Street Smart: Week 10

In the tenth installment of Street Smart, Pastor Jim White focuses on one key verse as he brings us the message James shares about the foolishness of making rash statements.

“But most of all, my brothers and sisters, never take an oath, by heaven or earth or anything else. Just say a simple yes or no, so that you will not sin and be condemned” (James 5:12, NLT). This is a powerful statement, and by applying these words to our lives we can change not only our relationships with others but our reputations.

In a world of such uncertainty the heart of the matter is not the words we use, it is the lack of commitment associated with them. A lot of people either precede a statement with “Dude, I swear on my grandmother’s grave…” or tack on “…swear to God” (which can be addressed completely in another blog) to the end for added emphasis. But why do we feel the need to add unnecessary words to our statements to enforce their significance or legitimacy? The reason is because we fail to support our words with actions. We say yes when we kind of mean maybe, and maybe when we really mean not a chance, and when this becomes routine our words become null and void to others.

We’ve all had a friend who we invite to hang out and get disappointed time after time when they cancel on us at the last minute. We continue to invite them, but we start making back-up plans to avoid frustration. Then we just stop expecting them to come. Then we stop inviting them in the first place. What we don’t realize is we’re often a few steps away from becoming that friend to someone else. James is basically informing us that if we walk the walk when we talk the talk, we won’t need to add anything to our speech to validate it.

Now, James is not just saying show up to every party we RSVP “Yes” to with a veggie tray, a 12-pack and a smile. He’s telling us that we don’t have to commit to everything, but when we do we need to honor that commitment. When we take our commitments seriously, others will take us seriously. And the most serious, most important, most fulfilling commitment we can make and honor is our commitment to our one, true God. Start with that one, and the rest will fall into place.

So, next time, instead of saying maybe when we mean to say no, let’s just say no. And when we say yes, let’s mean it and follow through. At the very least, we will no longer be dubbed “that friend.”