Bad Preachers & Foot-In-Mouth-Syndrome

To my readers,

As an intern, I am blessed to have a staff that meets on a weekly basis.  This meeting is really helpful to everyone staying on the same page and focused on the same goals.  It is also a place where we can share our thoughts and new ideas for Two42.

This past week my boss shared his thoughts with us.  "I want to be honest.  I thought I did horrible preaching this past Thursday."

Now, for those of you who do not know me, I have a disease. You actually may have heard of it.  It's called foot-in-mouth-syndrome.

Let me explain.  I am generally a compassionate guy. However, I am also a very honest guy.  When I see someone down and out, I try my hardest to help them out.  However, many times because of foot-in-mouth-syndrome, I find my words come across very differently than I intended them too.

For example, when my boss shared he had done badly done badly this past week preaching, I immediately responded, "No, boss! It wasn't that bad!"

Open mouth-insert foot.

In my mind, I was giving my boss a compliment and reassuring him that he didn't do a terrible job. Truth be told, I thought he brought the house down this past week. However, in the way I said it, it came across as my boss didn't speak as terribly as he thought but it still wasn't great either.  I spoke before I could think how it may come across to those listening.

I tried to recover as quickly as I could, however it was too late.

"I didn't mean it like that boss. You did a great job..." It didn't matter.  Everyone was already doubled over at the comical moment before them.

I guess this is why the Bible has passages that say things like:

"And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgement day for every idle word you speak." Matthew 12:36, NLT.

"Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything." Proverbs 13:3, NLT.

"Understand this, my dear brothers and sister: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry." James 1:19, NLT.

My boss eventually turned to me laughing and said, "Its alright Tex.  You're not that bad either. Oh, Tex"

Simply,
Tex G.M. Rule
Understand this, my dear brothers and sister: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry." James 1:19, NLT.