What Did You Say?
by Charles Osborne

When Jesus was taken to Caiaphas, Peter was hanging around when some people around him suggested that he was one of Jesus' disciples. How did they know this? Did they recognize his face? Possibly, but the thing that gave him away was his speech. (Matt 26:69-73)

You see, Peter was from the region north of Jerusalem called Galilee where people predominantly spoke Aramaic. It wasn't the Aramaic language that gave him away. He was recognized because he spoke Greek with an accent. But, why would he speak Greek in Jerusalem? Two reasons: 1) Jerusalem was ruled by the Romans whose official language was Greek; 2) he was trying not to be recognized by others around him who might associate him with Jesus. He wanted to watch what would happen to Jesus from a distance, but he didn't want to be tried with Him. (Matt 26:58)

This isn't the first time someone had trouble with the words they spoke. When Jephthah and the Gileadites defeated the Ammonites the people of Ephraim complained that Jephthah didn't invite them to the slaughter. Jephthah defended himself saying that he asked for their help, but that they never came to Jephthah's aid. The Ephraimites then began calling the Gileadites "fugitives of Ephraim" and a battle ensued. The Gileadites were winning and wouldn't let the losing Ephraimites cross back over the Jordan without first asking them if they were of Ephraim. If a retreating soldier answered "No", then they would tell him to say "Shibboleth". If he said "Sibboleth" they knew he was of Ephraim and he was killed. (Judg 11:4 - 12:6)

While these two examples highlight the problems that can occur due to foreign languages and dialects sometimes it's not the language we use, but how we use it that causes us trouble. The apostle Paul wrote "Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned, as it were with salt, so that you may know how you should respond to each person." (Col 4:6). Solomon wrote, "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." (Prov 25:11). And if you've ever said just the right thing at just the right moment then you know exactly what Solomon was saying. As workers in the kingdom of God we must understand the elements of diplomacy in order to have a better chance of bringing others to Christ. Any good diplomat will tell you it's not only what you say that counts, but also how you say it.