What are others hearing us say?                                                                              Two or three times a year I am very honored, thankful     

to speak to men transitioning from being incarecerated    back into society...getting a job, being reconciled with      family, defeating their demons, etc. These men, for the  most part, are not "playing games," patronizing those of us who show up to speak God's truth to them. I always pray for God to direct me to a passage of Scripture and for His Spirit to help me explain God's Word to both instruct and encourage, while also not compromsing truth. These guys are one of my most favorite groups God allows me to share  His Word with each year!

   

My first time to share with the group in 2023 was just a few days ago and, as usual, I incorporated a portion of my personal journey with Jesus into my talk for that day. At one point I referred to myself, as I often have, as a "redneck" whose life God has graciously transformed. As I would learn after my talk that morning, I said something like, "I'm still a redneck, but one who is serving and seeking to obey God now." A man I had met earlier, an African American man I'll just refer to as "Mike," approached me and as I attempted to shake his hand, he did not extend it and asked "How long have you been part of the 'Klan,' and how can you be a preacher?" Needless to say, I was stunned, taken aback, and asked "Mike" how he'd come to that conclusion? He explained that he'd been taught that members of the KKK also were generally called rednecks too! In my 50 plus years I had never before heard that some considered redneck to also be a term always assigned to white suprmacists. I immediately wondered how many I had offended over the years by calling or referring to myself, friends and fellow southerners, even Christians, as rednecks!

I thanked him for sharing his erroneous conclusion WITH me, but that I was very much opposed to white supremacy and any racism whatsoever. We talked some more, i asked him if our conversation might change his perspective and he replied "I don't know." I thanked him for his honesty, shook his hand, and I left that place and the interaction I had with "Mike" with a multitude of thoughts going through my mind. Probably the most significant being "How often have the words I've spoken been misconstrued and/or misunderstood by those who've heard me?" I speak publically multiple times a week, including the people who listen to our services online, whom I may never see. The potential to be misunderstood, as the conversation I had with "Mike" revealed, has soberly reminded me that what we say matters. I'm not concerned about whether my communicating truth from God's Word convicts, even offends, but shouldn't I? Shouldn't we all desire to avoid careless words which needlessly offend? 

Matthew 12:36-37, "I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”