In Love pt 3

I saw this a couple of days ago and instantly knew I would have to write about it. Please, study this picture.

Kill 'em all
Let God sort 'em out!
Only God will judge me.

Pardon me...WHAT?!?!?

I am not going to take the time or energy to address the theological inconsistencies with this, and I refuse to try and dive into the political squabble that it is trying to entertain. I actually have no interest in discussing what this person is saying nor am I angry at him or her for saying it. Rather, I am more intrigued by the liberty in which it was said. It got me thinking about the way that I, and other Christians, speak. Our self expressions are often just that, expressions of our very selves. We are often careless with out words, but that is not what I am referring to here. I am talking about when we say what we mean and we mean what we say. In this instance, "Kill 'em all." Even if it was intended to be humorous, it was still intended. How would you feel if you were 'em? The death threat would be bad enough, but then what about the symbol of the cross being used as justification for your murder? I'll admit up front that I am pulling no punches here, but please know that I am not nearly as passionate and enraged about the words on this car as I am about the things I see in myself.

I may never say, "Kill 'em all" but what do I say? What do you say?
"She is an idiot." "I hate people who..." "I want to punch him" "I am so stupid" "People like that make me want to..."
There are plenty of other things I could list, but I hope you can see that I am talking about our emotionally-charged self expressions. Please take caution when exercising your freedom of speech. I would submit to you that as Christians, even as American Christians, ESPECIALLY as American Christians, we really do not have the freedom of speech. When we entered into covenant with God through Christ, we gave up our rights to do whatever we want to do. As I have written in my love blogs before, the way we love others is the very proof of our salvation. When it comes to loving others, it is encouraging to know that as we do so we are doing it unto God. However, that rule applies when we are firing off our verbal bullets. The way we speak to and about others shows our heart towards God. James puts it this way:
"The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!"
How can you kill 'em all, call 'em idiots, punch 'em, and despise 'em, when God made 'em? I am really serious about renovating the way I speak, even in my frustration. The Bible tells me that the things I say are actually samples of my heart. If I can verbally execute someone in a moment of anger, what must my heart look like? I urge you to look at the little (your name)-isms that pepper your vocabulary. It would be a very sad thing for your love, the evidence and completion of our relationship with God, to be compromised by the way you speak. Choose your words wisely and pass them through the filter of love.
...and if you don't have anything nice to say, don't plaster it on your car at all.