Hurtful Talkers

Jude 1:16

These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.

In every church and throughout your life, you will come across many people who are good at talking, but the words they speak will hurt you and your church greatly if you listen to them. Many people have hurt a church because of their ability to say things that others believe, only to leave a Pastor having to clean up the mess that a hurtful talker left. The verse above, and many other verses, give us a list of hurtful talkers that we must beware of. Let me share some on the list of hurtful talkers you need to avoid or avoid being yourself.

First, murmurers are hurtful talkers. A murmurer is a person who speaks hurtfully under their breath. They don't say what they think so everyone can hear it, but they speak rumblings of negativity about the church, its Pastor, its leadership, or the programs of the church. You must watch out for the murmurers whose murmurings are destructive to your spirit and the spirit of the church. When someone wants to murmur to you, you quickly squelch the rumblings so that you don't get caught up in their negativity.

Second, complainers are hurtful talkers. The complainer is one that nothing is ever good enough. The complainer is the one who gripes about the church program or how the Pastor is running the church. The complainer never feels the church treats them right. The complainer is one who is not afraid to talk about nothing being good enough for them. What most don't see about complainers is that complaining can turn victory into defeat and stop the work that God is doing.

Third, people walking after their own lusts are hurtful talkers. These are the people who like to brag about their sin. Sin-talkers will defile your mind. They will introduce you to sin and make it sound great, but they never tell you what sin is doing to their lives. You must quickly shut down the conversation that talks about sin. It is always better to talk about righteousness that builds lives than to talk about sin that destroys lives.

Fourth, mouths that speak great swelling words are hurtful talkers. These are the people who talk about everything they will do for you and your church and how honored the church is to have them. These people who speak great swelling words are people who make it sound as if they are the answer to the church because of what they will provide for the church. These people talk more about what they can do than what God is doing. These are prideful people at best and must be avoided so they don't hurt you or your church. Also, don't put confidence in these people because they never produce what they say they can do.

Fifth, gossipers are hurtful talkers. Gossip has hurt the spirit of many churches. Gossip has corrupted the spirit of many good people. Gossip holds just enough truth to make it sound true, but at the end of the day, gossip is full of lies. Gossipers will take an element of truth that you know to be true, but they pack the inside of their words with lies. Be so very careful about getting around people who like to talk about people. I would rather talk about ideas than I would about people.

My friend, these five talkers will hurt every church. Let us be careful to keep guard ourselves around these people so they don't hurt our spirit and the church that we love.