Spotted Towhees and the Sound of Christians
The spotted towhee is a regular visitor to our feeders. Their bright coloration makes them a delight to watch. There was a flock of a dozen or so out there moments ago. Before moving to the Lower Mainland, I had never seen a towhee.
Towhees are a large New World sparrow, roughly the same size as a robin. They are bright and colorful, but they are larger than many of the feeder’s visitors so that they can bully the smaller birds a bit.
These birds are named after one of the sounds they make, which sounds like “tow-hee” or “tow-wheeeee”
Like many birds, you can identify them by their call without seeing them.
After writing about chuckling ducks yesterday and thinking of the call of a towhee today, I wanted to know if you could identify Christians by their sounds.
Many in the world associate Christians with some of the loud, hate-filled sounds of some believers that the media likes to portray. I don’t know if those people are Christian or not; that is for God to sort out.
I do confess a certain embarrassment when people talk about “those” Christians. Their words often dishonor God, and I don’t want to be like one of “them.”
Yet, if truth be told, often my words do not honor the God in whom I profess faith.
I have a—let’s be generous and call it “colorful”—vocabulary from my time in the oil patch and military and from growing up in those communities. I work hard at suppressing it, but it can creep out explosively in times of duress.
Sarcasm forms part of my sense of humor. I have to be careful that it doesn’t become mocking and demeaning. Mockery and demeaning are not pleasing to the Lord.
I can complain too much and be discontent. My words of discontentment and complaints reflect poorly on my belief in our heavenly father’s gracious, loving, and compassionate love.
James deals with this issue.
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.[b] For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. James 3:1-11 ESV
Fortunately, I know the Spirit is at work, shaping and reforming me. He is helping me to check my speech. Someday, I pray that people will know I am a believer by my speech and that it will make a positive impression.
I’m not talking about the phony “Christianese” that many adopt to sound pious and holy. That can be a real turn-off.
I pray He teaches us to live our lives in such a way as to be pleasing to Him and that our words match up to that. May the world come to know us for our love, compassion, and honesty in speech and deed, and may it reflect the glory of our Lord.
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. Your value in God’s eyes is so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing to the world. You are so precious to God that his plan for heaven will not be complete without you.