This is a really unique opportunity - to preserve a beautiful site - to preserve such an important part of San Francisco’s history. And as Armenians - to preserve this cross as a memorial to the victims of our genocide and others. As Christians - it is an honor to become custodians of this cross and to preserve and use it.

As I’ve been involved in this process I’ve been reminded lately at just how many people get really agitated about crosses. People seem to be angry at Christians in general - and the cross seems to become a focal point of this hatred.

A number of years ago at Stanford University, Arnold Toynbee, the prominent historian, said that most people today have rejected Christianity on the basis of a caricature. His point was that they have never seen the real thing. What they have seen was a blurred, distorted and twisted picture of Christianity, and they turned away disappointed and indifferent to the claims of Christ.

If we listen to what people are saying - there’s an anger - a vocal complaint that they do not see in Christians the likeness of Christ which they have been led to expect. That’s one major reason why they turn away so disappointed - often bitter in their antagonism.

This month - on Sunday mornings - we’re focusing on the testimony that we have in the community around us - evangelism and missions. Today we want to look at one important way through which we can have a tremendous positive impact: Living the likeness of Christ through our words.

Please turn with me to Ephesians 4:29-32 and we want to consider this morning how we can draw people closer to Jesus through our words - how we speak with each other or about each other.

(29) “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear. (30) And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (31) Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice, (32) and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God is Christ forgave you.”

During Winston Churchill’s last year in office, he attended an official ceremony. Several rows behind him two gentlemen began whispering. “That’s Winston Churchill. They say he is getting senile. They say he should step aside and leave the running of the nation to more dynamic and capable men.” When the ceremony was over, Churchill turned to the men and said, “Gentlemen, they also say he is deaf!”

Paul says, “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths” - words of bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice. And in 5:4 he gives a more practical definition of “evil talk” - (5:4) “Let there be no filthiness, nor silly talk, nor levity, which are not fitting”

That covers a lot of conversation. Today, we are facing a rising tide of pornography and lewdness in both literature and speech. When I watch T.V. I come fact to face with this. I am amazed at the filthy language and suggestive conversation - that even a few years ago would have been reserved for some “adult” theater and not America’s living rooms. I find myself turning off programs with increasing frequency. And - we hear Christians use this type of vocabulary.

And it really is sad how often the name of the Almighty and loving God of creation and His Son, Jesus Christ, are taken in vain - even by Christians.

And how we speak to each other - and about each other - is often no different than what we hear in the society around us.

Ray Stedman - former pastor of Peninsula Bible Church - down in Palo Alto - said this, “You cannot put on Christ - be a Christian - and indulge in loose talking, filthy speech, rotten words, corrupt conversation, whether it be obscenity, vulgarity, or idleness and gossip.”

We need to be reminded from time to time that there is something wrong with a Christian who participates in gossip and slander or can say, “Well, I know I use foul language - Maybe once in a while I use God’s name in vain - I’ve done that for years - and you just have to make allowances for it. We all have our small vices.”

Paul says, “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths.” - no matter how innocent they may seem to us - these words are destructive - to us - to others - and especially to the witness of the church.

Instead, Paul says, in verse 29, coming out of our mouths should be words, “only such as are good for edifying - which build others up - and strengthen the church - only such words as - fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear - verse 32 - words which show kindness - are tenderhearted - which express the type of love and forgiveness which God has demonstrated towards us.

This is the practical - positive - witness of Christ that we want to have in our lives - the true Christianity that the world is looking for in the disciples of Jesus Christ - a Christian who no longer lies or slanders or is vulgar or uses filthy and evil words of any kind. A Christian who testifies of Jesus through their words.

There are two practical points that Paul makes that we want to focus on this morning - to help us grow in using our words to witness for Jesus. The first point Paul makes is that.

1. OUR WITNESS IS NOT WHAT WE DON’T DO

Ray Stedman - writing about our impact in the world warns us, “Christians feel that if they stop doing certain things which are prohibited as wrong by the Word of God, this marks them as Christians. It does not at all. This is where so much negative Christianity has arisen and why Christians are often stigmatized as being against everything. We are all acquainted with the five taboos which Christians are expected to avoid: no smoking, no drinking, no dancing, no gambling, and no bad movies. But it is unfortunate if Christians are known simply for being negative. The world ridicules that and is not impressed by it.”

When I was a student at Biola University we had a saying, “I don’t smoke and I don’t chew, and I don’t go out with girls that do.”

There is an often quoted prayer of an anonymous child who prayed, “Lord, make the bad people good and the good people nice.” We all know people who are undeniably “good” in the sense that they are moral - honest - upright - and yet inside they are not “nice” at all.

There are Christians who are like this - They’ve learned to not do certain negative things. They don’t use evil language. But Christianity is not merely stopping these things. That’s the mistake of so many who are “good” on the outside and not very “nice” on the inside.

We think that because we keep out of trouble and stay within the law of God that we’re pleased God. But that’s not true. In verse 30 Paul writes - “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.” As the Holy Spirit looks at us and sees what is in our hearts - the hidden things - they grieve Him. He hears our words - wherever we may speak them - and even when they’re not spoken.

Try and experiment. Take a taste of Saccharin - this artificial sweetener - then taste some sugar. There really is a difference - the real thing is much better. If our inner lives are not changed - if we only live outwardly by a set of rules - then we’re saccharin Christians - artificial. And the world is looking for the real thing - And that’s Paul’s second point..

2. OUR WITNESS IS CHRIST IN US

The message of Christianity is not “I don’t do this or I don’t do that” - the message that changes lives - that witnesses for Jesus - is, “I act this way - I say things this way - I live this way - because of Jesus in me. Because He controls my inner life.”

In the Reader’s Digest, Terri Spaccarotelli writes about her work in a busy dental office. There was a patient who was always late. Terri says, “Once when I called to confirm an appointment, he said, ‘I’ll be about 15 minutes late. That won’t be a problem will it?’”

“No,” Terri said, “We just won’t have time to give you an anesthetic.” Needless to say, the patient arrived early.

What motivates us deep within?

The real difficulty we face - when we take an honest look at ourselves - is that oftentimes we simply enjoy speaking with evil words. We want to put people in their place and have them admit their injustice to us. We want them to crawl back to us and ask forgiveness.

We say crude, rude, and filthy things because we like feeling included. We slander and gossip behind someone’s back - rather than in love speaking directly with them - because when people listen to our gossip and slander it makes us feel important and justified in our thinking. We enjoy this - if we didn’t - we wouldn’t do it.

You may have come this morning with real anger towards someone - you may be seething inside at some injurious thing that someone said to you - maybe even his morning. At work - in the church - there are some choice words you’d like to level at someone who’s wronged you. Words of lust - coarse words - God’s name taken in vain - come from our mouth given the right company and circumstances.

But, Paul says in verse 32 “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

The motivation is in the forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ - to forgive as God in Christ has forgiven us. He forgave us before there was ever any sign of our turning towards Him. He forgave us despite the hurt to Himself.

God desires to free us so that we can speak words of kindness - we can be tenderhearted to one another - we can forgive each other.

Paul says to turn from our evil words - stop justifying them to ourselves - saying that we have a right to speak and feel this way. Admit that these words are evil - and corrupting us from within. The more we surrender ourselves to God we can begin to open our inner selves to His attitudes - His character - His tenderness - His forgiveness.

At the village church in Kalonovka, Russia, attendance at Sunday School picked up after the priest started handing out candy to the peasant children. One of the most faithful was a pug-nosed, pugnacious child who recited scriptures with proper piety, pocketed his reward, then fled into the fields to munch on it.

The priest took a liking to the boy and persuaded him to attend the church school. Attending the church school was preferable to doing household chores from which his devout parents excused him. By offering other inducements, the priest managed to teach the boy the four Gospels. In fact, he won a special prize for learning all four by heart and reciting them nonstop in church.

Many years later, that boy - Nikita Khrushchev - continued to recite scriptures - in a way that would horrify the old priest. Nikita Khrushchev - who recited God’s Word when a child - later declared God to be nonexistent - because his cosmonauts had not seen Him in space.

“Why” we do something is as important as “what” we do. Khrushchev memorized the Scriptures for the candy - the rewards - the bribes - rather than for the meaning it had for his life.

As Christians - Why we live for Christ is not because of an external set of do’s and don’ts - appearances and temporary recognition. We live for Christ because of Christ in us - the reality of His love and forgiveness. That’s what real Christianity is - the Christianity that the world is looking for - the witness we are called to - tenderheartedness - forgiving one another - love and speech and actions which transcend our human limitations and demonstrate to the world the reality of Jesus in us.