The Tongue - Edition #13: Let's Talk

April 17th, 2006

The Tongue – Edition #13: Let’s Talk

Oh brother I can't, I can't get through. I've been trying hard to reach you, because I don't know what to do. Oh brother I can't believe it's true. I'm so scared about the future and I want to talk to you. Oh I want to talk to you. You can take a picture of something you see. In the future where will I be? You can climb a ladder up to the sun or write a song nobody has sung or do something that's never been done. Are you lost or incomplete? Do you feel like a puzzle, you can't find your missing piece? Tell me how do you feel? Well I feel like they're talking in a language I don't speak and they're talking it to me. So you take a picture of something you see. In the future where will I be? You can climb a ladder up to the sun or write a song nobody has sung or do something that's never been done. Do something that's never been done. So you don't know were you're going, and you want to talk. And you feel like you're going where you've been before. You tell anyone who'll listen but you feel ignored. Nothing's really making any sense at all. Let's talk, let's talk, let's talk, let's talk. (Words from the song “Talk” by Coldplay)

“But doctor,” lamented young Jenny in counseling, “Whenever Johnny and I quarrel, he becomes historical.” “You mean, hysterical,” said Doctor Smith. “No, historical, you see he’s is always digging up my past.”

Talk (noun):

• An exchange of ideas or opinions; a conversation.


• A speech or lecture.


• Discussion.

Talk (verb):

• To articulate (words).


• Exchange thoughts.

John 18:28-40
Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not enter the palace; they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”

“If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.”

Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”

“But we have no right to execute anyone,” the Jews objected. This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled.

Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

“Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”

“Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

“You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

“What is truth?” Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release 'the king of the Jews'?”

They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion.

Truth (noun):

• Conformity to fact or actuality.


• A statement proven to be or accepted as true.


• Sincerity; integrity.


• Conformity to reality or actuality.


• A fact that has been verified.

I think that it is interesting that Jesus asks Pilate if he came to ask Jesus if he was a king by his own idea or by the ideas of others. You see, Pilate didn’t do his homework. He borrowed notes, I guess the Cliff Notes, and believed the gossip that people told him. He didn’t come up with his own idea. And that is important. People don’t become Christians by the beliefs of others. They have to develop their own convictions. I could spend days, weeks, even months in this Yahoo group that is filled with non-believers and spouting off verses and preaching the bible, but I would simply be bringing Jesus to them. They have no desire to come to Jesus. Jesus was brought to Pilate, but Pilate had no desire to go to Jesus. And thus Jesus was crucified. I could even show them this website I found yesterday which is more than interesting to me (biblecode.com), but I feel it would simply be the “pearls before swine”. If they really don’t want to believe, they will find an area to create doubt, and thus doubt. I pray for them, that their doubt be lifted and their eyes opened. When we talk, though, it is more of ridicule which is language or behavior intended to mock or humiliate. I don’t go to that group often, simply because it sparks anger within my spirit. And I know I have issues with anger and frustration. When I go into that group, I simply speak and then I leave, knowing that I spoke with a calm presence and demeanor. If I stay within their walls too long, I know that I won’t be able to keep that calm spirit. As it is written, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.” And as the saying goes, with much power, comes much responsibility. If the tongue is like a rudder on a ship, it carries with it much power… I need to be wise with this powerful tongue of mine, for with it can help others plant that seed and lead them to Christ, as it can also plant despair and push them away. Johnny Out.