A Word Fitly Spoken

I'm reminded of Jesus' words in Matthew 12 that it is out of the abundance of the heart. that the mouth speaks. And then he proceeds to say, Some of the most terrifying words in all of Scripture. that at the last judgment We will give an account for every idle word. that we speak.

That really is a terrifying verse, isn't it? Sadly, for many of us, myself included, we can be quick to speak and slow to listen. The tongue, to quote James, is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

So today on this special episode of Renewing Your Mind, we'll be considering communication from a Christian perspective. Reverend Aaron Garriot, the managing editor of Ligner Ministries and Table Talk magazine, joined me in the studio to discuss his new book, A Word Fitly Spoken, A Theology of Communication. We covered topics like why godly communication is important. How to listen well. the challenges we face as Christians in our digital age and much more.

Before we get to that conversation, if you'd like a hardcover copy of this theologically sound and practical book, Simply give a donation in support of Renewing Your Mind at renewingyourmind.org before midnight tonight. It is a book I wish I had read decades ago. If you're not watching this on YouTube, search for Renewing Your Mind on YouTube so you can watch the conversation in the studio. Reverend Aaron Garriott, congratulations on the publication of your first ever book, A Word Fitly Spoken. It was a great help to me as I read it and I've I think as far back as I can remember, I've been interested in communications, but I wish I had read this book as a teen.

So, thank you for your ministry, for writing this book, and for taking the time to stop by the Renewing Your Mind studio today. Thank you, brother. It's good to be with you and good to see this. New studio. It's wonderful.

Yeah.

Well, as we think about communication, why did you write this book? And to quote you, why is it important to? Think about communications with this question in mind. Who has made man's mouth? Yeah.

When I had graduated from Wheaton, having studied communication, I was under I was not under the impression that I would continue studying communication.

So it rather took me by surprise. But I'll give you two things that gave me. A renewed interest in the topic. There's more, to be sure, but first, I noticed that most Christians At least many of us. Give a lot of thought.

to what we do as Christians? But not so much what we say. And I'm reminded of Jesus' words in Matthew 12 when he's talking to the Pharisees. That it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. And then he proceeds to say, Some of the most terrifying words in all of Scripture.

that at the last judgment We will give an account for every idle word. that we speak. And so I noticed that in my own heart and in other Christians I was interacting with that we don't give a lot of thought. to what we say. Second, Nathan, I would say that I began to notice something else in my own heart and.

and other Christians I knew, and that is There was beginning to be an atrophy of conversational eloquence. And what I mean by that is, what used to be pretty natural abilities to communicate. began to be a phenomenon of a bygone era. And we can give different reasons for that. And it's not necessarily a generational thing.

So it's not that. The zoomers or the millennials have a hard time sustaining conversations. where older folks are okay with it. I kind of notice it across the board. And so what is it about our age that we live in that now people have a hard time sustaining conversation.

Yeah.

making eye contact. And no doubt part of the answer, I think, is the proliferation of digital media that we find ourselves in today.

So that what used to be just normal conversation now, people's skills are beginning to to decrease. And so because of those two things, I noticed. I began doing some more some more research theologically and biblically. To see, is there something that I can write here that will help the church, that will help Christians. Think thoughtfully and carefully about what it looks like to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, to use our tongues faithfully.

in this world that we find ourselves in, because it really is a brave new world. We'll probably get to digital media later, but to quote Jesus, as you referenced, giving an account for every idle word. In this social media age, that line And that truth from the lips of Jesus is even more terrifying. Absolutely, because now everyone is given a platform to speak. And that can be a good thing.

but it can be a dangerous thing.

So we're more accustomed than ever To employing idle or careless words. And Christians need to be very careful. that we're using our tongues faithfully in this environment. What I appreciate about this book is it's not just another How to Win Friends and Influence People book. What would you say makes this book distinct?

From other books on the topic of communication, even some of those written by Christians. Yeah, what I ran into is that most. Most books on communication, even most experts. on communication. We'll treat communication as if it's a neutral tool that we simply need to manage better.

And they divorce communication. from God. And we can't do that. Communication is absolutely tethered to God first and foremost because God is the first speaker. God is a communicative being, which simply means that he has an inclination in himself to share his goodness with his creation.

And God has been communicating in his Trinitarian Godhead from eternity past.

So, humans didn't invent communication. We don't sustain communication.

So, whenever you untether communication from a theological foundation, what happens is just increasing frustration with our communication efforts.

So, it's not simply pragmatics, though there's some helpful books out there. I mean, even Dale Carnegie's book is helpful in many ways, but it begins. With the pragmatic question, rather than asking what is communication and how has God created me? And how has he created me to glorify him with this most powerful tool? that he has given to me.

It's not neutral, it's profoundly theological. How does it change our understanding of communication when we think of communication as stewardship? Most Christians are aware of the concept of stewardship. But typically We think of stewardship as having to do primarily with resources. With finances, how we steward those gifts well.

And that's a good thing. But biblically, Stewardship is much broader than that. Stewardship is a A managerial principle.

So, a steward is one who has been entrusted with a gift. and it is incumbent upon him to dispense of that gift faithfully. Or, what does faithfulness look like according to the wishes of the giver, the one who gave that gift? And so, stewardship is not fundamentally, is not exclusively. about finances.

It's also about how God created us. And so you think about how God created us in His image. And part of that is in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness.

So we've been given this ability to craft language, to communicate with God, to commune with God, and to commune with one another. And so when you bring communication out of the realm of adiabara, simply indifference, and into the realm of stewardship, well now we're placed on solid ground to ask the pragmatic questions, like, how can I glorify God with my tongue? How can I commune with God? How can I pray? How can I sing?

How can I enjoy fellowship with other Christians? And so it's a fundamental principle to bring it out of the realm of adiabara and see it as faithful stewardship. I didn't create this gift. Therefore I can't use my tongue however I want to. I have to use my communicative faculties.

according to how God wants me to.

So as we think about this as stewardship, and correct me if I'm wrong here. The Christian approach shouldn't be Merely, how do I not sin with my tongue, but But there should be some element there. How can I use my tongue well? How can I communicate better? Whether it's how I speak, how I listen, how I perhaps even present myself, would that be fair?

That's exactly right. I think most Christians. when they when they give thought to how they employ their tongues. They think I need to steer clear of the more grievous sense. Yeah, slander.

Back biting. Gossip. Those kind of seem obvious to us. And if you look at the larger catechism, Westminster Larger Catechism 145 and 144 concerning the Ninth Commandment. There are certain things that are required.

In that commandment, and certain things that are forbidden. in that commandment. They're very exhaustive lists and can be very daunting. When you read through them. But what's forbidden are things like slander and tale-bearing and gossip and backbiting, undue silence.

So all of these various sins of the tongue that in some respects have become tolerated sins in the church. On the other hand, though, if you look at 144 and what is required in the ninth commandment, God is a God of truth. Therefore we are to steward the truth well. And how do we steward the truth? by what we say.

And by what we don't say.

So it's not just about avoiding the big sins, avoiding filthiness. But also using your tongues to Speak the truth in love. Sinclair Ferguson wrote the foreword to this book, which I'm sure is a great honor to have Dr. Ferguson do that. You quote him several times, but there's one quote here that I'd like to read.

Sinclair Ferguson says, It is one thing to cage the tiger, but another thing to tame and retrain it. As a servant. Can you speak more to that? Yeah, the tiger there he's referring to is the tongue. And I think he's echoing.

The brother of our Lord Jesus Christ, James. I mean, you read James, the New Testament Proverbs, and James begins his letter. By by Admonishing Christians, exhorting them. slow to speak. And quick to hear.

Slow to speak. And quick to hear. And then he says. If a man says he's religious But doesn't bridle his tongue? That man's Heart is deceived.

and his religion is worthless. And then in chapter three, James Uh talks about the the danger of the tongue. The tongue is a small instrument. It's a small fire. But it can ignite a whole forest fire.

and bears significant destruction. And history bears that out, doesn't it? I mean, how many churches, institutions, families, have been destroyed, because of these sins of the tongue. But then what's interesting about what James does is he In chapter three he refers to wisdom from above.

So if you want to tame the tongue, which no man can do by himself. Education Can't do it for you. It might help. Will power Can't subdue the tongue. It it might help.

But what you need is wisdom from above. And if you tie all this together and look at the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament. Where do you get wisdom? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

So if you want to be a good communicator, if you want to learn how to bridle your tongue, how to tame your tongue, how to use your tongue and steward your tongue in a way that honors God, You need to fear God. First and foremost. You can't tame it yourself. you need to fear God in union and communion with Jesus Christ. And from that place now, you can learn to tame your tongue well, to use your tongue to bless God and bless others rather than cursing others.

Because James says that this ought not to be so, brothers. It wasn't intended to be this way. But yet In this already not yet, we still use our tongues to curse and to bless the very same instruments. What would you say to somebody watching or listening today? And as they're thinking about taming the tongue, taming this tiger, And they realize You know, I have been cursing others.

Maybe they haven't cursed God, but they have not bridled their tongue. Perhaps they're thinking about social media, things they've posted, or comment arguments they've got into. What do you say to someone that's like, I'm guilty of this? Yeah.

Well, first, don't let past regret. dictate present faithfulness. Repentance is very liberating.

So repent. of using your tongue to curse. rather t to bless. but do not think that soul, will power, or education, or methodology, or technique can possibly cure the poison. I mean James refers to the tongue as possessing deadly poison.

But that poison Is being drawn out if you're united to Jesus Christ, who is the vine. And you are the branches. You can do nothing apart from him. If you are united to Jesus Christ and you possess the Spirit of God within you, then God is slowly draining that poison from your tongue. And so you cannot do it on your own.

But you can do it in reliance upon the Holy Spirit and the grace of God in the context of the covenant community.

So don't go at it alone, but also do not let regret dictate your present faithfulness. you dedicate a chapter on the ministry of the ear. Listening. As someone who is paid to speak for a living, Can you help me understand what is the importance of listening and not just speaking? I take that terminology from Bonhoeffer.

So, Bonhoeffer talks about the ministry of listening. that God has entrusted to every believer in order to imitate God because God is the great listener. God's ear is always inclined. toward his people. And we can approach the throne of grace in our hour of need, that is, at any time, because of the grace of God.

Now when it comes to listening, what's interesting is even for preachers For teachers, you get a break from speaking. You'll get a break after this. Yeah.

I'll get a break after this. You rarely get a break from listening. You're listening almost the entire day. Whether you're reading, watching something, talking to somebody in conversation, we're constantly listening. And what I referred to earlier is because We're always given a platform to speak in our day and age.

So if I can liken communication to a basketball game, Than most of us if we're honest. are bullhogs. We like to speak. We like to be heard. more than we like to listen.

it takes great humility. to listen. to imitate the Lord Jesus Christ in being a great listener. Proverbs 18.2 says that a fool doesn't care about understanding. He takes no pleasure in understanding.

only in expressing his opinion.

So most of us, again, if we're honest, We act very foolishly. When we prefer speaking So listening. And so it's a way that we can imitate the Lord Jesus Christ by being great listeners, listening well. to what others have to say, listening to what God has to say in his word. Processing, understanding, not being foolish with the words that are coming to us, but digesting them and taking great delight.

in what others have to say to us. I think you mentioned this earlier, but when we think about communication, we might think of speaking. or listening, but you reference singing. And in one section in this book, as you're speaking about the gift of being able to sing and corporate worship, singing together. You reference a time Where you were unable to sing, and this is what you say.

That day, my brothers and sisters sang for me. And they sang to me. And as I read that, in that moment, I had another glimpse of the significance of corporate worship. Could you speak a bit more to that? What was that situation?

We all know that music is powerful. Music is powerful in that it is catechetical, it's didactic, that is, it teaches. That's why Paul says to the Colossians, admonish one another, teaching one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.

So there's a teaching component to our singing. It also has the ability to stir the emotions, in a way that no other medium does. You think about the wisdom of God and the grace of God in giving us 150 Psalms. And Calvin referred to the Psalms as an index of the human heart. What he meant by that is...

There's not an emotion that you or I can feel. There's not an experience that you or I can go through. that is not expressed in or addressed somewhere in. The Psalter. It's a perfect index.

of the human heart. And God was wise in giving us these Psalms. that we can sing to one another and to ourselves, Yeah. Fortify ourselves. You think about the great battle hymns, the great battle songs, where when soldiers are marching to battle, why are they singing to one another?

Because it fortifies their souls. And it came home to me. in the the instance that I talk about in the book. Actually, I think, Nathan, that you were in the pew behind me or the pew in front of me this day, it was a time in my life when my wife and I had just had a miscarriage. She had just been diagnosed with cancer.

So it was a time when we were grasping for hope. Clinging to the promises of God. And as most Christians know, when you're in the throes of sadness, it's hard to pray. It's even harder to sing. And so I rose to sing this Lord's Day morning, and we were singing.

We were singing How Firm a Foundation. And God will sanctify to you your deepest distress. And it it was a weird experience because I actually couldn't sing. I didn't have I didn't have the the unction, I didn't have the strength to sing. But the saints in front of me, beside me, behind me, lifted up my soul.

and sang for me. And it was a powerful moment of not only teaching me. the goodness of God. In using even my deepest distress to sanctify me and to sanctify my family. but also to fortify my soul.

in a time when I I couldn't sing. And so we need to be grateful. And appropriate the songs that God has given to us, and these voices that God has given to us to sing to Him, but also. to sing to one another. That is an aspect of worship and corporate worship that I have not considered before.

And I think it's just a great. Reminder. An encouragement to all the saints that we are ministering to each other in that context. And so, if there are men, I know men sometimes don't like to sing, but it's like, stand up, sing, sing loudly. It is a blessing to God's people.

And you're not only singing to God. You're singing to others as well. And so it's selfish. To not sing You're not only dishonoring God. But you're robbing others from the joy of hearing your voice, even though your voice might might not be very pretty, mine's not.

But sing loudly and sing faithfully to the glory of God. and for the good of your fellow state. Amen. You write in a word fitly spoken. Every conversation counts forever.

Now, I think I know what you were tapping into when you wrote that, but could you unpack that for us? Yeah, RC always talked about, as you know, Nathan, right now counts forever. And so I'm applying that principle. to the way that we use our tongues. If right now counts forever, then it's also true.

That every conversation Counts forever. This conversation in front of you counts forever. And this is on account of at least two things. Our doctrine of people. in our doctrine of providence.

Everybody Christian and non-Christian. Everybody is created in the image of God. and worthy of our dignity of dignity, our honor, and our respect.

So because of that, the bagger in the grocery line is worthy. Of your respect and your honour. Everyone is made in the image of God. But also our doctrine of Providence. When you interact with the bagger at the grocery store, That interaction is no accident.

it might feel very inconsequential to you. And amid the busyness of life, what we're liable to do is simply rush through the grocery line to get what we need. And get where we really want to be. But what we need to be reminded of is the comprehensiveness of God's providence. He ordains and orchestrates every single interaction.

that you and I have. every moment of every day. No matter how inconsequential it might seem. And when you step back and consider that reality. It's actually very freeing.

Because it it takes you away from your your production mentality. It allows you to slow down a little bit into To be grateful for the opportunities that God gives you to interact with a whole host of people. That C.S. Lewis says that if you. If you saw their glory in the new heavens and new world, talking about Christians here, you'd be tempted to worship those people.

That's how glorious they will seem.

Okay, if that's true, then if you apply that principle here and now. then why not show them the dignity and the honor that they deserve? By virtue of being made in the image of God, and if they're Christians, remade in the image of God in their sanctification.

So slow down and enjoy the conversations and the people. that God puts in front of you. And as Christians we have this Extra. obligation or treasure of the gospel. That if we neglect these conversations, we may be speeding past opportunities to speak of Christ and speak of the gospel.

Amen. So the gospel is to be stewarded well, and so is every conversation. Every conversation, every relationship is to be stewarded well. And that kind of removes the fear element. This person, this conversation is not mine to hoard onto.

but is an opportunity for me to steward well, to destroy the strongholds, as Paul says, to proclaim the gospel to them, and trust the Spirit of God to do his work in his good timing. One of the sad things of our day and age is the AirPods and the headphones that people are wearing. We have headphones on right now, so we can actually hear each other better. But folks outside of a studio, they put these headphones on to actually block out the world.

So it's very easy, and I experience it as I travel, that normally a conversation that you might have with someone on an airplane or at an airport You can't have now because they just put these things in their ears and are kind of saying, I don't want to talk to you. Don't talk to me. Yeah.

Yeah.

It's a sad time in many respects in which we live.

Now you state this, you say the church must recover this sacred art of persuasion. What do you mean? by persuasion And can I ask, as a student of Doctor Sprohl yourself, Was he a helpful model of persuasion as a teacher and as a gospel minister? Absolutely. Absolutely, he was.

And I miss it. I miss it from the pulpit. Persuasion often has a pejorative feel to it. When we think of persuasive people We often associate them with being manipulative people. But biblically, The art of persuasion is a craft of being able convince a person of a certain truth claim.

or to prod them to action. And if we're trying to prod them to the right action, and we're trying to convince them of truth. then Christians ought to be the most persuasive people in the world. And preaching And teaching is no doubt A way of persuading others to believe certain things and to act a certain way. And RC was absolutely what we would call an experiential preacher.

Which means He preached to the whole man. He preached to the heart. He preached to the mind. He preached to the affections. and he was really, really good at it.

However, The art of persuasion is not reserved to men like R. C. Sproul. Every Christian is meant to be persuasive to the glory of God. The Bible itself speaks a lot about persuasion.

The Bible is persuasive.

So if you want to convince somebody of the truth claims of Jesus Christ, You can do a lot worse. than opening up the scriptures to them and saying, read this. The Spirit of God is persuasive through the Word of God. You think about Jesus compelling people to come. Talking about the parable of the banquet, compel them to come, persuade them.

that this is for their good, that this is true and good and beautiful. Paul, in his missionary journeys, went from synagogue to synagogue, persuading. the Jews and the Greeks, that Jesus is the Christ. He was persuasive. He calls us to be persuasive.

Again, destroy strongholds. Destroy every lofty argument against the knowledge of God and persuade others about the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And so if the church wants to be faithful to that calling, we need to. To stop reserving persuasiveness to the RC Spruls of the world. Thank God for these preachers who are very persuasive.

But we all. need to hone this skill of being persuasive. to the glory of God. We have mentioned social media, this digital age, a number of times, but we can just camp out here for a moment. What unique challenges do you think Christians are faced with in this digital age when it comes to being good stewards of our tongues and being good communicators?

Especially sitting here with you. We could be here for hours. talking about this. There's so many. challenges.

There's probably even more challenges than you and I realize. But let me mention just three of these. And hopefully I'll give you A nice alliteration that we can hang our hats on. There's there's ethical challenges. There's educational challenges.

And there's ecclesiastical challenges.

So first, Ethical challenges. I know a guy. Who says pixels are people? And What you mean by that when you say that and I heard you say that for the first time I don't know 13 years ago Is that when you're interacting with pixels on a screen behind that screen? are actually flesh and blood people.

Made in the image of God, destined for one of two places in eternity. That should inform how we treat one another. But oftentimes when there's a screen and this put up between us, Now I think that I can treat you however I want because there's a barrier between us. There's There's visual temptations. Not only for young people, for older people as well, there's visual temptations.

I mean what our children, if we let them, could see on a T V or computer or an iPad, what they could see with the click of a button. It is is more and more filthy than our grandparents probably ever saw in a lifetime.

So there are certain significant visual temptations that come. with living faithfully as a Christian, in this age. There's certain distractions. that have presented themselves to Christians. That past saints really haven't had to deal with.

Now, the Christian life has always been. Has never been Immune to distraction. But perhaps there's never been as many distractions as there are now.

So, if you're reading your Bible, you're praying. And you hear that vibrate in your pocket or the ring on your phone in the next room. What's your immediate impulse? I need to go check that. I need to hear who's trying to get a hold of me.

There's distractions all over the place. If you're talking to somebody and your Apple Watch vibrates, what's your immediate impulse? to check your watch. to see who's talking to you.

So the distractions are ubiquitous. In this age.

So there are significant ethical Challenges. And I could certainly say more about those, that that Christians need to think carefully about? and face those challenges. with courage To ask the hard questions. They are educational.

And here, what I mean is that Our technology is shaping us. in more ways than we imagine. And the question is. Is this technology shaping us into an image that we actually want to be shaped into? Oftentimes, I tell parents when they're trying to figure out how do I raise.

My children in this brave new world.

So listen.

Okay. If you're not going to catechize your children, the world will happily do it. And it's not just children though. The world will catechise anybody. Who gives them an ear?

And so it used to be that in order to access The proliferation of the world's teaching, you had to go outside your own home and find it somewhere.

Now It's coming through the very devices that we willingly put into the hands of our children.

Now I'm not advocating for an entire digital detox here. I do, however, think that many Christians would do well to consider the tools that we do carry in our tool belts. and even to set parameters for when and how we use those tools. Because whether we realize it or not, The world is catechizing us. And they are shaping us into an image.

educating us in a way that we might not actually prefer. And so there are educational challenges. Lastly, There are ecclesiastical challenges. And what I mean by this is, you consider the ordinary elements of. Worship on the Lord's Day.

The means of grace that we talk about, the preaching of the word. the administration of the sacraments, and the prayers of God's people. All of those things are Very ordinary. That's why we call them ordinary means of grace.

Well now all of a sudden you introduce other elements. that are technologically driven. Into The the church's arsenal. And what do you think is going to keep people's attention the most? The preaching of the word?

Or a video or a movie.

So, you know, I I consider churches who want to compete with the world in the coffee that they make or the movies they show, we're never going to win that game. There is a divinely ordained superiority. To the preaching of the word. I mean, Paul calls preaching foolishness. He's referring to the medium, the medium of preaching.

is foolishness to some. But to those of us who are being saved, it is the wisdom of God unto salvation. And so we glory in the preaching of the word. But preaching sacraments and prayers can't compete with our constant desire for very quick, shallow content. shallow bits of content.

So, our children and ourselves will always crave that if we give them the option.

So the church needs to be very careful. about how and when we introduce certain technologies, that will inevitably Overshadow. The Ordinary Means of Grace. And hold tightly. To those things, that we will not give up the ordinary means of grace that God has given to His church.

And so those are some of the challenges I think that Christians are facing in this world that is really digital media is ubiquitous. I mean, how many hours do you think each of us spends per day looking at some sort of device? And sometimes those are good and necessary. But we need to be aware of the way that we're being desensitized. in ways that We might not anticipate.

I think Neil Postman was well ahead of his time when in the seventies He was writing about these things and he said, You need to ask the question not only What will a technology do? But what will it undo? And so it doesn't mean Christians won't adopt new technologies, but when we do adopt them, We've done the hard work of critically evaluating whether these things aid our discipleship. or present a detriment to us.

Well, you know that this topic and this concern is near and dear to my heart. And so I really believe that the section just on this digital age will be a great help to the church. And my hope would be that it would spur on conversation, that parents would talk to their children, children would talk to their parents. And I think one of the challenges the church faces today. is that there isn't this intergenerational dialogue happening.

where you have these older dear saints that have great wisdom. and they've studied the scriptures for decades, but they don't really understand TikTok and the world that their grandchildren are living in. Then you have younger Christians, newer Christians, who are very good. They don't have fat thumbs like we tend to have, and they know how all the new apps and devices work. But they haven't spent the time walking with the Lord.

They haven't gone through suffering. They haven't had to wrestle through the issues of the day.

So they know the technology. Don't have the wisdom. Their grandparents or their parents have a lot of that wisdom, but don't really understand the technology. And so we need to foster that conversation. And I think this book, A Word Fitly Spoken, may be used by the Lord to encourage that.

So thank you for including that in this book.

Now correct me if I'm wrong here, Erin, but I would say that this book is helpful. both for the CEO, leader of a large organization, as well as for a high school senior. those who have had a lot of experience in communicating. That probably haven't thought about it from a biblical perspective, and those that are just kind of venturing out into this brave new world and really need to invest in growing in this area and thinking about it biblically. Would you agree?

I hope so. And I think the reason for that is To to riff off another one of R C's Uh mottos Everyone is a communicator. Just like everyone is a theologian.

So everyone is a communicator.

So whether you are a butcher, baker, candlestick maker. Whether you are 15. Or 95. You have been created. in the image of a communicative God.

And you have been entrusted, endowed with this capacity. to use your language to commune with that God. and to commune with God's people. Therefore, It is incumbent upon you. to steward that gift well, no matter your context.

No matter your vocation, No matter your age, no matter your gender. You can be faithful. with the words that God has given to you, with the ability to speak words that God has given to you. in a way that is unique to your context that will set you apart. From Others in the World.

If you look at what most employers are looking for in a job candidate. the number one thing that they'll they'll ask for is communication skills.

Now oftentimes we don't know what that means. or what they're getting at there. But I think fundamentally what people are looking for there is Can you in your given context Can you not only be productive, but can you operate in a manner that is enjoyable to be around?

So whether you're a grandparent or a twelve-year-old. I hope that this book will be helpful for uh refining your Communication skills so that you can glorify God, but also be someone who is likable and enjoyable to be around. as you converse with one another. Because you you mentioned the TikTok scroller. That person is going to have a hard time sitting down at dinner.

and having a conversation with older saints, when there's no devices available. They're not used to it. But if you condition yourself Two. not be accustomed to those short entertainment bursts. of content.

Yeah.

the Apostolic Church devoted themselves to the Apostles' teaching, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers. Whereas many of us in the modern church have devoted ourselves to shallow content and therapeutic buzzes. If we can get back to the old ways If we can get back to enjoying one another and communing with one another as we commune with God. Then no matter your context You will, if I can use this word that I usually despise. you can flourish in that context.

Because you're being faithful. with how God created you. We have covered a lot of ground today. But is there a A final takeaway, one other thought that you would like to share when it comes to your book, A Word Fitly Spoken. Speak as someone who has been spoken to.

And what I mean by that is At the beginning of the book of Hebrews, The author says. that God has fully and finally spoken to us by His Son.

So God is the speaker. The sun is The word, the logos, And he has spoken to us in his Son.

So, when you speak, when you use your communicative faculties, whether verbally or nonverbally. You are speaking as one you should speak as one. in union with Jesus Christ. and therefore in imitation of Jesus Christ.

So your speaking is not an autonomous exercise. You are speaking as one who is mystically and covenantally united to Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God that God has spoken to us. And that eschatological promise we have. That one day Our tongues will be entirely purified. I think it does two things for us.

On the one hand, It heightens the importance of our words. Because God cares what we say. If we will give an account for every idle word, then that means. I need to give good thought, lots of careful thought to what I say, what I don't say, when I say it, when I don't say it. but it also tempers our expectations.

I mean, understand. that you are going to fail. You are going to say things you shouldn't, you are going to not say things when you should have. But one day that poison will be entirely drawn out of your tongue. and that tongue will be used Praise God forevermore.

And let that eschatological promise Give you great joy and freedom in the here and now as you speak as someone who has been spoken to by God the Father who has given you His Son and imitate Him. who never spoke. any idle word.

Well, I know that for many people, when they read a word fitly spoken, It will challenge them. It challenged me. but it's also filled with many great encouragements and practical helps.

So I'm grateful that you wrote this book. And Reverend Garriott, thank you so much for coming by to Renewing Your Mind Studio today. It was great to be with you, Nathan. That was Reverend Aaron Garriott, author of the new book, A Word Fitly Spoken, on this Friday edition of Renewing Your Mind. Reverend Garriott has spent decades considering communication from a Christian perspective, and those studies have culminated in this practical and thoughtful volume.

So whether you're a team or a CEO, Request a copy today when you give a donation at renewingyourmind.org or when you call us at 800-435-4343. And if you're a grandparent, perhaps get a copy for one of your grandchildren. This new hardcover book is waiting for you at renewingyourmind.org, or when you use the link in the podcast show notes. And the e-book edition is available for our global listening audience at renewingyourmind.org slash global.

Well, with Good Friday approaching, next week RC SPRO will help us understand the cross of Christ and our Savior's redemptive work for us, his people.

So be sure to join us all next week here on Renewing Your Mind.