Parents, what gets you crosswise? Most cars I have owned in my adult life have been reliable used cars graciously given or at a generous discount. One day I had the exhilarating privilege of driving an extended family member’s new 2005, C6, Mag Red, Corvette Museum Delivery, Corvette… It looked really cool, sounded really tough with custom pipes and was as clean as a whistle. My son and I climbed in and took it for a spin. I was just pulling out of the neighborhood and hit the accelerator like my own car and just like that we were crosswise in the street, tires spinning and I had lost control. Fortunately, no one was on the road and I regained control just before a police officer came over the hill. Still shaking, I drove the 4 wheeled rocket around the block without touching the accelerator and carefully drove it back into the driveway. I had no idea how much power was under the hood… 400 HP in a sports car proved to be more than I was ready for.
Sometimes I get crosswise with people when I don’t realize how much power my words have. I say things without thinking and the impact can get me crosswise. James, the brother of Jesus knows that we all mess up in this way and reminds us that this doesn’t match who we are in Christ… “And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you'd have a perfect person, in perfect control of life. A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell. This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can't tame a tongue—it's never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! My friends, this can't go on. James 3:2-10 (MSG) Jesus words are CROSS WISE, not crosswise… He knows exactly who He is, and what He came to earth to do, and His words always truly reflect His Character. Our words have tremendous power, as a friend of mine says a lot, “words matter!” Before we get crosswise, let's get Cross Wise, by spending some time with Jesus and learn from Him how to act and speak in a way that nurtures relationships, rather than testing them.
Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for you all!
