Swear-less

March Madness is one of my favorite times of the year. With the season on the line, it’s exciting to see athletes compete with everything they have. Alabama had a great run but came up short of Duke. Their size was just too much.  But they were a fun team to watch, and they put on a 3-point clinic to get to the Elite 8. Watching players do the extraordinary consistently gives an appreciation for greatness.

We don’t often think of consistency as a mark of greatness, but we should. It takes discipline to be consistent, and it gives one the ability to do predictably what others only do occasionally. The ability to consistently do anything is profound, but none more so than consistency in the Christian life. We could define this lifestyle through our character.

There is a short passage of Scripture in the Letter of James that instructs us to avoid something we don’t often put much stock in. It’s on the topic of swearing. It’s not referring to foul language or cuss words; it’s talking about another type of swearing known as an oath. Maybe we’ve been accused of something false, and we’ve reverted to the statement, “I swear I had nothing to do with it.” I seemed to say this a lot as a child regardless of its accuracy.

12Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “yes” mean “yes,” and your “no” mean “no.” so that you won’t fall under judgment. James 5:12

Maybe you’ve heard the statement, “Let your yes be yes and your no be no.” It’s a statement about consistency of speech, which inextricably links to character. But why this statement about oaths? Swearing by an oath is an attempt to add weight to our speech in a way that validates truthfulness. It may be a confession that one isn’t taking liberties with the truth. It’s like saying, “This time, I’m being honest. I promise.” This line of thinking is not the path to a lifestyle of character.

Imagine the power that would come from achieving greatness in speech. Not in eloquence or intellect, but in being people of our word. What if we made a commitment to truth and consistently made good on our word? We would have no need for elevated statements of swearing an oath. It would be unnecessary.

There are times I fail to make good on my word. Most often, it’s a matter of something slipping my mind, but there are those times when the truth scares me. I contextualize or curate my words to avoid the hardship of honesty. It often begins with the voice in my mind whispering distorted perspectives to myself. There is much power in a simple yes or no.

Consistency leads to greatness. Let’s be great in speech by making good on our word. It will set us apart in a world where words often ring hollow. Imagine the difference we could make as we become a people consistent in character through a solid word.