Lot's of what we say is good and necessary of course. God gave mankind the gift of speech to have fellowship with Him, so that we might know Him better and respond to Him with prayer and praise. Advanced linguistic ability places man above the lower creation and facilitates dominion over it. Interpersonal communication is crucial to our life in community -- indeed, to what we consider civilization itself. The power, usefulness, and even beauty of words can be simply remarkable.

But in the fallen world -- and especially in our spiritually barren culture -- what God has granted man as a blessing has also become a tremendous curse. Both David and Paul assessed the moral quality of the way sinners talk: "Their throat is an open sepulcher: with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips" (Ps. 5:9; Rom. 3:13). Man's casual banter is often deadly and a display of death. Standing before the holy presence of God, Isaiah's woeful conviction of sin focused immediately on this: "I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips" (6:5).

Wise men of old already knew that "in the multitude of words there is no lack of transgression, but he who refrains his lips does wisely" (Prov. 10:19). There is just far, far too much talk that pours forth from the mouths of sinners. And when Solomon penned this proverb, they didn't yet have junk mail, telephones, message machines, televisions, photocopiers, faxes and email to facilitate the even greater volume of words which floods our lives today! From the typical family home of multiple phone lines or TV sets to the artificial community of computer cyberspace, you can now talk or listen to words all day without stop.

But disciples of Jesus Christ should stop. And listen. Hear these sobering words of our Lord: "And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account of it on the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned" (Matt. 12:36-37).

A number of years ago the rock-star Sting and his group "The Police" (think about that) had a #1 hit with a haunting message, in which he sang "...every word you say, I'll be watching you." But that was just the empty exaggeration and vain threat of a jealous lover. The warning from Christ is intended to be taken literally and exactly. Every single word that we utter will be "played back" on the day of final judgment, there to be given full and precise scrutiny by a holy and righteous God.

The way in which we speak, according to Christ, is symptomatic of the kind of underlying character we have in God's eyes, and as such this is a fair indicator which our awesome Judge will use to evaluate us. Just a few verses before Jesus had explained this principle: "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (12:34). The words which we use and the manner in which we use them reflects the spiritual condition of our innermost hearts. The same insightful but indicting truth about us was repeated by Jesus elsewhere in Matthew's gospel when He said, "The things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these are what make a man unclean" (15:18).

So then, have you ever stopped to think about the kinds of things which come forth from your own mouth? Just listen to yourself. Imagine a tape recorder hung around your neck and picking up every single thing you say. You have amused yourself and others, filling up so much time talking, but playing back the tape wouldn't be very amusing, wouldn't you confess? Notice this. Our sin and shame is not simply be found in the "serious" comments we have meant to communicate -- those things we gave plenty of reflection and communicated with sincerity (in which there is already abundant reproach) -- but all the more in our "idle words." The trifles, the flippant notations, the merely passing remarks. The little "white lies," the insincere promises, the self-serving flatteries, the comic sarcasms, the "I-was-only-kidding" comments.

Jesus knew very well about our useless chatter. That is what He was referring to when He spoke of "every idle word." The Greek word for 'idle' literally means to be "without work" (for instance, unemployed: Matt. 20:3,6) -- and thus to be careless and unfruitful (e.g., 2 Pet. 1:18). Words which are "idle" are those which are not intended to accomplish anything; they are vacuous, not spoken with any serious intent. Idle words are simply an amusement. And God's scrutiny of our behavior will be so thorough, according to the Savior, that even these little amusements in our speech will come under the microscope of God's omniscient judgment.

Do you talk too much? Are your words truthful? Are they harsh, malicious, uncharitable, kind, humble, careless, cautious, fair, foolish, boastful, honest, sincere? Christ is concerned about your every idle word. Answering such questions as these is, for every spiritually sensitive believer, a painful, humbling and convicting exercise. James understood all too well, writing in his epistle "all of us stumble in many ways, but if anyone is never at fault in what he says, then he is fully mature and able to bridle his whole body also" (3:2).

The fact is that the tongue is set on fire by hell, and no man can tame it (Jas. 3:6,8). Only the gracious, powerful, regenerating and sanctifying work of God can accomplish that. We desperately need the one who Scripture calls "the Word" of God (John 1:1) to forgive our idle words and place wholesome words in our mouths. May God be pleased to grant us, His people, mouths which have been purified and redirected to promote His praise and do good to our fellow men -- to turn by His mercy from our vain verbal amusement to sincere and sanctified patterns of speech.

Dr. Bahnsen (Th.M. Westminster Seminary, Ph.D. University of Southern Calif.) is the resident scholar at the Southern California Center for Christian Studies. For a catalog of tapes, publications and courses in apologetics, ethics and theology, call 800 553-3938. While supplies last, ask for a free copy of the brochure "A Moral Checkup for your Mouth."

The undersigned hereby grants right and permission to Ligonier Ministries to publish the article "Every Idle Word" in the November 1995 issue of Table Talk, reserving the right for the author also to make further use or publication of it in his own ministry.