Kingdom Reformers

Words and language also have power. Hebrews 11:3 “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command.” The world was created by the spoken words or language of God. The very words you speak today can shape the reality of your world tomorrow. How you speak and what you speak about reflects what is happening in your life. If your life is filled with brokenness, despair and negativity, there is a great chance that you will speak with brokenness, despair and negativity. If your life is filled with possibility, then you’re going to speak of hope and possibilities. But there’s another side to this too. If you begin to talk about brokenness and despair, then it may not only reflects your current reality it will also become a prison of self-fulfilling reality. Think for a moment how we New Orleaneans have often spoken about our city. We wine about corruption, moan about the blight and the city streets, complain about the violence and crime, and bemoan the educational system. If you listen to most folks, you begin to wonder why anybody lives here at all. It was so bad that the Young Leadership Council had to start a campaign to try to change how we talk about our own city through putting ads out and selling bumper stickers which said “New Orleans: Proud to Call It Home.”

Many of us can’t fulfill our life purpose because folks have never spoken the right language to you. They’ve never shared hope. They never spoke of your potential. They’ve never offered a word of encouragement. I remember after one basketball practice my sophomore year in high school, I blocked two shots of the best player on the team, had a couple of steals and then took a charge against him. The coach really lit into him after each incident. And after practice, the Coach said to me, “Tim, if you keep playing that well and improving you’re going to be starting on the varsity.” I got home and was walking ten feet high. And what do you think I did at the rest of our practices. I worked harder than ever and hustled more than anyone else. Some of you have never had anyone speak the right language to you. So now you’re stagnant, you can’t move forward, you’ve got no hope, no self-confidence and no possibility thinking. Listen to me very carefully: it doesn’t matter what you’ve done, where you’ve been or what people have said to you, God loves you. He forgives you, for even things you haven’t forgiven yourself about. God doesn’t make throwaways but can redeem any rough beginning. God cherishes you and has great plans for you. So listen to his voice of love, encouragement, grace and calling and begin living with that in mind.

There is a whole generation of people who have never had anybody tell them they were somebody. Nobody ever told them that God loves them. Nobody ever told them that they’re made in the image of God. Nobody ever told them they can do all things through Christ. God is calling us to speak those words of hope, love and encouragement to a world which is desperate to hear it. But they will never hear it unless we go to them. The days of when people flock to the church are over. This is the day of mission when the church must be on the move out into the world to share the powerful word of grace and good news of Jesus Christ. We are more than conquerors. We have to go to those people and if we can’t do anything else, we tell them God loves them through our words and our actions.