a lot of different publications, but I get the Christian Century even though it’s kind of a moderate-to-liberal publication. I’m theologically conservative and morally conservative. I seek to be biblical and to “contend for the faith once and for all delivered to the saints.” But this publication is moderate-to-liberal, and I get it because I like to see what is happening and what is being said in the whole spectrum and scope of the Christian world. Also, I find that when I read the Christian Century, sometimes, there’s an article that’s helpful for me. Sometimes, I just want to know what the enemy’s thinking. So, I get this publication, and I plow through it.
Well, Jerry Falwell died this year, May 15th, 2007. Just a few months ago, he died in his office of apparent heart attack. He was 73 years old. He was a Baptist pastor, the founder of the Moral Majority, and the founder of Liberty University. He was very controversial. I think a lot of people, when they think of Jerry Falwell, think of falling rocks, right? They think of falling rocks, words that do damage. There are times through the years, I will admit, when I would read comments by Falwell, and sometimes I would respect his courage. Other times, I would reflect on what he had said and wish he hadn’t said it . . . Or, at least, I would wish that how he had allegedly said it wasn’t the case. (With the media, you don’t always know.)
But it was interesting to get an issue of Christian Century, this moderate-to-liberal magazine, which had semi-dedicated an issue to the memory of Jerry Falwell. I was very interested. I thought, “Wow, what are these guys going to say about Jerry Falwell?” There were a number of articles about Jerry Falwell, one by Will Willimon. Will Willimon was the chaplain at Duke University. He was also a professor of religion and theology there. Today, Will Willimon is the bishop of Northern Georgia in the United Methodist Church. I’ve heard Will a number of times; I’ve talked to him rarely. He’s a moderate-to-liberal Christian. So, he wrote this article, a tribute to Jerry Falwell. I was stunned.
He explains how at Duke University, when he was serving as chaplain, a student came up to him and said, “You’re kind of a phony.” And Will Willimon said, “What do you mean?” The student said, “Well, you’re really not open-minded. I mean, you’re kind of liberal, and you’re not open-minded. You’re prejudiced. You don’t invite conservatives to speak at Duke. I dare you to invite Jerry Falwell to come and speak at Duke University.”
Will Willimon thought about that, and he accepted the challenge. He invited Jerry Falwell, thinking Falwell would never come. To his amazement, Jerry Falwell said, “Oh, I’d be honored. I’d love to come.” And Will Willimon thought, “Oh no, I’m in trouble.” The next day, he calls Jerry Falwell back, hoping he can get Jerry Falwell to back out of it. He says, “Jerry, I’m sorry, but I neglected to tell you that we can’t afford to pay you.” Falwell said, “Well, that doesn’t matter. It’s payment enough just to have the honor to speak at Duke University.” Willimon thinks, “Oh man, I have to find something else.” He said, “Well, I know this sounds incredible, but we really can’t afford to fly you here either.” Falwell said, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll make arrangements. Transportation is not a problem.”
So, Will Willimon is thinking, “Oh no, Falwell’s coming.” So, he goes to the president of Duke and says to her, “I have invited Jerry Falwell to speak.” She’s stunned. Willimon says, “As Jerry Falwell addresses the student body, I just wanted to give you the opportunity to introduce him.” She said, “Introduce him? What in the world are you thinking? How could you invite Jerry Falwell to Duke University? When is your contract up? When do you have your review?” Will Willimon thought, “Oh no, I’m in so much trouble.”
So, Falwell comes. Willimon meets him for the first time and is very surprised at how engaging, winsome, and friendly Falwell is. Falwell speaks to the student body, and he talks to the student body about Christian heritage. He talks about how Duke University and many Ivy League schools like Harvard, Princeton, and Yale have Christian roots and Christian foundations. He talks about how these institutions have left those roots.
When he was done, there was an open mic and students could come up and make comments and ask questions. Everybody knew there was going to be fireworks. This one student, a young African American woman, came up. She was very angry. She told Jerry Falwell that he was a bigot and a racist. She said, “You call yourself a Christian, but your words are words of hate.” She said “You’re the founder of Liberty University, but I’m sure it’s a university filled with hate. I mean, how many African Americans are in your student body at Liberty?” She said, “I bet you hardly have any.”
There was silence. Falwell put his head down. He was very quiet and deeply moved. And he said, “I must confess to you, this is one of my great failures. I have repented before God, time and again. In more recent years, I have sought with great energy to add to the minority population of Liberty University. I’ve sought more African American students. I tell Coretta Scott King, who is the widow of Martin Luther King, all the time how guilty I feel. She keeps encouraging me, telling me that she believes I’m doing the best I can. But I must confess to you,” he said, “that currently at Liberty University, we’re only 12% African American.” There was silence.
Then Jerry Falwell said, “But I must ask you, young woman . . . here at Duke University, what’s the percentage of African Americans?” There was silence again. He said, “I will tell you that it is less than 6%, and your endowment is 50 times the endowment that we have at Liberty. You are blessed with such wealth, and you’re not reaching out to the poor.” He said, “I must tell you that before I came here, I got down on my knees and I prayed and asked the Lord if I should come to a place like this.” According to Will Willimon, by the time Falwell was done, he got a standing ovation. Will Willimon said that he found himself asking God, praying, “Lord, give me half of Jerry Falwell’s ability to manipulate an academic audience.”
The amazing thing was, as I looked at that article, and then moved to the next article on the mixed legacy of Falwell, I began to see things about Jerry Falwell that I didn’t dream could have been true. This is a liberal magazine claiming that Falwell had reached across the aisle, that he played golf with Jesse Jackson, that he went on vacations with Ted Kennedy—his family and Kennedy’s family—and that he would talk frequently with Nelson Mandela. In fact, they had become confidants. Al Sharpton viewed Jerry Falwell as his friend and gave such testimony after Falwell’s death. The male, white co-founder of Soul Force, which is a gay, lesbian, and transgender organization, had become a close friend of Jerry Falwell’s. Larry Flynt, the porn peddler of Hustler infamy had, after his litigation with Falwell, by his own testimony become Falwell’s friend.
I’m reading this stuff, and I’m stunned. I’m like, “Who could have thought this?” I’m just shocked, and maybe you are too. And I’m thinking, “Well, this is a liberal publication. They wouldn’t be trying to say nice things about Jerry Falwell.” But the amazing thing is that clearly there were sides to Jerry Falwell that maybe none of us understood. Certainly, America didn’t understand. Certainly, the media never saw or mentioned how he reached across the aisle. He wanted to bless those who cursed him. He wanted to pray for those who abused him. He wanted to love those who hated him, even by the testimony of former enemies who had grown to like him. And I have to think that maybe even in many of the statements he made to our culture at large—statements that were deemed harsh or judgmental—in his heart he was trying to use words to bless our nation, believing this was a nation and a culture going to rot.
It’s a tough and complex issue. But I was inwardly convicted as I read those articles. I thought, “Wow. Do I reach across the aisle? Do I love my enemies? Do I love people who hate me? Do I bless those who curse me? Do I pray for those who abuse me? Do I live like that? Do I use my tongue like that? Do I use my words like that? And am I building bridges to the people who don’t think like me theologically, morally, or politically? Am I willing to build a few bridges for the sake of Jesus and the love of Christ?”
I’m sure that Falwell wanted to share the gospel with folks. Do I want to do that? Do you want to do that? We’re supposed to use our words to bless. I think this is, indeed, a very tough road. It’s a hard journey. It’s the way of Christ, and it’s hard and it’s high . . . definitely.
As we close, there are a few words in the Bible I just want to remind you of. One is the word “theosebeia.” This word means “to worship God.” Make sure you’re using your words to worship God and bless God. Another word is the word “perakaleo.” “Perakaleo” is the word from which we get the word “paraclete.” “Parakaleo” means “to come alongside” or “to comfort.” And I would encourage us to use our words to comfort people, to wake up every day and actually ask the question, “Can I comfort somebody today? Can I come alongside of somebody today?” Instead of waking up and hoping that somebody will comfort you—and hopefully somebody will comfort you—ask the question, “Can I come alongside somebody today and bless somebody with my words, with my time?”
Another word is “martus,” the Greek word meaning “witness.” Are you willing to use your words to witness? Are you willing to tell folks about Jesus? Are you willing to tell men and women about Jesus, willing to take that risk, willing to build that bridge? It’s the call of Christ upon His people. “You shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the world.” He said it to you. He said it to me.
The word “eulogia” means “to bless.” It literally means “good word.” We bless somebody when we say a good word to them or a good word about them. You ought to wake up every day and just think, “Who can I say a good word about today?” Maybe you say a good word behind their back. Maybe you say a good word to their face. But you wake up each day intending to do that. “Makarizo” is another word in the Greek which means “to bless,” but it literally means “to make happy.” Do you seek to make somebody happy today? Are you just trying to make yourself happy? The way of Christ is outward-focused.
So, on this journey, on this road trip, there are falling rocks. And the Lord warns us, “Don’t let your words be falling rocks. You’re called to bless, not curse.” This is the call of Jesus upon His people. So, let’s close with a word of prayer.