The other day I was attending an event hosted by a group of people that I normally wouldn’t associate with for a number of reasons: location, occupation, general interests, and social circles. But I attended and had a wonderful time, except during those brief seconds when I was surprisingly dumbfounded by the ignorance of insensitivity spilling out of flippant lips of two individuals. It was as if their words were literally stabbing me and causing open wounds. Was it just me, or did other people feel the same. Did others in the room feel the sharp blade of a butcher knife?
Words are powerful! As Beth Moore suggests in her book, Believing God, our words are potent; God’s Word is omnipotent. Sometimes we don’t realize how potent our words are. The comments, which seemed harmless to the people actually speaking, were racially and ethically insensitive. I was too shocked to make the encounter an educational moment and offer constructive and corrective feedback. Instead, I sat back, observed, and ate more finger food hoping my wounds would heal quickly. I watched the attendees socialize and jump from subject to subject about surface topics that were centered around themselves, their homes, their traditions, their jobs, and their families. What I realized is that ignorance grows deeper and takes root in the lives of people who fail to listen and hear God’s omnipotent Word. When we truly listen and hear God’s Word, we grow. Our words take root in something so much greater than our own self-consumed identities. Ignorance is bliss only to the ignorant. However, it stings like alcohol on an open wound to the one being offended.