My soul clings to you,Your right hand upholds me.
“for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” Luke 6:45, Matthew 12:34
I have heard this verse used to make quick judgment on a person. That person has said something foolish, and they are wailed into because of that statement. And when challenged, they say they are justified in their judgement because “out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks”. They might even add to this, “there is no other way of interpreting what that person said, so it really does demonstrate their heart”. Here is the deal, this is the lazy man’s way of condemning a person. Yes, it is true that what we say, reveals our heart. And if we say something foolish, hateful, bigoted, we need to examine our hearts. The problem comes when we think that that fact, makes us good interpreters of other people’s hearts. Yes, our words reveal who we are, but the who we are behind those words are not easily known. We need to understand, we are not good interpreters of other men’s heart. If we make statements like “there is no other way to interpret what they said” without due diligence, what just came out of our mouth is revealing more about us than the person we are judging. James writes, “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore, put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” Miscommunication happens all the time, knowing this is part of wisdom. We often don’t hear the intent of someone’s heart. I have misunderstood what someone has said and their intent many times in my life. I have also said things that didn’t come out as I intended. This scripture does not give us permission to make snap judgements on people.
What it does give us permission to do is talk and communicate. It is ok to ask and often we ought to ask, “You said this, it doesn’t sound right (or even “that statement is not ok”), what did you mean?”. The scripture is very clear that we ought to be involved in each other’s lives and calling each other to holiness. We are to speak into each other’s lives. The Gospel gives us this freedom. But we are to do so in humbleness, realizing we are horrible interpreters of the intent of someone’s heart, being ready to listen, and being slow to speak and slow to anger, and slow to judgement, and willing to ask the hard penetrating questions to get to know the person. The scripture does not call us to passivity but encourages us to be a part of each other’s life and growth.
This does not mean we don’t talk; the scripture calls us to exhort one another. But our discussions should be with the humility of understanding we are poor interpreters of our world. Because I am a fool, I want to listen more than I speak. When I speak being willing to be shown that I am wrong.
The fact is, we don’t do this well. Ok, well we can still discuss things. This is where we have push to love one another. Jesus said they would know that we are His by our love for one another. Thankfully this doesn’t mean we will always agree with one another. Jesus said that anyone can love those who love them. Real love shows up when we disagree yet pursue each other in love and fellowship and joy.
The scripture says, “The purpose in a man’s heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.” This is not a lazy man’s task. It takes work, it takes patience, it takes being slow, it takes courage and a willingness to be uncomfortable. It takes love. Love is not lazy. The Gospel calls us to something greater.
