Soulish Talk
It is not difficult for Christians to understand that spiritual forces directed against them from servants of Satan would be dangerous and harmful. Many Christians would be surprised, however, to learn that there are situations in which spiritual forces emanating from their fellow believers could also be harmful. Yet in James 3:14-15 the apostle is writing both to and about Christians when he warns:
But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.
To describe a certain kind of "wisdom", James uses adjectives on three descending levels: first, "earthly"; below that, "sensual"; and below that, "demonic". The key to understanding the downward process lies in the second adjective, here translated "sensual". The Greek word is psuchikos, formed directly from psuche, meaning "soul". The corresponding English word would be "soulish". Translated in this way, it fits in naturally with the Bible's picture of human personality.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Paul prays:
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless..
Paul here puts together the three elements that make up a complete human personality, listing them in descending order from the highest to the lowest: first, spirit; then, soul; then, body. The spirit is that part of human personality that was directly in breathed by God at creation. It is therefore capable of direct union and communion with the Creator. In 1 Corinthians 6:17 Paul says:
He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
It would not be correct to say "one soul with Him". Only man's spirit is capable of direct union with God. In the original pattern of creation, man's spirit related upward to God and downward to his soul. God communicated directly with man's spirit, and through man's spirit with his soul. Together, man's spirit and soul expressed themselves through his body: At the fall, as a result of man's disobedience, his spirit was cut off from God, and at the same time his soul began to express itself independently of his spirit. This new, "disjointed" relationship was both the consequence and the expression of man's rebellion against God. Elsewhere in the New Testament, the word "soulish" denotes the activity of man's soul when it is out of its proper relationship to his spirit. It describes, therefore, a condition that is contrary to God's highest will. This can be established by considering briefly two other passages in the New Testament where the word psuchikos - that is, "soulish" - occurs. In 1 Corinthians 2:14-15 Paul says: the natural Isoulishi man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God.., nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
On the other hand: he who is spiritual judges all things.
It is obvious that "soulish" and "spiritual" are in opposition to each other. The "spiritual" person is functioning according to God's will; the "soulish" person is out of harmony with God. The "soulish" person seeks to apprehend spiritual truth in the realm of his soul, but is unable to do so. The "spiritual" person is united with God through his spirit and is thus able to receive spiritual revelation directly from God. In Jude 16-19, the apostle describes a class of persons who are associated with the church, but are nevertheless "murmurs, complainers, walking according to their own lusts". He concludes by saying of them:
These are sensual soulis persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit that is, the Holy Spirit.
Taken together, these passages in I Corinthians and in Jude present a consistent picture of a person described as "soulish". He is apparently one who associates with the church and wears a veneer of spirituality. At the same time, his soul is not rightly related to God through his spirit. In spite of the faith he professes, he is in reality a rebel, out of harmony with God and with the people of God. He is incapable of apprehending spiritual truth. His rebellious attitude and conduct grieve the Spirit of God and cause offence in the Body of Christ. This analysis explains the descending levels of the corrupt wisdom described in James 3:15: from earthly; to soulish, to demonic. The root problem is rebellion - some form of disobedience to God - some form of rejection of God's authority. This rebellion cuts a person's spirit off from God and from the things of heaven. He is now confined to the plane of earthly values and motives. At the same time, his soul, out of harmony with God, is exposed by its rebellion to the influence of demons, which his blunted spiritual senses cannot identify. The outcome is a form of wisdom which appears to be "spiritual" but is, in fact, "demonic".
The whole of this third chapter of James focuses on one specific problem: the misuse of the tongue. Furthermore, the entire epistle is addressed mainly, if not exclusively, to those who profess faith in Christ. It is clear, therefore, that this corrupt, counterfeit, demonic wisdom, of which James speaks, finds its expression in words used by Christians. How does such a situation arise? There are two main areas in which Christians are often guilty in this way on account of the words they utter. The first area is words Christians speak among themselves; the second is words which they speak to God - primarily in prayer.
The New Testament gives very clear warnings to Christians as to how they should speak about other people - and especially their fellow believers. In Titus 3:2 Paul says that we are "to speak evil of no one". The phrase "no one" applies to all other people, whether believers or unbelievers. The Greek verb translated "to speak evil" is bias phemo -from which is derived the word "blaspheme". It is important to understand that the sin of "blasphemy" includes not only evil words spoken against God, but also evil words spoken against our fellow human beings. Whether spoken in reference to God or to other people, such language is forbidden to Christians.
In James 4:11 James deals more specifically with words that Christians speak Do not speak evil of one another, brethren.
The word here translated "to speak evil" is katalalo, which means simply "to speak against". Many Christians interpret James to mean that we are not to say anything false against other believers. What he actually says, however, is that we are not to speak against fellow believers at all - even if what we say about them is true. The sin that James is dealing with is not speaking falsely but speaking against. One of the sins that Christians fall into most easily is gossip. In some Christian congregations, if gossip were excluded, scarcely any kind of conversation would be left! Collins English Dictionary offers the two following definitions of "gossip":
1. Casual and idle chat;
2. Conversation involving malicious chatter or rumours about other people.
Two of the adjectives here applied to gossip are: "idle" and "malicious". It is not enough for Christians to avoid malice in their talk. In Matthew 12:36 Jesus Himself explicitly warns us against mere idle speech: "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgement."
Although the New Testament explicitly forbids gossip, many Christians regard it as a relatively "harmless" sin. Most definitely, however, this is not how God views it. In Romans 1:29- 30 (NIV) Paul lists some of the consequences of man's turning away from God. Here is part of his list:
They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful...
The position of gossips in this list is significant. Some of the heart attitudes directly associated with gossip are strife, deceit and malice. Gossips themselves are classified with people who are slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful. Christians who indulge in gossip may think of themselves as "exceptions", but that is not how God sees them.
The danger of this kind of talk is brought out by the descending order of adjectives in James 3:15: "earthly, soulish, demonic". Christians who permit themselves to gossip about other people - especially their fellow believers - are directly disobedient to God's Word. As a result, they find themselves on a slippery downward slope. Before they realise what is happening, they have slipped from the "earthly" to the "soulish", and then from the "soulish" to the "demonic" The words these people speak about others would not normally be described as "curses", but their effect is the same. They are in fact channels through which demonic forces are directed against other members of Christ's Body. Furthermore, it is not only the individuals spoken about who are affected. In James 3:6 the apostle says,
The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body.
The believer who is guilty of this kind of speech actually defiles both himself and that part of the Body of Christ to which he is related. Some years ago, while in Europe on a ministry trip, I found myself in a situation which gave me vivid new insight into the dangers of soulish talk. I was preparing to speak at a very significant meeting, when I was seized with a crippling pain in my lower abdomen. Fearing that I might have to cancel my commitment to speak that evening, I called out to God for help.
Immediately I had a mental picture of two Christian friends of mine, about 6,000 miles away in the United States, talking about me. There was a very warm personal relationship between the three of us, but my two friends had disagreed strongly with a recent course of action I had taken. I sensed that in their conversation they were criticising me for my action and that their negative words about me were producing the physical symptoms that I was struggling against. Furthermore, this was a strategy of Satan to keep me from ministering that evening. I saw that I needed to do two things. First, by a decision of my will, I forgave my friends for the words they were speaking against me. Then I acted on the promise of Jesus in Matthew 18:18:
"Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
With the authority vested in the name of Jesus, I bound the satanic forces at work against me, and then I loosed myself from the effect of my friends' words about me. Within five minutes, the pain in my abdomen had ceased entirely (and never returned!). A few hours later I was able to minister effectively in the meeting, and I had the sense that God's purpose had been fulfilled. Later, on returning to the United States, I had a meeting with my two friends and the tension between us was resolved. Today the relationship between us is warmer than before. In Matthew 7:1-2 Jesus says:
"Judge not, that you be not judged. "For with what judgement you judge, you will be judged; and with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you."
It is from the verb translated "to judge" that the English words "critic" and "criticise" are directly derived. When we permit ourselves to criticise other people - especially our fellow believers - in such a way that we are pronouncing judgement on them, we are disobeying Scripture and are thus guilty of a rebellious attitude towards God. This exposes us to the syndrome" of James 3:15: "earthly, soulish, demonic If we find ourselves in disagreement with the conduct of a fellow Christian, it is permitted - and sometimes necessary - to follow the pattern of Paul in his disagreement with Peter concerning Judaic practices. In Galatians 2:11 Paul says, ".I withstood him Peter to his face."
Paul did not criticise Peter's conduct to his own co-workers, Barnabas and Titus. Instead, he went straight to Peter himself and settled his differences with him in person. Had Paul be guilty of criticising Peter behind his back, the relations between the two of them might have been permanently fractured. As it was, however, in 2 Peter 3:15 - written near the en of Peter's life - he spoke with warm approval of "the wisdom given to our beloved brother Paul".
In Proverbs 27:5 (NIV) Solomon states this as a principle conduct:
Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
A different kind of situation, in which we may have to speak about another person's wrongdoing, arises when we are legally obligated to serve as a witness. In this case, it is our duty to speak "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth". No one can, however, be at the same time both a witness and a judge. In such a situation, we are not filling the role of a judge, but of a witness. We leave the responsibility of pronouncing judgement to someone else. The specific sin that Jesus warns us against is taking the position of a judge when God has not assigned that to us. He also warns us that if we do give way to criticising other people, in due coursefrom one source or another - the same kinds of criticism we have spoken against others will be levelled against us in our turn.
The Bible's penetrating analysis of the harm caused by misuse of the tongue probably leaves very few among us who would dare to plead "not guilty". If we recognise that we have indeed been guilty of wounding other people with our tongues and thus defiling ourselves and the Body of Christ, we need to repent and to seek God's forgiveness and cleansing. We may also need to ask forgiveness from those we have offended. Beyond that, we need to learn how to protect ourselves from wounding and hurtful words that others may speak against us.