Keep your tongue from evil, keep your tongue.

This morning, Bro Dillow spoke on the power of words. Flattery, or excessive and insincere praise, is just making someone believe they are something that they aren’t.  Much can be found in the bible about flattery.  Proverbs 26:28 says “a flattering mouth works ruin.”  It doesn’t address a person’s faults and makes them feel they are okay when they aren’t.  God wants honesty and forthrightness among us as Christ’s body.  We aren’t to encourage one another in our faults by glossing over them.  Deceive not with your lips. 

Proverbs also says the hypocrite will destroy his neighbor.  How so?  We are our brother’s keeper and are supposed to “watch out” for one another.  Like the watchman on the wall in the Old Testament, if we see something about to destroy our “neighbor” and don’t warn them, God will require it of us.  To act like it isn’t there is hypocrisy which will eventually harm or destroy them.  If you see your brother overtaken with a fault, we are to restore them, that is, if we are spiritual.  Tell them they are wrong.  Don’t just say “I appreciate you” and make them think everything is fine.  It is good to compliment each other, but only if you mean it.  Otherwise, it does nothing but puff up and make a person proud. 

This was a great discussion with much openness.  We need to be open and honest even in our services.  Too many times we are quick to flatter church members – not addressing issues that might be bothering us, but covering them up because we don’t want to hurt them.  The truth is, we hurt them more by not being honest with them.  Sometimes a little hurt has to occur in order to grow.