FOOT-IN-MOUTH
You’ve no doubt heard the expression ‘foot-in-mouth disease’. Someone mentioned it the other morning at the Men’s Shed over a cup of coffee. I was curious about the origins of the expression so I did a little research. Mr Google tells me that the expression actually goes back to the 1870s. It took its starting point in that deadly virus found in cattle, foot and mouth disease. The name of that disease was then applied metaphorically to people who say things that get them into serious trouble. I guess that just as foot and mouth disease in cattle can be fatal so too there have been instances where someone saying the wrong thing has been fatal too.
Mention foot-in-mouth disease and certain politicians – past and present – readily come to mind. But why think only of politicians? I’m sure that most of us have been guilty at some time or other of putting our foot in our mouth. It’s with some regret that I think of several instances where I’ve said things that later got me into trouble. The conversation at the Men’s Shed centred on someone who was particularly good at it – in fact the speaker suggested that this man could put both feet in his mouth at the same time.
So what’s the cure for foot-in-mouth disease? The book of James in the Bible has a lot of practical wisdom to offer and James was also concerned about foot-in-mouth disease. He says, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger.”
There’s a lot of wisdom in that. God gave us two ears but only one mouth and maybe that’s a hint that we should listen twice as much as we talk. I recall a proverb I once heard from my mother: to speak is silver, to remain silent is gold. It’s good to think this through a little further in an age when we are quick to unload our words on Facebook or Twitter. Well, okay, you can delete your Facebook post later if it proves to be a problem. However, so often the damage has been done.
I recall the story of the village gossip who came to the parish priest and confessed that once again his words had got him into trouble. The priest gave him a pillow of feathers and told him to put a feather on every doorstep in the village – and then come back for further instructions. When he returned he was told to go around and now collect all the feathers that he had placed. An hour later the man came back and lamented that the wind had carried them all away. The priest told him that the same thing happened with our words… we can’t take them back once they are spoken. The reality is that we are masters of our words only as long as we haven’t spoken them but once we’ve spoken them they can become our masters and control our lives.
You may be curious why James added the warning about anger: be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger. The reason is that an angry person is not usually in the mood for listening and an angry person quickly and thoughtlessly lets fly with his words.
All of this of course is easier to talk about than to actually do. So how do we make sure that we live up to this advice that the Bible gives us? Well, there’s a little clue in the fact that James is addressing these words to his brothers and sisters in the faith. “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters, let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger.” The point is that we need Jesus in our life if we want to deal with our foot-in-mouth disease. Too many people think that faith in Jesus is just to get us into heaven. No! Not by a long shot. Faith in Christ changes someone’s life. It transforms. We human beings need redeemed souls but we also need redeemed tongues and James is reminding us that we must let the life-changing work of Jesus also deliver us from foot-in-mouth disease.
John Westendorp