This past Sunday night, I rolled into the house pretty late, and sat down to enjoy some television with The Better 99% before watching the NFC Championship game between San Fran and Seattle that I’d DVR’d earlier. Needless to say, it was pretty late by the time I saw the dramatic play Richard Sherman made in the corner of the end zone that sealed the game and the even more dramatic post-game rant that he went on with Erin Andrews.
Since I saw it a good 3 hours after it happened, the social media world had already blown up with billions, no, zillions of tweets, posts, and memes crucifying Sherman for the way he went off on Michael Crabtree. Since I don’t know Sherman or Crabtree, I don’t want to write anything about them or their character, but I do think that there are some pretty important lessons in all of this that can help those of us who are following Jesus while still living in a world where we have to say things to – and about – others.
So, after taking a few days to reflect on what Sherman said, here’s what I think all of us can learn from the train wreck:
Words come from the heart. Since the time that this interview/rant took place, Sherman has since apologized and backed off a lot of what was said by explaining that he was still hyped up about making the game winning play. Granted, I’ve never made a NFL game winning play (and I’m pretty sure I’d be pretty hyped up, too), but that doesn’t change the fact that the words he said came from somewhere, and Jesus said that it’s out of the heart that the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45).
Prepare privately before speaking publicly. Sherman would accept this premise, although he may not like the idea of equating it to our words. After all, he’s an athlete, and so he knows that every minute of public game time equates to multiple hours of private practice and training. You have to do the private work in the heart long before you say the public words from your mouth. Remember that first lesson we learned? That words come from the heart? Well, if that’s true (and Jesus said it, so I’m not arguing it’s validity), then I need to do some cleaning up on the inside, don’t I? Proverbs 4:23 tells us that everything we do flows from the heart, and so we need to guard it. Just like in war, our enemy knows that if he can defile our hearts, he’ll win. That’s why Jesus never came to make us look or sound better, but to be better. He gives us a new heart and makes us a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Admitting that our hearts are full of all sorts of bad stuff (Matthew 5:19 is a cringe-worthy list of things) is the first step toward getting a new source that can feed everything we’re doing, including the words we’re saying. That admission is the private step necessary if were going to be prepared to speak publicly if given the chance.
Words go to the heart. We think that words just float out of our mouths and into someone else’s ears, but words don’t travel from mouth to ear. They go from heart to heart. We’ve already talked about the first part of that equation – words come from the heart – but let’s nail the second part down, too. Proverbs 18:21 is a frequently quoted verse about the power of the words we speak, but it’s often misunderstood.
The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. (Proverbs 18:21)
Too many times people teach it as if we have power over external things, like saying the plane will crash will cause it to crash. I’m not sure I buy that, but even if I did, it misses the weightier point of the truth: our words affect internal things. Stand on a plane and proclaim that it will crash, and it probably won’t. But a whole lot of passengers just started flying with hearts full of fear (and you probably started flying in handcuffs). See, the words we say come from what’s in our hearts, and they land in the hearts of others. That’s why the Bible takes the things we say so seriously.
The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. (Proverbs 12:18)
Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. (Proverbs 16:24)
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (Ephesians 4:29)
And I tell you that on the Judgment Day people will be responsible for every careless thing they have said. (Matthew 12:36)
I know I’m quoting a lot of Scripture in this short post, and I want to be clear that none of it applies to Richard Sherman – unless he’s a follower of Jesus. But I am, and so when I saw the word explosion at the end of the game, I didn’t make a judgement call about Sherman as much as I started asking myself one simple question: “If someone shoved a mic in my face in the heat of the moment and asked me about someone I didn’t particularly like, what would I say?”
My answer would have a lot to do with how well I’ve learned the three things that Richard Sherman probably didn’t even know he was teaching.
