TEXT: James 1:26

SUBJECT: Baxter on the Tongue #6

Tonight, if it pleases the Lord, we'll continue our study of Richard Baxter on the Tongue. This is Puritan counseling at its best.

Thus far, we've studied the General Principles for controlling your speech and at three specific issues: Taking the Lord's Name in vain, lying, and how to joke like a Christian.

Now we come to Idle talk or babbling.

This is a long chapter and so we'll divide it into two parts--tonight and next Sunday afternoon, the Lord willing. In part one, we'll explain what idle talk is. In part two, we'll say what to do about it.

What is idle talk?

Baxter begins by contrasting his view to the opinions of some others.

To this way of thinking, if your words are not very important and extremely serious, they are vain. In other words, all joking is vain, small talk is worthless, and so on. Some good men think this way, but Richard Baxter is not one of them!

In moderation--he says--chatting is good, and so is joking or telling funny stories. To prove it, he quotes the Bible,

Unless you're a grouch or a Pharisee, small talk and jesting make you feel good. And there's nothing wrong with that!

If this is not vain talking, then what is it?

This means a babbler is quite a bit like a lazy man. Most lazy men don't lie around all day. They're very busy--busy doing nothing! That's what a babbler does. Talking day and night, he says nothing worth hearing.

You're a vain talker when your words do nothing but fill time. They don't inform or amuse; they don't rebuke or comfort; they don't do anything!

He hastens to add,

Baxter is not saying, "Analyze every word that comes out of your mouth". That's not possible or desirable. Rather, he's saying, "Don't get into the habit of going on and on and on".

That's the big idea. From there, Baxter goes on to give several examples of vain speech.

We've all met these people. They start off, let's say, with something fairly harmless--a movie they saw. The star of it was in another movie which they have to discuss too. This second one was a spy movie which reminds them of a spy novel they read. Which leads them into the whole subject of why no one reads nowadays. And how television has taken the place of reading. And, speaking of TV, did you see that new comedy on Monday night?

This is a big problem with people who take doctrine seriously. It matters what you believe! And little things matter too. But little things matter less than big things! The believer who's always going off about some trifle or arguing over every little word someone else uses, is a babbler!

Because they're always talking about the Bible, they seem very spiritual. But if you really know your Bible, you know they're not!

The key word is "needless". Some people are not articulate. They ramble on and on. This is a weakness of theirs--but not a sin. They don't "get to the point", because they can't "get to the point". You ought to be patient with them.

But there's another kind of rambler who's not so innocent. He uses a million words where ten would do in order to impress you with his vocabulary or to dominate the conversation. This, Baxter says, is vain talk.

Under this heading, Baxter criticizes preachers in particular.

I agree with him completely. Let me give you two examples both of whom are excellent preachers, but long-winded in the extreme!

Ten years ago, Gladys and I heard a pastor preach for one hour. The first forty-five minutes of which were spent in telling us what he was not going to tell us!

Last week, I heard a pastor lecture on "The Preacher and His Notes". One of the things he criticized was too much quoting. Especially in calling the writer's name too much. Thus, instead of saying, "Calvin said this" or "Hodge said that" or "Carson said the other", this man recommended we say something simpler, like...

Instead of saying two or three syllables, he chose to use thirty!

Not every conversation has to be very important or serious. But your talk should be about something that matters--a little bit, at least.

I know a man who talks day and night about...ping pong! I doesn't matter!

Think of celebrity gossip--Who's dating whom, and so on. It doesn't matter! Most TV talk is this way. "Who shot J.R.?" It doesn't matter!

Most of us do a lot of this kind of talking! Baxter says it's one of the worst things we can do,

That's pretty rough, isn't it? What makes it worse is this: Baxter died long before the radio, TV, video games, and the internet gave us really empty things to talk about!

In short, idle talk is talk about nothing.

I talked about this last week. There's nothing wrong with joking.

Charles Spurgeon was a man in earnest about Christ, yet a fried said he laughed more with Spurgeon than with everyone else he knew combined.

Baxter is not against joking; not against funny stories; not against laughing. But we mustn't overdo it. Proverbs 25:16 gives the principle,

You can stir it into your tea; you can spread it on your toast; you can spoon it into your cookies--but don't it by the bucket!

The same is true with joking! Constant joking is vain talk.

Baxter is not criticizing the mentally-retarded. We ought to love these people and listen to them patiently. What he has in mind is going on and on about things you know nothing about. Discoursing on subjects you haven't studied. Giving opinions on topics you haven't considered. And so on.

This is very common. And very bad. Baxter compares it to

How bad is stupid talk? Baxter minces no words,

"Idle talk or babbling". Is anyone here not guilty of it? I am; that's for sure. Every example Baxter gives could apply to me: I talk too much and what I say often doesn't matter.

Maybe someone else feels the same way. If you do, it's time to do something about it. The longer cure we'll take up next Sunday afternoon, the Lord willing. But for now, do this:

May God help you to do it. And me too. For Christ's sake. Amen.