POSITIVE THINKING & POSITIVE CONFESSION (PART IV)

“Death and Life are in the Power of the Tongue”

By Akin Ojumu

Let me stress that this commentary series is in no way an attempt to diminish or dismiss the importance of words. It’s not in any way denying that words are powerful. On the contrary, I firmly believe that the words we speak carry significant potency, and they do have life-altering efficacy. 

It may interest you to note that of all God’s creation, only humans have the ability to communicate through spoken word. The ability to speak words is a unique and powerful gift from God to humanity (Ref: Got Questions). When the Bible talks about man being created in God’s image, the ability to communicate in words is one of those attributes of God that He has conferred on man.

What this commentary sets out to accomplish is to refute the idea that words have creative power. This write-up is a rebuttal of the claims by the false teachers of the Word Faith Movement that your words are determinative i.e., they determine everything that happens to you. The aim of this repudiation is the unbiblical notion that your thoughts and confessions, especially with respect to the favors you demand of God, must all be stated positively and without wavering.

Last time, we noted that one of the proof texts that proponents of positive thinking and positive confession use to support their erroneous ideology is Proverbs 18:21.

Proverbs 18:21

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.”

Today, we are going to exegetically examine this particular text so that we can accurately interpret and understand what it is saying.

A helpful approach to accurately exegeting Proverbs 18:21 is to first understand what the text isn’t saying. This verse is not suggesting that human beings have the power to create life or bring about physical death either by their thoughts or words. What the verse is teaching us is the effects the words we speak have on the hearers.

Scripture interprets Scripture. Not so clear Bible passages are better understood by other clearer Bible passages on the same subject. There are several other Bible passages that teach us about the constructive and destructive potentials of the tongue.

Take for instance James 3:1-12. This passage talks about the potency of the tongue and the need to tame it. 

Now, it’s important to understand that when the Bible talks about tongue in the context of James 3:1-12, the author is using a Jewish literary device known as synecdoche (a type of metonymy) which uses a part to refer to the whole. In this case, blame is attributed to the tongue as a representative of the whole man. 

Tongue is a metonymy for communication as a whole. James personalized the tongue as being representative of human depravity and wretchedness. In this way, he echoed the scriptural truth that the mouth is a focal point and the words that proceed out of the mouth are a vivid indicator of man’s fallenness and sinful heart condition.

Like I said in the preamble, it isn’t so much that words have some metaphysical or transcendental power, or that words can mysteriously on their own create things out of nothing. The power of words comes from how they are perceived and processed by the hearers. Words trigger psychological and physiological reactions. When the words are heard, they stir up all kinds of emotions, good or bad, depending on the content of what is said.

Our words do more than convey information; they have an impact on people. Words can cause the greatest good, and they can cause the greatest harm as well. The power of our words can burden one’s spirit, even stir up hatred and violence. Words can exacerbate wounds and inflict them directly. 

Alternately, words can build up and be life-giving. We can use words either to build up people or destroy them. Our words can be filled with love or engender hate. Words can bring bitterness or bring blessing. Words are tools that can make life better, but any tool can be misused. They can bring victory or cause defeat.

The writer of the Book of Proverbs provides us nuggets of wisdom about what the tongue and our words can do.

Proverbs 15:4

“A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.”

Proverbs 16:24

“Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”

Proverbs 25:11

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.”

Proverbs 12:6

“The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the mouth of the upright delivers them.”

Proverbs 15:2

“The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.”

Words can be likened to the byproducts of the chemical reactions taking place in the chambers of the mind. That which the tongue speaks, are gaseous fumes proceeding out from the soul. The thoughts and the intents of the heart are known by the words that we speak. 

The Lord Jesus alludes to this very fact when speaking about the fruit a tree bears being an indicator of the nature of that tree.

Matthew 12:33-37

“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. 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.”

Furthermore, words, in a sense, are like a double-edged sword that cuts both ways. Just as words can heal or wound the hearer, they also come with severe consequences for the speaker. Good or bad, we will all be held accountable for the words we speak.

Understanding that there are consequences for the words we speak, it’s incumbent on us to choose our words rather carefully.

Ephesians 4:29

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

We’ll take it from here next time.