poop in the poppies.

Do you see a person who is wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for them.
Proverbs 26:12

Have you ever met a person who is pure snark? Pure reaction, quick-witted, dripping with sarcasm? The first to throw verbal dynamite, quip in mouth, ready to detonate?

I’ve got a few in my house, I’m afraid. It only takes a couple of big boys to egg each other on and turn teasing into a downright fight. It is always a fine line between saying something that evokes laughter or rage. A wise guy loves to toe such a line.

Between me, the screen, and you, I’ll tell you a secret: kids aren’t nice. 

One of the strongest warnings my dad had for us as kids was
Don’t be a smart aleck. 

The words carried enough threat. We knew what dad did to smart alecks.
We deserved it. 

And now I know why.
I’ve met many a person ruined by his mouth. I’ve seen plenty of poop in the poppies. People who discredit everything they stand for by sliding in a snarky comment.

Oh, what a powerful little rudder is the tongue!

There is an amount of shame that accompanies this terrible habit, that is, if you are a follower of Jesus. But usually in the moment a smart aleck is rewarded by their quick-wittedness, not unlike a sugar or adrenaline rush. The reaction of the crowd garners enough attention to make it worth the jab.
It is very hard to convince the world that you love Jesus when your mouth is tossing grenades.
It is very hard to stop tossing grenades when you’ve been practicing since you were a kid.

I’m no expert on child rearing. I’m hardly an expert on myself (and I feel like I should probably be by now). I know that immediately after I say something idiotic or smart alecky, I usually feel a stormy cloud shadow my conscience. Stop! The sky rumbles. Repent! It thunders. Good news, the cloud arrives less and less, probably because there’s been quite a bit of pruning, and therefore quite a bit of gentleness and self-control fruit growing on my tree over the years.

[It helped that my dad tried to beat it out of us as kids. That’s the early pruning, I suppose. I read a great parenting quote from Jonathan Edwards recently, “don’t be like old Eli, who reproved his sons but never restrained them.” I’m thankful for the restraints my parents offered us kids. The Bible also backs this up as a worthy child rearing technique: “Discipline your child, for in it there is hope; do not be party to their death”–Proverbs 22:15]

I know this for certain: our tongues will get us in big trouble unless we let Jesus hold the reins, and kids are not too young to begin learning about tossing grenades.

Do you know what Jesus said was just as bad as murder? Anger that produces enough hate to call your brother a fool. He said that calling your brother a fool would put you in danger of hell fire. This comes from the same guy who told the wise man/foolish man story (so we know fools are a real thing, and something we can avoid).
But thinking you aren’t a fool sometimes is even worse than being one. Fools are a bad deal, but actually being wise in your own eyes, being a smart aleck is worse. 

And the quickest way to prove you are one is by opening your mouth, as Mark Twain says, “and removing all doubt.”

When I put my kids to bed at night, we often talk about this very matter: what comes into your mind and heart is what you have put into it. Controlling the in-flow helps control the out-flow.
This is a tough thing out in the world, to act the way Jesus wants us to act and say what he wants us to say. It’s especially hard in a world that values clever memes and 280 character limits, one that prefers small doses of truth bubble-wrapped in satire (have you heard of Babylon Bee?). Smart aleck-ness is rewarded to an extent, and it’s a tough pill to swallow, this being wise about what is good and being innocent of evil (Romans 16:19).

How? My seven year old asks. How do I keep bad things from coming in and bad things coming out?
Actually, I tell them, there’s no hope of you ever being able to do it on your own. Only Jesus, I say. Only Jesus can grow good spirit fruit in you. 

Then we pray and beg God to come abide with us.

If you’ve been tossing grenades far too long, it’s not too late to ask Jesus to help you, too.
In Ephesians, Paul assures his friends (and us) that believers are, themselves, the dwelling place in which God lives by his Spirit (Eph.2:22). 

You! Do you know He lives in you?

He reminds them (and us) that believers are to grow up and out of childish, immature behavior (Eph. 4:14-15). 

You! Are you becoming more mature?

He exhorts them (and us) to “not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up” (Eph. 4:29).

You! Do your words build people up?

Beg Jesus to come help prune your tree.
Let’s pray for less poop in the poppies.