Our God is the God who speaks; our Lord is the Word of God; the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of knowledge and truth. Verbal communication is integral to the relationship between God and man, and between man and man. Christians are commanded by Christ to proclaim the gospel, to speak truth in love, and to testify the grace of God, none of which is isolated from words. But how shall we speak? Here we look at one principle highlighted in two passages. “And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” (Mt. 5:36-37) But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation. (Jas. 5:12)
These two passages are about taking oath, but the principle universally governs Christian speech: our yes shall be yes, and no be no, nothing less than that and nothing more than that. We shall speak truth in its truthful state, and truth does not need our artificial flavoring or pompous dressing. This is what Apostle Paul confesses: And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you bin weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but din the power of God. (1 Cor. 2:1-5) Anything more than “naked” truth is a burden to the truth, a confusion to the truth, and a sabotage to the truth.
The problem comes when we want to demonstrate truth in a hyper-truthful manner, which compels us to make truth “more” true. By what? By adding decorative layers, such as taking oath. But taking oath is not the only approach; it is not even the most popular approach. What we are more skillful is to load on truth worldly wisdom, popularity, human authority, strong emotions, etc. For example, one tries to reinforce the credibility of his speech by appealing to his own reputation or his authority; another attempts to blast his speech through impatience, indignation, and contempt. The core of his speech may remain to be true, but the manner of his delivery defeats the purpose since his argument is no longer God-honoring and truth-honoring. Basically, his logic is: because I am who I am, so you must listen to me (only God can say so); or because I hate it so much, so you must hate it too. This emotional explosion is an emotional trick: the substance of the argument is nothing but an emotional shock. It may or may not persuade a person, but it does not honor truth nor is it consistent with Christian character.
Christians should speak truth and shun all types of falsehood. Our manner of speaking must not undermine the content of our speech. Speaking truth is our duty, but this action exists in a big vision of the God of truth and the man who fears and honors God. God cares about the content of our speech as much as the manner of our speaking. If we single-mindedly focus on the former, we lose the sight of the latter. The pride of holding the truth puffs up the heart, and a condescending attitude emerges against those listening to us and those disagreeing with us. The truthfulness of the content is thought to legitimize the appropriateness of the manner. But no, it does not, since in that case, we have a distorted view of God. We think God needs our help to make sure his truth is indeed truth., and we can bypass the substance of truth to convince others with noises.
Our Lord and his apostles speak truth with conviction, passion, but also with soberness and peace. Their emotions are not absent, but their arguments are not emotional tricks; their reputations are not absent, but they do not evoke such to force an idea upon others. They speak truth and unravel truth, and let the truth confront others and in the end may convince others. They are eager but not hyper-eager, because they are conscious of God who is above this immediate conservation or debate, above the immediate outcome. They wish to convince others, but first of all, they endeavor to honor God and His Word. It is this deep consciousness of God that keeps them from trying to taint the truth of God. Yes being yes and no being no are truth, truth in its purity, and truth in its unbridled power.
