Unruly and Vain Talkers by F. M. W.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 2, 1914

Unruly and Vain Talkers

By F. M. W.

THEIR name is legion. They have existed in all ages of the church. In the days of the apostle Paul he declared that there were "many" of them. Against their pernicious influence he warned the church of God: "For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: whose mouths must be stopped. . . . Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith."

There is hardly a church today that is free from the influence of this class of persons. They are found in every neighborhood. They may not discuss the doctrine of circumcision. Oftentimes they talk of topics far less profitable. They are the gossip mongers, the tale-bearers, the agitators of the community.

We all need to guard ourselves that we do not form habits of thought and conversation which will constitute us members of this class. There is enough that is noble and uplifting to engage our thought and conversation. There is much in this superficial age which contributes to cheap talk, but let us aim to be sound-minded men and women; to talk sense; to speak well-chosen words — words that are like "apples of gold in pictures of silver."

The words we speak will become a savor of life or a savor of death to us and to those who hear. We cannot afford to spend hours of precious time discussing the fashion plate, or the baseball game, or in idle chitchat which makes for neither our spiritual nor intellectual betterment. "Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."

F. M. W.