What You Say, When You Say It, How You Say It, And To Whom You Say It Matters

John 8:8-11, “And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”

It really matters what we say to people. It matters how we say it. It matters when we say it. And it matters to whom we say it. Jesus spoke with heart language. Jesus spoke with helpful language. Jesus spoke with healing language. And Jesus spoke with heavenly language. Jesus cared and it made all the difference in the world. 

John 4:1-4, “When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. And he must needs go through Samaria.” The Samaritans were looked down upon by the Jews and the Gentiles. The Samaritans were a half-breeds, half Jew and half Assyrian. The Samaritans originated when northern Israel was conquered in 722 BC by the Assyrians and taken into captivity to the country of Assyria. The heathen king of Assyria later sent Assyrian implants back to Israel as priests, which resulted in a mixture of pagan religion with Jewish Christianity. The Jews had intermarried with the Assyrians, hence the Samaritan people.

We read in John 4:4, “And he must needs go through Samaria.” Jesus needed to go preach the Gospel to the Samaritan people, and He did in Verse 5. Jesus witnessed the Gospel to the Samaritan woman at the well. She was shocked that Jesus, a Jew, would even take the time to talk to her. But Jesus in His heart of hearts loved people. Jesus took the time to say what need to be said (the Gospel), in the way it needed to be said (with love), to whom it needed to be said (to a lost Samaritan woman). As a result, the whole Samaritan village came out to hear Jesus preach and do miracles and many were saved.

What we say matters. How we say it matters. When we say it matters. And to whom we say it matters. As Christians we've got our doctrine down pat. We've published libraries of theology. But we woefully lack in the area of loving sinners. I am so tired of visiting churches, like Campus Church at Pensacola Christian College, where Pastor Jeff Redlin in July of 2021 ignored my humble pleas for his help with my broken life at the time. He didn't care. He said the wrong words, in the wrong way, at the wrong time and to the wrong person. Whereas I needed his love, and to be openly welcomed and encouraged by the pastor of Campus Church; instead I was horribly ignored, mistreated and abused verbally by Redlin. I speak to his utter SHAME. Sadly, he couldn't care less because he's just in it for the money.

Sadly, Pastor Jeff Redlin woefully lacks God's compassion for people. It matters folks, it really does. What we say matters. How we say it matters. When we say it matters. And to whom we say it matters. Oh, when will cold-hearted pastors ever learn that without love their words are meaningless? Colossians 4:6, “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”