Bishop Stephen Gardiner of Winchester who condemned Taylor.

During the reign of Queen Mary Tudor, many Protestant churchmen were put to death for their faith. Bishops Bonner and Gardiner were her main agents. Gardiner, who had sworn an oath to serve the Reformation, and then switched sides, was especially notorious for his insults, jeers, and sarcasm toward the men he examined. One of these was Rowland Taylor, a pastor of godly character from a village fifty miles from London.

Gardiner greeted the holy man with his usual barrage of disparaging words (violence covering his lips), and soon enough contrived to do real violence, having Taylor condemned to death for views which differed from those of Rome. To make an example of him, the bishop had him burned to death in the town where he had preached.

The sheriff and his men who took Taylor home to die were amazed at the joy with which he approached death, and at the love and reverence his people showed him. Along the route people called blessings on their good pastor, thanking him aloud for kindnesses he had done to them. One old lady knelt beside him as he made his final prayer, and would not be driven away.

Taylor died patiently. In this he was like his Lord and master, Jesus Christ. Blessings cover Christ’s head and always will, especially the blessing of God who said, “This is my beloved Son.” But violence, jeers, mocking and curses covered the mouth of our Lord’s opponents, who wagged their heads at him while he was on the cross, and taunted him with the words, “He saved others, let him save himself.”

Abraham Lincoln, whose Gettysburg Address is a masterpiece of brevity.

The more we talk or write, the more likely we are to say something stupid, false, or harmful. Josephus is an example. His lengthy histories, which were written to ingratiate the Romans, reveal him as a schemer, boaster, and a traitor to his own nation. As his biographer Bentwich says, “Hard circumstances compelled him to choose between a noble and an ignoble part, between heroic action and weak submission. He was a mediocre man, and chose the way that was not heroic and glorious. Posterity gained something by his choice; his own reputation was fatally marred by it.”

Short speeches and writings often have power completely out of proportion to their length. Consider Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. He spoke so briefly that the professional photographer did not have time to complete the adjustment of his old-fashioned equipment. The other lengthy orations of that historic occasion have not been remembered, but what an inspiration the president’s few words became to the United States!

Jesus also couched almost all of his most memorable teachings in just a few, well-chosen words and images. Such were the Lord’s Prayer, the Beatitudes, all of the parables, and most of his answers to questions. Only the Sermon on the Mount, the Olivet Discourse, and his final instructions to his disciples before his crucifixion approach lengthiness. He knew the power of succinctness and showed an absolute mastery of his tongue that we would do well to emulate.

Christ before Ciaphas.

One of my favorite scenes in the movie Radio (based on a true story) has Coach Harold Jones (well-played by Ed Harris) criticized in the barber shop for brefriending Radio, a young man with a disability. Rather than defend himself with many words, he asks, “Is that what you think Radio is? A Distraction?” Setting down his coffee cup he adds in a calm voice, “Think I’m going to do us all a big favor and let you all finish this one on your own.”

Whether or not that was the real character of Jones (he loses his temper with a referee once), he comes across as terse, wise and self-controlled in this scene and several others. It aptly illustrates Solomon’s proverb.

Jesus illustrates it even better. His teachings were terse and memorable. His responses to heckling and to honest questions were brief, well-considered, and to the point. On several occasions (most notably with the woman taken in adultery, and at his trials), the Gospels comment on his silence. In all these things, he showed true knowledge and understanding.

Anne Askew and some others at the stake.

Anne Askew was an outspoken woman early in the English reformation. Her faith brought her into contact with the women of King Henry VIII’s court, including possibly Katherine Parr. Anne was tortured to reveal her contacts but stubbornly refused to betray her associates. Eventually she was burned alive.

So far as we know, Jesus was not tested in this manner. However, he fulfilled the spirit of this proverb, for when arrested, he said, “Let these men go” so that his disciples went free. Not only so, he stood silent before false accusations, refusing to testify against himself until adjured in the name of God.

Beau Nash

Beau Nash was the reigning dandy at Bath in 1739. An adventurer and gamester, he paraded his materialism with gaudy displays of pomp and profligacy. When he learned John Wesley was coming in June, he promised to drag him down. Friends pleaded with Wesley not to risk preaching, but Wesley refused; he must share the word of life.

As a consequence of Nash’s boasts, the crowds were larger than usual, and many among them were the fashionable people and visitors of the town. Wesley preached in his normal style, warning people high and low that all were locked under sin and needed a savior.

Nash appeared and tried to disrupt the meeting. He asked by what authority Wesley preached. Wesley easily answered; he had been ordained by the man who was now Archbishop of Canterbury. Nash then twisted the law to claim the assembly was illegal; Wesley replied that the law referred to seditious gatherings. Nash next charged him with frightening the people, to which Wesley demonstrated that Nash was speaking from hearsay. Finally Nash demanded, “I desire to know what this people comes here for.”

An old woman shouted in reply, “You, Mr. Nash, take care of your body; we take care of our souls; and for the food of our souls we come here.” Nash retired defeated.

Anyone who has read the accounts of Christ knows that, like Nash, the Pharisees did all in their power to impede Him from speaking of true righteousness. There was violence in their speech, and ultimately violence in their deeds.

These examples remind me of something Paul Johnson wrote in Enemies of Society. He said that those who will do violence to the language [i.e.: twist facts and meanings to make a point] will do violence to people if they get the power. It has been the way of Satanic opposition from the beginning, for as Christ reminded us, Satan is a liar and a murderer, and his followers act like him.

We must make every effort to be honest with our facts, use words properly, and tell the whole story, not just the parts that support our position.

Fall tree, courtesy of Rich King.

Trees are marvelous creations. Their designs are pleasing to the eye. They clothe the landscape in restful greens, give shade and provide all sorts of useful products such as lumber, fruit, fuel and nuts. And, as we now know, they reduce the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and pump out healthy oxygen. The Bible mentions special trees which do more. There was, for example, the tree of knowledge of good and evil which brought such woe to our race when violated. There was a tree of life from which Adam and Eve were driven away. In the New Jerusalem there will also be a tree of life, perhaps like a banyan tree, spreading over the river of life. It will bear a different fruit each month and heal the nations.

Solomon compares a wholesome tongue to a tree of life. Jesus had such a tongue. Life-giving wisdom dripped from his lips. One cannot read his words two thousand years later without a thrill. They cut to the core of any pretense and exalt to the skies. They are health-giving like the tree of life in the New Jerusalem.

By contrast, perverseness is the tendency to twist truth into its opposite. A perverse tongue shows a gaping hole in the spirit of its owner. Where Christ’s words defend truth, teach, warn and refresh, the words of a perverse man batter at the spirit with nagging, lying, cursing and destruction. Such a tongue pains its hearers and damns its owner.