I was listening to ESPN radio, as the experts began to weigh in on Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. It would appear that Jerry made some disparaging remarks about Tim Tebow. To be sure, I’m not here to jump on any Christian bandwagon to ensure the supremacy of Tebow, an outspoken Christian over Jerry Jones. I actually couldn’t care where Tebow gets picked up in the draft and I care less what happens to the Cowboys.
It is the source of this story that intrigues me. Apparently Jones was talking with some friends, thinking himself to not being watched by the public when he made these not-so-nice remarks. But make them he did. And they were made public. And the ESPN ‘expert-of-the-hour’ commented that he did not think Jerry meant to be hurtful. He further opined that if Jerry Jones and Tim Tebow were to find themselves in the same room, Jerry would possibly apologize, saying he meant nothing by it. After all, he only said it because he never thought the words would be made public, much less heard by Tim Tebow.
But I don’t see any apology coming. And I don’t want to vilify Jerry, but I’m not sure what difference it makes where the comments were made. If we don’t believe what we say is true, then why say it? If we don’t wish to hurt people with our comments, then why say them out loud? If we do not wish for our comments to be made public, then we should ask ourselves if they should be verbalized in private.
Our words cannot be taken back once they have been said. They can be explained away, apologized for, regretted and filed away. But they cannot be taken away. There is a reason that Solomon wrote that sin is present in many words (Proverbs 10:19) and even James encouraged us to be “quick to listen” and “slow to speak” (James 1:19). Perhaps we should take this advice.
It is the source of this story that intrigues me. Apparently Jones was talking with some friends, thinking himself to not being watched by the public when he made these not-so-nice remarks. But make them he did. And they were made public. And the ESPN ‘expert-of-the-hour’ commented that he did not think Jerry meant to be hurtful. He further opined that if Jerry Jones and Tim Tebow were to find themselves in the same room, Jerry would possibly apologize, saying he meant nothing by it. After all, he only said it because he never thought the words would be made public, much less heard by Tim Tebow.
But I don’t see any apology coming. And I don’t want to vilify Jerry, but I’m not sure what difference it makes where the comments were made. If we don’t believe what we say is true, then why say it? If we don’t wish to hurt people with our comments, then why say them out loud? If we do not wish for our comments to be made public, then we should ask ourselves if they should be verbalized in private.
Our words cannot be taken back once they have been said. They can be explained away, apologized for, regretted and filed away. But they cannot be taken away. There is a reason that Solomon wrote that sin is present in many words (Proverbs 10:19) and even James encouraged us to be “quick to listen” and “slow to speak” (James 1:19). Perhaps we should take this advice.
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