- Let's Watch Our Conversation

MOST CHRISTIANS, I FIND, HELP each other very little in ordinary conversation, and often do each other much harm. There are few who can talk for any length of time without descending to speech that is not only unprofitable but positively harmful.
That is a flaw in our lives that should be dealt with seriously. It often happens that all the good effect of a service will be destroyed by light and unworthy conversation after the meeting. This is a sad fault, for the ministry of any church should be no more than a public expression of the pure spirituality that is the regular day-by-day life of those who are a part of it.
The minister himself should simply carry into the pulpit on Sunday the same spirit that has characterized him all week long. He should not need to adopt another voice nor speak in a different tone. The subject matter would necessarily differ from that of his ordinary conversation, but the mood and attitude expressed in his sermons should be identical to his daily living.
Harmful or vain speech blocks revival and grieves the Spirit more than we are likely to realize. It destroys the accumulative effect of spiritual impressions and makes it necessary each Sunday to recapture the devotional mood that has been lost during the week. Thus we are compelled constantly to do over again the work of last week and to retake ground lost by unprofitable conversation.
It is not desirable that we form the habit of constant religious chatter when we meet with our friends. There is no surer proof of our basic levity of character than the careless way religion is often discussed among us. I do not plead for more religious talk—religious shop talk can be as dull and boring as any other shop talk, and what is worse, it may become insincere and meaningless. The ideal to aim at is a chaste, natural and love-washed conversation at all times, whether we are discussing things on earth or things in heaven.