I am neither a prophet, nor the son of a prophet—and as I once heard Walter Kaiser, Jr. say, I have spent most of my working life employed by non-profit organizations.
But I am prepared to make a prediction. There is coming a day—a day not far off—when you will regret your public expressions of anger and rancor. Whatever your motivations, whatever your political associations, whatever settings you have expressed these words, not too far in the future, you will regret all those irate words you have been writing—and all those heated videos you have been recording (or the videos of others you have been sharing). You will regret all those vindictive comments you have posted in response to others you disagree with.
I predict that you will feel ashamed for (1) what you have said, or (2) the way you have said it. I prophesy that a day is coming when you will feel the sting of shame for what you have done!
How do I know this? No, I haven’t received a special word from the Lord. No, I do not have some sort of special insight into what is coming next—either in the churches of those who profess faith in Jesus or in the broader culture.
I know this to be the case just by reading God’s holy word. I know that you will be ashamed because of what the Bible teaches. I know it because of a combination of (1) biblical warnings to avoid rancor, and (2) warnings of what will happen if you continue pursuing such aggressive speech.
When will this moment of shame take place? For some of you, it will take place soon. I see two ways you might feel ashamed in the short run. (1) You might become convicted from God’s Spirit (perhaps convicting you through reading God’s word) that you have been wrong—and then ashamed of what you have said and done. Or (2) the winds of change will blow in such a direction that you will feel disillusioned with the party lines you took and the way you were influenced to get on board with people who didn’t share God’s commitment to love one another in thought and word and deed.
But if neither of these happens in the short run, I predict on the authority of God’s word that there is coming a day when you will feel sorry and ashamed—not the repentant sort of sorry of #1 above, but true shame—in the presence of God on judgment day.
Jesus says so: “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:36-37).
On the final day of judgment, you will give an account for every careless word that you have spoken. The only exception to this coming reckoning for your words is if—while you still have the chance—you cast yourself in faith upon the mercy of God—resting your reliance upon Jesus, the one who died and rose again on your behalf. Only then will your callous words be atoned for. Only then will your sins be forgiven, by the one who is “faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
And don’t you dare think: Well, I’m okay. I prayed a sinner’s prayer [fill-in-the-blank] number of years ago. So I know I’m a Christian—whatever I write or publish or comment on…
The very same passage I quoted a couple paragraphs ago says, ““Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil” (Matthew 12:33-35). These words are followed by the warning that God will bring everything to judgment. It very well may be that your ongoing rancorous words are the evidence that will be brought against you on the day of judgment that you do not in fact know the Lord—and never did in the first place.
I speak from the authority of the word of God that you will be sorry for these words you have spoken. I know that many who read my articles are not in this category, and do not have anything to confess to the Lord. Some of you have been very careful with your words despite all the heat around you. For those in this place, please continue to speak and write wise, gracious, words—seasoned with salt—while still speaking and weighing the relative importance of various topics—while never backing down from what is most important. Thank you for your consistent (and extremely needed) example.
But there is coming a day of sorrow and regret for all the acrimonious words we have spoken, written, videoed, and disseminated. How much better to be sorry for those words now, confess those words to almighty God (who, I remind you, loved you so much that he sent his Son to take the punishment for your sin—if only you will receive him in true faith). How much better it will be to be ashamed of those words now and turn from them (repent) than to be ashamed of what you have spoken when the winds of culture change direction. And even if the winds of culture do not shift (though they usually do), the Bible says that it is appointed unto everyone once to die, and after that comes the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Then you will be sorry—and it will be too late to repent.
I close this article by allowing God’s word to speak warnings about the words that come out of our mouths.
But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth (Colossians 3:8).
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 (James 1:19-20).
[The tongue] is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so (James 3:8b-10).
A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back (Proverbs 29:11).
I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned (Matthew 12:36-37).
A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger (Proverbs 15:1).
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:31-32).
Kindle Afresh 