"Of course he was green and huge," stammered Jane as she flailed her arms around, "you know, just like in the movies. It was terrible." Sally's skeptical look didn't even slow Jane down. "The worst part of it was what he did. Every time that gnarled beast opened his mouth, brown watery acid dripped from his evil lips burning smoldering holes in the concrete! But then when he spoke," Jane gasped for air as she remembered the scene permanently etched into her mind, "he spit this stuff all over the place, all over my friends. There was nothing you could do, that sizzling acidic spray just kept eating right through everything it fell on - even my friends. And then with evil delight it rejoiced in turning my friends into toast as a column of fire issued forth from that walking flame thrower!"
Do fire breathing and acid spitting monsters only come from the creative minds of Hollywood? Perhaps the ones that look green, but there is another type of acid spitting monster that does not come from outer space. During my lifetime I’ve seen a few of them. No, they were not green and huge, in fact they looked like ordinary people. But one thing is for sure, every time I have seen those individuals open their mouths they destroyed and set on fire everyone and everything around them. As James says, “and the tongue is a fire, a world of wrongdoing among our members of the body, which stains the whole body, setting on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell.” James 3:6
Acid spitting aliens are not religious creatures. "If anyone considers himself to be religious, but does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself, his religion is worthless." James 1:26 Paul reminds us that instead of being acid spitting aliens Christians are called to be nurses and brick layers who heal and build up. "Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only that which builds others up as the occasion requires, so that it may benefit those who listen." Ephesians 4:29
There is something else about acid spitting aliens you should know. Have you ever met a person who was tearing someone else down who was not convinced that he or she was right? I never have. Each one of these brutal creatures has its own reason, its own hurt, its own perspective and feelings why it ought to be unkind to other people.
They are convinced that they are justified and right in saying what they do! Acid spitting aliens feel no remorse over the trail of blood and broken lives they leave behind. People who use their words as weapons of destruction through bitterly complaining and finding fault, gossiping, deriding others, tearing others down, are unkind and unloving. And although they might think that they are justified for treating others in such unloving ways, closer to the truth is that they have not yet learned to love their neighbor has themself.
Instead of having as their goal "speaking the truth in love" and trying to only say "what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen," these dragons relish such communication goals as "I speak my mind," "I don't care what people think of me, I say it as it really is."
Of course, scripture never says, it is OK to gossip, degrade, chew up and destroy other people as long as you are telling the truth. It says, "If anyone considers himself to be religious, but does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself, his religion is worthless." James 1:26
Barry Newton, Copyright © 1998
Other articles which may be of interest:
Mt. Kalauea Erupts Again (On Anger)
Judging My Use of His Tool (On our speech)
As Long As I Don't Hurt Anybody (Do Libertarian values work?)