Words mean things. This simple phrase didn’t originate with Rush Limbaugh, but he made it popular. Our current cultural moment is filled with what the Apostle Paul might call “a noisy gong or clanging symbol” (1 Cor. 13:1). Words fly at us from every direction, assailing our senses from talk show hosts, political pundits, podcast influencers, entertainment mavens, sports superstars, and news commentators, to family members and colleagues who often serve as would-be philosophers. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I often step into this environment feeling unprepared and ill-equipped to be heard in a way that breaks through the noise and brings truth, clarity, and peace to the debate. If I try to “speak the truth in love,” I am dismissed by some as weak and ineffectual. To gain attention, I’m told, I need to be boisterous, bombastic, using phrases that incite and raise up in others negative emotions like anger, frustration, resentment, and vengefulness. Yoda would call these words and the emotions they provoke “the dark side of the force.” God’s Word, through the Apostle Paul, calls them “the unfruitful works of darkness.”
Godly, effective communication rises above the clatter of our cultural moment by choosing the right word at the right time delivered with the right tone. Speaking under the influence of the Holy Spirit, Paul instructs us to “let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Eph. 4:29, ESV). Paul continues telling us what should dominate our communication, saying, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:31–32, ESV).
Twenty-first century political discourse had led to the repurposing and popularization of the word “spin.” In normal parlance, it means to “revolve rapidly” or to play a record on a turntable (if you are a millennial, ask a baby boomer about records and turntables). Contemporary usage of the word “spin” means we take the facts and twist them until they conform to our position on an issue. In that context, the truth becomes tribalized. It is imperative for Christians to step into our abrasive, factually inaccurate, and often intentionally deceptive political environment, where spin is considered a legitimate tactic, and issue a call to cease being conformed to the accepted cultural standard. We should seek to influence the culture by being transformed by the renewing of our minds.
How do we do this? When Jesus sent His disciples out into the world, He gave them some specific instructions on how to engage the lost. He told them He was “sending them out as sheep in the midst of wolves,” so they were to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matt. 10:16). He described the persecution they would endure. What did Jesus mean by “wise as serpents”? The Jews of Jesus’s day considered serpents to be wise because their ability to stay concealed until they are ready to make themselves known, coupled with their ability to adapt, makes them particularly well suited to living in a harsh and often hostile environment. The Bible tells us to beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matt. 7:15), but nowhere does it instruct us as sheep to put on a wolf suit in order to attack the wolves from inside their den. Often, we give in to the temptation to rely on the world’s tactics in order to change the world. But James reminds us, “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:19–20, ESV). We are salt and light, but we must keep the salt’s savor and elevate the light to be effective.
That takes us to the phrase “innocent as doves.” The Greek word used here for innocent is akeraios. It means harmless, simple, and unmixed. Doves were considered ritually clean and they were easy to obtain, making them an ideal sacrifice for those who couldn’t afford a lamb. In a world that mixes truth with error and calls it spin, believers should be steadfast in their defense of the truth. When we refuse to mix worldly standards with the truth of God’s Word, He will provide a path for us to engage our culture effectively.
— Tony Beam is senior director of Church and Community Engagement at North Greenville University and policy consultant for SCBaptists.