After three weeks in Serbia, I am learning so much not only
about their culture, but about how life should be lived. The other day after a
church service, I was talking to a man who had seen people come in and out of
the church for the past 20 years. Like most Serbians we have met, he seemed
hesitant to a new group of missionaries coming through and not staying.
During our conversation, Dragon stated, “You know what I don’t
like about Americans? They are liars. They say they are going to write and keep
in touch, but never do.” This comment hit my heart in so many ways. How many
times do I commit things that I have every intention of doing, yet time seems
to slip away, and it never happens. How many times after this occurs do I think
of what I said as a lie? Would that perspective make me feel differently?
In America, we pride ourselves in filling our schedules with
things to do and people to see. The more we do, the better we feel about
ourselves. However, how many commitments do we actually keep? Do we weigh our
words in such a way that we will follow up on everything we say? After walking
away from my conversation with Dragon, I realized that I need to be more careful
with the things I say and be more intentional with the relationships I have in
my life. I pray that I can be more intentional, and follow up on the commitments
I keep, the people I say I am going to pray for, or the phone calls I promise
to make.
“And
don’t say anything you don’t mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our
traditions. You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of
pious talk, saying, ‘I’ll pray for you,’ and never doing it, or saying, ‘God be
with you,’ and not meaning it. You don’t make your words true by embellishing
them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it
becomes less true. Just say ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ When you manipulate words to get
your own way, you go wrong.“
(Matthew 5:33-37, The Message)
