Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. – Ephesians 4:29

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 2, 2018): Ephesians 4

“Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people.” It is interesting to me that we have sometimes lost the content of this quote in an argument over who said it. The words have been attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt, the nineteenth-century historian Henry Thomas Buckle, and even the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, among others. But we have minimized the idea behind the quote in a discussion of people and whoever spoke these words might attribute that fact to our weak minds.

No matter who spoke the words, I heartily endorse the concept. Too often our discussions devolve to the level of people, evidence of our weak minds. The only thing weaker than our discussion of people is our clinging concepts of a certain political party without ever discussing the merits of the idea. All people and political ideologies have the potential to arrive at positive ideas. Judging an idea by who said it is foolishness. Personally, I don’t care who said something, or what political ideology produced a certain concept. What is important to me is the concept itself, the idea. All else pales in comparison.

Ideas are the level at which our conversation should hover. Our comments should never be at the level of person. We cannot make decisions according to whether we like the person. We should never find ourselves talking about the affairs of a certain person. Gossip is something in which we all partake, maybe especially those who seem to condemn it the most harshly, and yet it is probably the one universal thing to which we should never find ourselves committed. Yet, in the society in which I live, we have an industry committed to the idea of gossip. Is Oprah going to run for President? To that question, the gossip industry says yes. But I have yet to hear anyone outline the idea of what such a run would mean nor about the concepts that she might bring to the table. What is usually stressed is that she might be the one person that might have the popularity and enough money to beat Donald Trump. It is an argument that is centered at the level of person. And when any political office is decided on personality rather than ideas and ideals, we are all losers.

Paul simply says that our mouths should stand quietly unless there is something that needs to be said that is helpful in building us up. Talking on the level of people is often more about tearing down rather than building up. Talking about events can tend to be a little more neutral, although it still seems to be at least slightly on the negative side. But when we discuss ideas, when we work through concepts and allow the ideas of others to shape the ones that we hold, then we are involved in the process of building each other up and strengthening each other in what it is that we believe. We don’t always have to agree, although disagreements at the level of idea should never be taken personally. Disagreements should result in our answering the questions that need to be asked and strengthening the concepts that espouse. But when we discuss at the level of ideas we can rest assured that we are directly involved in making this world a better place.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Ephesians 5