Religious Lace

"And don't say anything you don't mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions. You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, 'I'll pray for you,' and never doing it, or saying, 'God be with you,' and not meaning it. You don't make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true. Just say 'yes' and 'no.' When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong." Matthew 5:33-37 (MSG)

I've recently been in a couple of business situations where I knew the person I was dealing with was not telling the truth. That is a strange place to be. Really, just what is the protocol in these situations? Do you call them out? Ignore it and hope they just quit talking?

Personally, I just hoped my surprise wasn't registering all over my face. Of course, I'm not particularly known for being able to hide my feelings!

When I read today's scripture, I was reminded of this situation but also of Jeff's sermon from two weeks when he preached about being present...in our relationship with God and with others. I am certain there have been situations where I was embellishing my words with "religious lace." It occurs to me that such embellishment is not really being fully present with the person I am with. When I'm more interested in what I have to say than in what they have to say or I'm trying to be impressive rather than listening, it's pretty hard to be fully present.

As we think about Being The Gift this season, I'm convinced that part of that is being real in our speech...telling the truth...and meaning what we say. Authentic speech will help us to be authentic in our relationships so we can be fully present with those who need our encouragement and our love.

- Holly Barrett