By Your Words You Will Be Justified
Post #2 reflecting on my good Christian neighbor Doug Wilson...and how Jesus tells us to speak
In an article last month, I argued that we cannot categorize other orthodox Christians as Pharisees, and so we cannot use Jesus’ treatment of the Pharisees to justify the use of harsh, mocking, or belittling words as a way of correcting the supposed errors we see in other Christians - a method of communication my good Christian neighbor Doug Wilson tends to employ with alarming regularity. Though he represents a more extreme example of the phenomenon, there is a growing movement within evangelicalism that is increasingly skeptical of Christian virtues such as gentleness, patience, and (to use a KJV word Wilson would appreciate) charity.1
Today, I’d like to look at what kind of words Jesus actually commands us to speak, and what kind of words Jesus actually models for us in his conversations with his disciples. To do so, I’ll be surveying some our Lord’s words across the Gospel of Matthew, which I believe is representative of how he speaks throughout the Gospels.
Out of the Abundance of the Heart the Mouth Speaks
I cannot think of any place where Jesus more comprehensively addresses our speech as his disciples than in the Sermon on the Mount. This section of Matthew’s Gospel is especially on my mind right now as my church just concluded a sermon series on the Beatitudes. Throughout the series, my pastor made a convincing case that the Beatitudes describe the heart posture of kingdom citizens. What does that heart posture look like? It looks like disciples who are…
Poor in spirit, recognizing their own spiritual bankruptcy (Matt. 5:3)
Mourning over their own sin and the things that grieve God’s heart (Matt. 5:4)
Humbly dependent on God (Matt. 5:5)
Hungering and thirsting for both the righteousness of Christ and a growing holiness within themselves (Matt. 5:6)
Merciful, in response to the great mercy God has shown them(Matt. 5:7)
Pure in heart, treasuring what God treasures and longing for Christ’s return (Matt. 5:8)
Peacemakers, pursuing peace even at great cost to themselves (Matt. 5:9)
Joyful even in the midst of persecution for the sake of Christ (Matt. 5:10–11)
If I had to choose one word to sum up all of these incredible qualities it would be, “humble.” A humble dependence on God that overflows into humble interactions with others.
From here, Jesus goes on to describe the purpose he’s given to his disciples - to be salt and light in the world (Matt. 5:13–16). Salt slows decay and light shines in darkness. Note that Jesus isn’t ambiguous about what he wants this salt and light to do. The point is so that the world will “give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (5:16). Our humility, our saltiness, our shining is all about explicitly glorifying God
Think about how this sets the agenda for how we wield our words. If this is the kind of person Jesus wants his disciples to be, what kind of speech should we use? What kind of words should we be known for? How should we address fellow Christians when navigating disagreement and conflict?
The Speech Christ Commands
Back to the Sermon. After reinforcing the authority of the Scriptures and declaring himself the fulfillment of them, the first character quality Jesus addresses head on is anger - specifically, anger that leads to insult.
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. - Matt. 5:21–22
Jesus is not mincing words here. If we take him seriously, we should be terrified at the thought of flippantly insulting a brother or sister in Christ regardless of any disagreement we might have with them over a secondary (or tertiary) issue. Jesus certainly does not mean we should not address one another’s sin. He doesn’t mean we compromise on the truth. But he forbids sinful anger against fellow Christians that results in reckless words and insults towards them.
Jesus goes on to warn against the temptation of escalating conflict, going so far as to say, “Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matt. 5:39). People far wiser than I have analyzed this passage and worked to bring it into harmony with other texts that would guard against abuse of this verse, but at the very least Jesus instructs us here not to fan the flames of conflict.
He follows that up with another incredibly difficult command: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44). He does so assuming we are already loving our brothers and sisters in Christ (Matt 5:46–47).
Finally, as relates to our speech, Jesus addresses how we judge one another. We are to be a people who care more about removing any logs from our own eyes than trying to address dust speck’s in the eyes of others (Matt. 7:1–5).
All of this serves to paint what I think is a rather clear picture of how the Lord intends us to use our words. Christ’s disciples are to be people marked by humility and peacemaking - not anger, mockery, or insults.
The Speech Christ Models
We all know the importance of practicing what you preach. What kind of preacher is Jesus? Is he the kind of Person who lives out what he commands of others? Does he provide us an example of that which he’s expecting us to do?
The Gospel of Matthew provides us with a number of moments wherein Jesus corrects his disciples. What we consistently see is this: clear, direct, loving correction. Sometimes that correction is quite strong, as we’ll see. But He doesn’t call his disciples fools for failing to understand his parables. He doesn’t mock them for taking a long time to grasp the full meaning of his ministry. Rather, he demonstrates the living embodiment of speaking the truth in love (Eph. 4:15). For instance:
Jesus shows patience with his disciples when he needs to explain to them multiple parables about the kingdom of heaven to them (Matthew 13, 16:5–12
When walking on tremulous waters, Jesus encourages his disciples in the midst of their fear (Matt. 14:27) and addresses Peter’s fault (his doubt) without insulting him (Matt. 14:31)
When the disciples, in their aloofness, complain about the woman pouring oil on Jesus’ feet as a sign of his burial, Jesus corrects them without anger (Matt. 26:6–13).
Even when his disciples fail to pray with him in his hour of need, Jesus is remarkably long-suffering with them (Matt. 26:36–46).
Over and over throughout the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus directly and patiently corrects his disciples when they are in error. He does not beat around the bush, nor does he beat the bush into submission. He speaks the truth clearly, and he does so in love.
Get Behind Me, Satan
That said, there is one instance in the Gospel of Matthew where I think someone could argue that Jesus is harsh with his disciples: his correction of Peter in Matthew 16:
From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” - Matt. 16:21–23
To call this a strong word from Jesus would be an understatement. He literally calls Peter, “Satan.” As we saw above, this is very different from how we normally see Jesus correcting his disciples. It’s the exception to the rule. Yet it begs the question: does this open the door for us to be harsh with other Christians when we disagree with them?
I think it’s important to note the extent of Peter’s error - he is dangerously close to opposing the work of the kingdom. Peter’s rebuke of Jesus is a rejection of God’s plan for salvation - which is Satan’s work. If we want to think of this episode in terms of theological triage, Peter is walking in the territory of a first tier heresy. Which means Jesus’s words are proportionate to Peter’s error. He is not being harsh. He is lovingly pushing Peter off the path of becoming God’s enemy.
Let me suggest how this guides us today, using myself as an example.
I am deeply concerned about the movement of Christian Nationalism, which started gaining traction several years ago and is only gaining in popularity. This is a movement that, from my perspective, places far too high a value on political power. It wants too much and expects too much from politics. I think it clearly goes against how the Bible and the New Testament in particular see the role of government. I strongly oppose it as a movement.
That said, if someone who identifies as a Christian Nationalist believes the authority of the Bible, trusts in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins, believes wholeheartedly in the Trinity, cherishes God as their Creator, and loves the local church…then I have no business questioning the validity of their faith. And I’ll be honest…I’ve made this error in the past few years. There are people whose faith I’ve questioned because of their political worldview, Doug Wilson included.
Pastor Wilson, I doubt you’ll ever read this, but if you do: I apologize for that. And also, thanks for your book Ploductivity. It’s helped me a lot this year.
Most political issues are not first tier issues. Peter’s rebuke of Jesus was an attack on the gospel itself. And so Jesus met Peter’s words with a rebuke appropriate to the severity of his error. What we know of Peter is that he eventually took Jesus’ rebuke to heart.
There are places for stern rebuke within Christian conflict. They should be the exception to the rule - not our default method of communication.
Our Words Matter Immensely
I want to close this article with a warning about our words from Jesus in Matthew 12:34–37:
“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth [speaks] good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth [speaks] evil. 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.” - Matt. 12:34b–37
Our words reflect our hearts, and King Jesus will have us give an account “for every careless word” we speak. Everything will be on the table. Every conversation. Every confrontation. Every email. Every blog post(!). Every joke. Every curse. Every sentence. Whether you’re a follower of Canon Press, Desiring God, Founders, TGC, Ligonier, Grace and Truth, or 9marks (or some other evangelical camp I’m not aware of), I would encourage you to aspire to model your talk on the commands and example of Jesus. Every word we speak or write matters. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue,” says Proverbs 18:21. Let’s resolve to be speakers of life.
1 Often, you will see these virtues attacked by re-labeling them with the word “nice.” The claim is that evangelicals at large have compromised truth in the name of “being nice.” Voddie Baucham represents this well when he mocks “niceness” as the eleventh commandment in his book Fault Lines. I’ll admit - I do think there is some truth in this critique. My concern is that when brothers like Doug Wilson, Voddie Baucham, or Owen Strahan mock evangelical “niceness,” they are rejecting the call to speak the truth in love and instead speaking the truth in pride and using their attack on “nice” to justify forsaking the qualities Jesus and the New Testament insist our words should have as a general rule. Indeed, they too often sound to me much like the world in its mockery and scoffing.
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