Aliens Pt. 3 – Alien Communication
Aliens. Extraterrestrials. Green skinned, one eyed, antenna adorned, space hopping creatures spying on us! We are intrigued by the question, "Are we alone in this universe."
We established in week 1 that we believe in Aliens. In fact, the truth be told, we are the aliens! 1 Peter 2:11makes it abundantly clear that we are not of this world! Peter addresses us like this: "Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers"
You will remember that we have said that our problem is that we suffer from the blends. We are aliens so we should stand out and Peter says this is accomplished by abstaining fleshly lusts and living with excellence. This is all in an attempt to cause people to want to be lead to our leader. Then last week we talked about the fact that as aliens we are tasked with invasion and domination. We are supposed to be taking over. We are to be occupying which doesn’t mean sitting passively by waiting for escape! We are to dispossess our enemy to improve things for the kingdom! We do this by operating in Alien powers which are only available to those who live with alien purpose. Those that go will be followed by certain signs. Some of us are followed by stress, destruction, pain, strife, chaos . . . we should be followed by signs!
I want to talk about Alien communication. If we are aliens our communication should be different!
Let’s see how Aliens are instructed to communicate! There are two main passages of instruction that we are given. Each of these reveals the impact of Alien communication and then they also deal with the type of communication we should practice.
Text: Ephesians 4:24-25, 29-32
And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.
25What this adds up to, then, is this: no more lies, no more pretense. Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself.
29Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift. 30Don’t grieve God. Don’t break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don’t take such a gift for granted. 31-32Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.
Eph. 5:4, 6-7 - Though some tongues just love the taste of gossip, those who follow Jesus have better uses for language than that. Don’t talk dirty or silly. That kind of talk doesn’t fit our style. Thanksgiving is our dialect.6-7Don’t let yourselves get taken in by religious smooth talk. God gets furious with people who are full of religious sales talk but want nothing to do with him. Don’t even hang around people like that.
James 3:5-6
A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! 5-6It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.
1. Alien communication has two realm impact.
Our use of our tongue has the ability to impact two realms. The first is the realm of the heavens. Notice that right in middle of his instructions, it almost seems out of place, Paul says "don’t grieve Holy Spirit (God)". But notice the bookends . . . watch the way you talk . . . Make a clean break from this type of communication.
We always focus on behavior when it comes to breaking God’s heart and very seldom deal with the way we talk! From our lips to His ears!
We are desperate to hear from God. Let me hear you. Speak to me God. But here is a life changing thought ... God hears you and He is impacted by what He hears. Your words can literally break His heart! Grieve means "to pain, to hurt, to cause sorrow".
So our communication impacts the God realm and can produce pain in our Leader. But that isn’t all it can do in that realm. Jesus states in Matthew 18 that "Whatever we bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever we loose on earth will be loosed in heaven!" It was commonly understood by the Jews at that time that this binding and loosing was a declaration. What you declare brings the force, power, resources, and impact of the kingdom to bear! When you speak you aren’t just speaking with your power but His power! That is why we must not only be careful but aware of what comes out of our mouths!
What are you saying about your kids? What have you said about your spouse lately? What have you declared about your health? What have you declared about your job? You are bringing the power of a different realm to bear in this realm. Heaven is ushered into the earth through our mouths!
I think one of the key issues for us is that we continually underestimate the power, authority and impact of our talk! Alien communication has power. It has the power to destroy or power to build. Our simple words contain the power of life and death.
James backs Paul up and goes one step further and shows us that not only do our words impact God realm but also have impact in the earthly realm. He declares that a word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! He says that our words can literally change atmosphere - harmony to chaos, ruin a person’s life - ruin a reputation, and destroy the world.
Man that is a great and terrible gift! We forget what Peter Parker taught us . . . With great power comes great responsibility! When it comes to our talk we are playing with a loaded weapon! We have a mandate to use our power for good.
Do you allow your tongue to produce life in others or do you wield your alien tongue like a sword and everywhere you go you leave a path and swath of destruction?
Watch your mouth! I have used this term before . . . we are to be mouth managers. What you say matters! You are literally shaping your world and the world of others by what you say! That is why it is also extremely important to guard who you listen to. What you hear can produce death in you. What you can hear can destroy your dream, your hope, your health or it can produce greatness, faith, and healing!
2. Alien talk should be alien.
Thankfully Paul gets very specific about the type of talk that is acceptable as Aliens. Notice that the type of talk that is approved and prescribed is alien to the world around us!
Let’s look at his list:
a. No lies - truth is a mandate and a hallmark of an alien. It is good thing we never practice lying. "That’s just not your color." "I will be praying for you." Your word should be your bond. You should be an Alien of your word. Live up to your word so they will trust His Word!
b. Nothing foul or dirty - Whatever is in the well comes up in the bucket. Our language and the topic of our language is not only a direct reflection of our heart but also our Leader. Ephesians 5 says no obscenity, foolishness, or coarse joking. One version says worthless words. In other words, it is not only our lifestyle but our language that should stand in stark contrast to our society! The question is not are certain words acceptable in this culture . . . it is are they acceptable to HIS culture? Are they acceptable by the standards of the King we represent?
c. No gossip - As long as you are just expressing concern it is probably ok! Right!
d. No religious talk - What? We thought our special Christianese is what really makes us different! If only we could talk religious, sound spiritual, sound holy and that would make us holy. However, Paul says our religious sales talk makes God angry! Our talk doesn’t make us holy it reveals if we are holy!
So how should Aliens talk? Our dialect should be edifying ... building one another up and should be marked by thankfulness. Have you thanked God or anyone for what you have? Would anyone consider you thankful or demanding? Appreciative or entitled?
So our talk sets us apart. Perhaps we need to have an Isaiah moment today and say, "Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty."
This lead to a coal be taking and touched to his lips and the declaration of cleansing was pronounced over him and then he was ready to be sent and used by God! The cleansing of his lips . . . he got his mouth right and he instantly became a person that God could use!
