A Significant Word: Taking Our Speech Captive For The Lord's Work

I enjoy words. That’s one of my favorite aspects of studying Scripture. Each word uttered under the Lord’s direction conveys His truth with precision and correctness. In this way, how the Lord speaks to people sets the standard for how we speak to people. Because of who He is as the authoritative God, the manner, motive, and method for how we communicate is determined by Him. However, it goes further than just that. Speech is a gift of the Lord (James 1:17) and is to be used in a way that reflects His character (cf. James 3:9-10).

What we think about God, then, determines not just how we speak about God but also how we talk to others. This is a reality whether the person is a believer or an unbeliever. In writing to the Colossians, the Apostle Paul sets forth biblical standards for a Christian's speech when directed explicitly towards unbelievers. Despite being imprisoned, Paul maintains his gospel focus, asking the Colossians to pray for him to have opportunities to declare the message of Christ clearly (Colossians 4:3-4). And then he gives instructions to the Colossian believers about how to handle themselves with unbelievers, saying, “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time” (Colossians 4:5).

With just those few words, Paul has a lot to say about evangelism, which is the initial step to making disciples (this verse was discussed in a previous article, which you can read by clicking here). https://www.ifca.org/blog/Harvesters/a-testimony-for-evangelism

After establishing a fundamental principle, that believers should maintain a positive testimony towards unbelievers, he then goes on to apply that principle. How does Paul apply that truth? By using it to define one’s speech. Note what he says in the following verse: “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (Colossians 4:6).

After calling upon the Colossians believers to act wisely, Paul articulates a wise use of speech.
The wise use of speech comes with three descriptions describing the disposition, sentiment, and intention of our words.

When we look at each of those attributes, we learn the following:

• Disposition: The disposition of all speech is to be gracious. That should not be a surprising statement. From Christ, we learn that the mouth speaks out of an abundance of the heart (Matthew 12:34). Having our hearts filled with the grace of God, the expectation, then, is that our words would be an expression of that grace.
• Sentiment: The verse goes on to describe a believer's speech as one defined as seasoned with salt. Most frequently, this is understood as speech that is stimulating and wise. Because Paul writes elsewhere that he does not proclaim the truth of God with words of eloquence or human intelligence (1 Corinthians 2:1), we know that the indication of this verse does not mean we dress up our words as we seek to make it more palatable to unbelievers. Instead, we speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).
• Intention: Finally, notice how the last aspect tells us the purpose of our words. They are meant to be gracious and seasoned with salt so that believers may know how to answer each person.

Together, these three descriptions define a Christian’s speech.

I find it fascinating that while discussing the character of speech, there is little mention here of the content of speech. This is especially thought-provoking because the expectation is for believers to be able to answer, yet we're not told what that answer is. As a result, we learn a couple of things. First, the emphasis highlights the importance of how we say something just as much as what we say, which sometimes profoundly impacts our testimony for Christ. But Paul doesn't leave readers without direction. Context stipulates that what is being spoken is the truth of God and, more specifically, the gospel message.

Though the Lord's truth and message are counter-cultural and oftentimes challenging, by its nature, that truth is gracious because it imparts the Lord's grace to those who need it. Consider this a bit further, though, and recognize that by speaking the Word of God, believers add seasoning to the world because His word alone conveys truthful, relevant, and practical wisdom to all people. Ultimately, the most important things we say to others are not our words but the Lord's words.

Our speech is made more significant by Colossians 4:6, elevating it from something man-centered to something God-centered. With this one verse, the Lord captures our words as something to be used for His glory, directing believers to glorify Him by sharing His truth. In evil days, there is no time to act unwisely (Ephesians 5:16; Colossians 4:5). We have no time to waste words in meaningless talk and idle chitchat, but instead make the most of our time by using our limited words to point towards the Lord’s limitless grace. Therefore, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”

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