'Shibboleth' not 'Sibboleth'

When pilots of airplanes plug in the coordinates for their destinations if they mess up by one degree they will end up in the wrong place. There is no room for error.

I was intrigued to write this post after attending church in Nashville yesterday with Rachel. The sermon was absolute fire. It was fiery, intense, and uplifting from the very start.

The main point of the sermon is that we need to speak heavenly language. We can't conform to this world and speak in a way that would be pleasing the world. We can't proclaim Jesus with our lips 6 days a week and on the 7th say whatever we want. We can't speak in a different way according to what friends we are hanging out with.

Simply put - we cannot conform to this world to sound cool or to fit in. Once we start to compromise the things that we say it's a slippery slope. As followers of Christ Jesus we often get a bad rep because we can be hypocrites.

On Monday we are often still on fire from church on Sunday and we are speaking heavenly language, but as soon as that wears off we are back to saying things to fit in and because we are comfortable talking like the world does. Unfortunately for most, it's a never ending cycle.

Are you speaking heavenly language? If you were sitting across from God right now and he asked you about the words that you said, would you be okay with the things that come out of your mouth on a daily basis?

Before I conclude this post - I want to share a quick summary of Judges 12 with you.

There has been a battle that was going on and Israel had just won it. Instead of being joyful and happy with their victory there was pettiness and quarreling. The tribe of Ephraim was angry and jealous that they were not invited to join in the fighting. (Although Jephthah said he has invited them) The insults of the Ephraimites enraged Jepthah, who called out his troops and killed 42,000 men.

The men of the tribe of Ephraim caused Jephthah trouble just as they had Gideon. Jephthah was able to defeat his countrymen as they crossed the river. He used a pronunciation test. Shibboleth is the word for stream. The Ephraimites pronounced "sh" as "s," so Jephthah's army could easily identify them.

All because of one syllable and Jephthah's wisdom, the tribe wasn't able to cross the border. They were all killed.

The importance of what he say is everything.  Are you going to change to way that you talk in order to gain the world? Look how far the Ephraimites got when they didn't know the language that they should've known.

There is a fine line that we have to be careful about.

I challenge you to look at what you say. Could you sit across from God and tell Him that you believe you are speaking life, love, and hope to people? Make that your goal. Speak in such a way that is honoring to God all day, everyday. You can't just do it on Sundays. Heavenly language is a beautiful thing.