What We Say Matters

This blog is inspired by a message I read from John Piper in Life as a Vapor sometime at the end of 2004. In chapter 4 of this little devotional book, Piper writes a meditation on James 4:13-16.

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"-- yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. (ESV)

Piper notes how James thought and spoke of God. The way that James viewed life was shaped by his views on God. How we think and how we speak should be good indicators about how we view life and God.

"It not only matters that you have a right view of life when you make your plans (because you are like a vapor), but it also matters that you have a right view of God as you make your plans. And it matters that you give expression of this true view of God. "You ought to say- say!-'If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.'" (Piper, 30-31)

I think the phrase "if the Lord wills" should be incorporated into our vocabulary more. When someone asks me when I'll be done with school, I try to reply with the words, "May 2006, Lord willing." All of us need to truly think about the words we say and aim to be biblical in the way we speak. We don't need to stop planning rather we need to set our minds and our conversations on the Lord as we plan.

Being concerned about what we say will also cut some common expressions that we say daily. There are a number of expressions I wish we would stop saying. "When God closes one door, He opens another." This is a comforting statement, but we have killed this one. Quote Romans 8:28 when someone is going through a tough time. Everyone (non-Christians included) knows the closed door comment. Bumper stickers such as "My boss is a Jewish carpenter" or "God is my co-pilot" bother me too. Isn't Jesus much more than a Jewish carpenter?

Those are all somewhat debatable so I would like to close this blog with a focus on the phrase "Good luck." This should be removed from all of our expressions. God is in complete control. He is sovereign. He knows everything about everyone all the time. Nothing catches Him off guard. His plan and purpose prevail. God has infinite wisdom and knowledge. There is no such thing as luck.

Everything happens according to God's plan. Luck does not exist or take place. Let us be biblical in the way we speak and include, "Lord willing" into our conversations and drop "Good luck."