Christian Speech

A sister from the community called this afternoon to ask about the following Scripture: "From the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks." Mt 12:34

This verse reminded me that most of the conflicts and hurts that occur among brethren in the community has to do with what we say. And what we say has something to do with what is in our hearts.

In truth, we are all of unclean lips, doomed before the Lord without the purifying ember of the Holy Spirit (Is 6:5-7). If we are to overcome this weakness, we must, like the prophet Isaiah, submit our hearts and tongues to the control of the Holy Spirit. In community, there are many situations that require us to guard our speech in order to avoid wrongdoing. Our speech must glorify God and build up His church.

In our intercessory prayers, circle sharing, shepherding and witnessing, there is sharing of confidential information which would be injurious or embarrassing to the sharer if the listeners were to repeat the information to third parties. Outside of the sharer's circle of trust, such revelation of confidential information becomes gossip. Such sharing is given in trust; the recipients of the sharing must be trustworthy. When we fail to live up to that trust, we must examine our hearts.

Community is about relationships. Talk can build or hurt relationships. In community, we will always experience joy and pain in our relationships. Regardless of the situation, there will always be an opportunity to bring something good or better out of it. It all depends on how we handle the situation.

Good situations can be better with a simple thank you, a blessing, a smile, a tap in the back, or a commendation. Difficult situations can turn to good with an encouraging word, a direct, gentle and loving correction, or an empathetic response. Where there are hurts involved, reconciliation and healing should result when we practice fraternal correction. In forgiveness, there is healing.

We are a community of sinners. It is only by the grace of God that we have been redeemed through the cross of Jesus Christ. Our righteousness is only in Christ. Since God will not condemn us, we too should not condemn nor judge nor speak ill of our brethren. Rather, we are commanded to love our brethren as Jesus loved us. This means we must accept them regardless of who they are, where they came from and what they say and do. Christian speech requires that we encourage each other and pray for one another as we live up to our promise of grace.

Roger & Irma are back!

It has been about seven years since Roger & Irma Santiago left Newark for Manila. During their long absence, much happened in the community they helped start. Now they are back, and at a momentous time in our community's short history at that! (Our 15th anniversary as a community.) We met with Roger last week, and during our brief get together, I could not help but recall the early years of BLD Newark.

We do not want to sound nostalgic, but those were good and exciting years. Our community then was much smaller. There were not many members to spread around the few ministries that had been formed at that time. Every member was involved in just about everything going on in community, yet it seemed that our energies were inexhaustible. We could not wait for Fridays to come so we can gather for worship and fellowship. We devoured every page of the bible in search of Christ and His Wisdom. We were not content with our weekly Word Sharing, and scheduled a second session with brethren living in our general vicinity.

We eagerly looked forward to the visits of our elders and teachers from Manila. We gladly gave up our weekends and weeknights to attend the teachings. We were so Word-hungry that we could not have enough of our elders and teachers. We quite literally sat at their feet to learn from their wisdom and experience for the benefit of the community. We even rejoiced when our consultations resulted in our rebuke or correction by our elders. That is how we found out that openness to correction has greater value than our insistent certainty of the correctness of our actions.

We had little money: our community treasury had just enough money in the bank to pay for the following week's venue rental. In fact, we owed Manila a hefty amount of money for past airfares of sharers, elders and teachers who made pastoral visits to our community. It was during this time when we could not financially afford it that the Lord called us to open up new communities in both coasts of the American continent. Our little started the many: there are now over 12 districts which Newark "fathered" in the US. My then overly secular mind did entertain the thought that our outreach building actions without financial viability were irresponsible and foolish. Of course I was wrong. God makes great things out of nothing. All we needed to do was to walk by faith.

I recall our almost weekly Board of Coordinators meetings with the Tricord and our once a month disciples assemblies. There seemed to be a two-way communication between leaders and members. Not that there were no contentious issues. In fact, one elder from Manila observed that our members seemed to be too vocal and critical. But this was the community culture the Lord wanted us to develop in Newark. I recall many meetings where leaders faced hard questioning by a packed audience. I believed then and still believe now that this was a sign of a healthy community. Having an engaged, empowered, participative membership is better than disinterested membership that do not attend assemblies. I recall those vibrant community days when members showed up to our meetings in large numbers, because they were and wanted to be involved in community discernment and action.

For sure, the community during those days was not perfect - a reflection of our own imperfection. Recognizing that, we knew that we utterly needed God. We desperately need God now as before. The signs are good that we can look forward to even better times. Roger and Irma, a special, beloved couple, are back. Thank You Lord for never abandoning us.