Loose Lips Sink Ships

It is probably impossible to understand how the reality of war shapes your worldview, informs your perspective, and influences your emotions unless you live through it. When our church visited Israel in 2019, we met a few teenagers in the lobby of a hotel who had AK-47 rifles wrapped around their shoulders. They informed us that military service is mandatory for all Israeli citizens (men and women) once they turn 17. Although seeing those guns was shocking to us, it was shocking to them that we were shocked. They were as comfortable wearing those deadly weapons as we are drinking Kool-Aid at a summer barbeque.

For most of its 249 year history, America has been unscathed from the ravages of war. Because our country is protected by two oceans, it is extremely difficulty and dangerous for any adversary to invade or attack us. When Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, that was the first and only time that America has ever been invaded by a foreign government.

During that conflict, the nation was put on high alert. To help our citizens understand the gravity of the threat, a War Advertising Department was initiated. The phrase “loose lips sink ships” was one of the jingles coined, and it was plastered on posters that were placed in public venues throughout the country. It was the leading idea of a public relations campaign designed to warn the citizenry of the danger of sharing sensitive information about the country or the war. Although it was difficult for our adversaries to invade our country with guns or weapons, many of them did infiltrate our institutions and neighborhood with spies.

The phrase survived the war, seeped into our collective consciousness and has entered into our national vocabulary because it express the poignancy and power of our words. This truth meets us over and over again in the Scriptures. Genesis 1:1 reminds us that God created the world with words (Genesis 1:1). Proverbs 18:21 asserts that “life and death are in the power of the tongue.” James 3:5-6 warns us that “it only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell..” This is why we should choose and use or words carefully. One of our former Presidents had a habit of choosing his words so carefully during press conferences that you could almost take a nap between his sentences. LOL. But he was a man who understood that a President words can start wars, cause stock markets to dramatically rise or precipitously fall, gut entire industries and end careers.

I was recently reminded of the power of words during a conversation that I had with a member of our congregation who has provided grooming services to high profile entertainers, corporate moguls, and athletes for more than three decades. He shared a very powerful experience he once had with an Oscar winning A-list actor. This actor had invited him to a movie set to cut his hair. The actor had a gym adjacent to his trailer, where he and his team would work out throughout the day. Our member was asked to join them for.a few reps on the bench press. When he tried to lift the bar, it was too heavy, and he blurted out “fellas I can’t do this.”

He said that as soon as he said the words “I can’t,” everyone in the gym froze in silence. Several people immediately left. Those who remained looked at him with wide eyes, as if he had committed a felony. He soon discovered that he had. Finally, the actor’s agent walked up to him and informed him that the actor he was working for had a policy that anyone who worked for him or was around him could never use the word “can’t.” Those who did were immediately FIRED. He was advised to watch his mouth if he intended to keep his job.

Imagine being fired for using the word “can’t”! That may seem far fetched, and over the top. But perhaps it isn’t. Maybe more of us would be farther along if we fired all the people on our jobs, in our relationships, and who attend our churches who seem to relish telling us what we can’t do, where we can’t go, what we can’t have and how what we truly desire can’t work.

Question: How many times has the word “can’t” come out of your mouth in the last month?

Answer: Too many.

Perhaps that’s why our careers are sinking.

Perhaps that’s why our finances are sinking.

Perhaps that’s why our marriages are sinking.

Perhaps that’s why our hopes are sinking.

Loose Lips sinks ships.

Starting today, I plan to go on a 30 day fast from the word “can’t.” Will you join me?