“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” –Matthew 5:22
It’s not too often that we think of name-calling as deserving the fires of hell. After all, some people just deserve to be called stupid for the idiot that they are, right? If a man is acting like a fool, call him for what he is. People who say ridiculous things, drive like maniacs, and wrong each other in a plethora of ways need to be put in their place. For us, since most of us do not hold positions that enforce moral behavior, name calling serves as our own minimal form of personal justice. After all, if we can’t have a person’s heads on a platter, we can certainly call them names. Besides, what harm does it really do?
Well, for starters, we all know that the line about “sticks and stones” is a complete lie. Words do hurt. Excruciatingly so, at times. They can tear us down and scar us for life, often causing more damage than physical abuse. We also know that words have the power to build up, to encourage and elevate (sometimes too much). But what about the people who “deserve” verbal insults? The ones who deliver unmerited foolish behavior that negatively impacts innocent bystanders? What does it matter if we call them names under our breath or even only in our hearts? Obviously, the person we call a fool has done something to elicit this response from us. They must deserve it, right? After all, they have committed the unfortunate crime of making our existence unpleasant.
In the verse above, Jesus is talking about how serious it is to insult each other; even thinking such insults toward another human being makes us guilty of murder in our hearts. Furthermore, 1 John 3:15 says, "Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him." Wait a second. Murder? How could that be? Let us look a little deeper.
The word fool in the verse above translates to the word “raca,” a term of contempt and abuse meaning “empty one, worthless, good-for-nothing.” Now, the word fool is used throughout the Bible, but The Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary explains that this translation of the word is “only found in Matt. 5:22. The Jews used it as a word of contempt...derived from a root meaning ‘to spit.’”
Ouch. That’s pretty harsh. I had always thought of the word fool as a harmless equal to the word jerk. So harmless, I have allowed such words to dance carelessly off my tongue in countless melodies of justice. I never consciously intended to commit murder in my heart, but murder is not restricted to this one way that I have always understood it to be. In reality, not only is murder the physical action of taking away the life of a person but cursing the existence, the entire being, of a person.
Now, I believe that criticizing a person’s behavior is one thing but criticizing a person’s being is completely different. Focusing on the behavior is to point out flawed actions, which are common to man, narrowing in on hurtful and changeable attributes that impact others and need to change. Behavior can be described as rude, disrespectful, stupid, idiotic, and foolish without necessarily cursing the entire being of a person. In contrast, although assigning rude and disrespectful to the actual person is more direct than simply describing their behavior, I would submit that directing such names as stupid, idiot and fool at a person is to insult their entire being. To use these words, implying the venom behind the term “raca,” is to say that a person’s entire existence is empty, worthless and good-for-nothing. Thinking about it in these terms brings me to the conclusion that there is really no worse criticism for us to inflict on another human being.
All this to say that the words we assign to a person are important; we may surely use words to call behavior for what it is. We have a duty to confront each other but we are to do so in love, to “encourage one another and build each other up.” (1 Thessalonians 5:11) However, we must choose carefully the words we use to describe the person. Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.”
Unfortunately, we are mistreated by too many people in passing to confront every person for each wrong thing that is done to us. This is where things get murky and the instinct to invoke this “little revenge” comes into play. I know we may feel justified in this little revenge (and I’m saying we here), but this “small” thing really turns out to be a big and heinously evil thing in the eyes of the Lord. It is not up for us to determine whether or not a person deserves the insult. Romans 12:14 and 19 says, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse…Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’”
We are called to speak life over people, words that speak hope and truth not death, no matter how much we may feel they deserve it. The tongue is a powerful weapon that can destroy in ways we cannot know. James 3:8-9 says, “…but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.”
I don’t think we can fathom the eternal impact of our words, even in the silence of our hearts. If we have the power to pray with our words and speak in our hearts, initiating holy movement in the supernatural realms of our Lord, we had better believe that our words and the thoughts of our hearts have a power for evil in those same unseen places.
The words we say all come down to what we allow into our hearts. “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Proverbs 4:23) When we pursue Christ and pour His Word into our hearts, allowing Him to purify and have His way in us, His Spirit will empower us to love, practice self-control, and forgive. Our ability to rest in the promised justice of the Lord will expand and the words of life will flow from our hearts as we wait patiently in obedience. His peace will dilute the impact of the wrongs against us, liberating us from the constant misery of being overwhelmed by every negative and fleeting thing that happens in our lives and preventing us from committing murder in any form or fashion.
Anyone can love a friend but He gives us the power to love even our enemies. And hopefully, the words we speak will point even our enemies back to Him. Thank You Lord for freeing us, not only from facing an eternity without You, but from having to endure even the small ways that sin can hold us captive in our daily lives.
"Raca." Easton
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