A Better and Godly Way to Communicate Ephesians 4:1-16 

Grace, mercy, and peace be with you, from God, our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Today we’re going to talk about the importance of godly communication, based on our Epistle, especially verse 15, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.

Communication is so important that without it, we and our world wouldn’t exist.

Very early in Scripture, in Genesis, when God created the world, He did it through His ability to communicate. He didn’t just will the world into existence, He also spoke it into existence. 

In Genesis 1:3 God said, Let there be light; and there was light. 

And in verse 6 God said, Let there be an expanse (the sky) … and it was so.

And in the same way, He made the dry land, the continents and islands, and the sun and moon and stars and planets, and fish and birds, and insects, and all other animals and mammals and reptiles. He made them all by speaking, by saying, Let there be.

And then in verse 26 God said, Let us make man in our image… So in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

We owe our existence and the existence of the world, to God’s words, His speaking, by which He communicated His will to create the universe, and us. 

So powerful and important is communication. God’s words are all-powerful.

Our words aren’t all-powerful, but they do have power; they have an effect and make an impact.

Also powerful is nonverbal communication, the things we say in our looks, our facial expressions, and gestures.   

God made us in His image and gave us intelligent speech, a higher way to communicate than all other creatures. 

And with that comes a higher responsibility, to use our unique gift of speech in godly ways, or as our Epistle says, to speak the truth in love.

Adam and Eve did that, at first, for a while, but when they defied God and ate the forbidden fruit, they started to talk differently. Not a different language, but their words had a different motivation and intention.

Instead of intending their words for good, and to please God, they used their words to deceive God and try to get themselves out of trouble, and to blame and try to bring destruction on each other.

We’ve all done the same. As we confess, we have sinned in thought, word, and deed. We sometimes sin in our words, in the way we communicate.

It would have been interesting to see what Adam and Eve’s faces would have looked like when God confronted them. Was it a defiant look, or an ashamed, or sorry look. It says they were ashamed and tried to hide from God, so it doesn’t seem they were defiant. 

But they were trying to talk their way out of it, at the expense of each other, so even their repentance was flawed with sin and selfishness, just as our repentance is flawed and imperfect. 

But God’s grace for us is perfect, and so He spoke to Adam and Eve and restored them.

As we repent by faith, God speaks to us and restores us through the words of Absolution, spoken by the pastor. In this way God personally communicates His forgiveness to us, words we often need to hear.

In the next generation after Adam and Eve, in Genesis 4, we hear Cain miscommunicating, using sinful words to try to deceive God after having killed his brother, Abel. Cain talked back to God, sassing and disrespecting Him, saying, Am I my brother’s keeper? So condescending and disrespectful.

So much of communication is respect, speaking with respect toward God and others. Or as our Epistle says, speaking truth in love.

Back to Genesis, as we mentioned last Sunday, by the time of Noah, people had become so evil in their words and deeds and intentions, that God had to cleanse the world with a great, global flood. 

But after the flood, God communicated His grace and salvation to Noah and his descendants, not just with His words of the covenant, but also with the sign of His covenant, the rainbow, a picture of God’s grace in living color.

Sadly, it didn’t take people long to forget about the lesson of the flood, and the promise of the rainbow. This shows how fast sin and evil intentions can take over in the world, or in a culture or a society or a nation.

In Genesis 11, we see the people banding together to use their words and knowledge against God, building a tower to heaven to try to overtake God, the infamous tower of Babel. 

God intervened and saved the people from themselves by taking away their ability to communicate with each other, confusing their language. And so unable to communicate, they dispersed, and the tower was abandoned.

People were using language and communication, and knowledge to try to usurp God, and show Him up. 

In our hardened, secular society, this is something we’re seeing more and more of, people trying to use knowledge to defy or discredit or disprove God, and then communicating that without shame, or with malice, intentionally misleading people from God and His covenant in Christ.

To use the gift of intelligent speech that God has given us, to lead people away from Him, is a terrible abuse of this extraordinary gift. There are a lot of terrible ways to misuse our ability to communicate.

To teach us how to use the gift of speech in the right way, to help us communicate in a better, more godly way, God gives us His commandments, two in particular, the 2nd and the 8th.

The 2nd commandment, You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, teaches us to communicate to and about God in the right way. 

That’s one of the reasons it’s so important to learn His Word, so we can accurately tell others about God, and His Son, and His Spirit, and His law and His Gospel, and His love, and especially His salvation. 

Or, as in our mission statement, we get to know God better so that we can make Him known.

The 8th commandment, You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor, teaches us to communicate to and about others in a godly way. Or, again as our text says, to speak the truth in love.

How do we do that? What is a better and more godly way to communicate?

1. Remember where the gift of speech came from, from the words and speech of God, who said, Let there be, and it was. Then try to use words and expressions that reflect the holiness and knowledge of God, which is the basis of human speech.

When we use words and communicate in a way that honors God, then we’re respecting one another.

2. Speak with respect, even if you disagree. Don’t just malign or demonize those you disagree with. Communicate, as 1 Peter 3:15 says, with gentleness and respect.

Speak the truth in love, with all due respect, because God calls us to love and respect our neighbor as ourselves. Share what you believe firmly, but gently.

And as best you are able, clearly communicate what you think or believe or know. 

But refrain from unfairly attacking a person’s character, or demonizing him or her. Try to point out things you believe to be false or wrong in a controlled and reasonable manner. Then people are more likely to listen and learn.

3. Listen with empathy. Remember that God loves that person you are communicating with, and maybe disagreeing with, just as much as He loves you. 

Jesus died for that person, just as He did for you. Instead of hating and attacking, empathize and sympathize; show mercy, because God is merciful to you. 

Listen, and see if there is anything you can learn from a viewpoint different from your own. But judge all world views by God’s Word, which teaches us to see the world in the right way.

4. Respond by speaking the truth in love. Don’t be afraid to say what needs to be said. But be motivated by genuine love, and concern for the well-being of all. 

Most of all, let God’s Word be the guide in the words and the truth you speak.

God gives us a better way to communicate. May He bless and help us all to speak the truth in godly love. 

And as we do, may His peace, which passes understanding, guard our hearts and  minds, in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.