{"id":425,"date":"2016-02-12T06:26:31","date_gmt":"2016-02-12T11:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/?p=425"},"modified":"2016-02-12T09:47:24","modified_gmt":"2016-02-12T14:47:24","slug":"the-truth-about-talkative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/2016\/02\/the-truth-about-talkative\/","title":{"rendered":"The Truth About Talkative"},"content":{"rendered":"

Faithful: Now did Faithful begin to wonder; and stepping to Christian, (for he walked all this while by himself), he said to him, (but softly), What a brave companion have we got! Surely this man will make a very excellent pilgrim.<\/p>\n

Christian: At this Christian modestly smiled, and said: This man, with whom you are so taken, will beguile, with that tongue of his, twenty of them that know him not.<\/p>\n

Faithful: Do you know him, then?<\/p>\n

Christian: Know him! Yes, better than he knows himself.<\/p>\n

Faithful: Pray, what is he?<\/p>\n

Christian: His name is Talkative; he dwells in our town. I wonder that you should be a stranger to him, only I consider that our town is large.<\/p>\n

Faithful: Whose son is he? And whereabout does he dwell?<\/p>\n

Christian: He is the son of one Say-well; he dwelt in Prating Row; and is known of all that are acquainted with him, by the name of Talkative in Prating Row; and notwithstanding his fine tongue, he is but a sorry fellow.<\/p>\n

Faithful: Well, he seems to be a very pretty man.<\/p>\n

Christian: That is, to them who have not thorough acquaintance with him; for he is best abroad; near home, he is ugly enough. Your saying that he is a pretty man, brings to my mind what I have observed in the work of the painter, whose pictures show best at a distance, but, very near, more unpleasing.<\/p>\n

Faithful: But I am ready to think you do but jest, because you smiled.<\/p>\n

Christian: God forbid that I should jest (although I smiled) in this matter, or that I should accuse any falsely! I will give you a further discovery of him. This man is for any company, and for any talk; as he talks now with you, so will he talk when he is on the ale-bench; and the more drink he has in his crown, the more of these things he has in his mouth; religion has no place in his heart, or house, or conversation; all he has lies in his tongue, and his religion is, to make a noise therewith.<\/p>\n

Faithful: Say you so! then am I in this man greatly deceived.<\/p>\n

Christian: Deceived! you may be sure of it; remember the proverb, “They say and do not.” But the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. He talks of prayer, of repentance, of faith, and of the new birth; but he knows but only to talk of them. I have been in his family, and have observed him both at home and abroad; and I know what I say of him is the truth. His house is as empty of religion as the white of an egg is of savor. There is there neither prayer nor sign of repentance for sin; yea, the brute in his kind serves God far better than he. He is the very stain, reproach, and shame of religion, to all that know him; it can hardly have a good word in all that end of the town where he dwells, through him. Thus say the common people that know him, A saint abroad, and a devil at home. His poor family finds it so; he is such a churl, such a railer at and so unreasonable with his servants, that they neither know how to do for or speak to him. Men that have any dealings with him say it is better to deal with a Turk than with him; for fairer dealing they shall have at their hands. This Talkative (if it be possible) will go beyond them, defraud, beguile, and overreach them. Besides, he brings up his sons to follow his steps; and if he finds in any of them a foolish timorousness, (for so he calls the first appearance of a tender conscience,) he calls them fools and blockheads, and by no means will employ them in much, or speak to their commendations before others. For my part, I am of opinion, that he has, by his wicked life, caused many to stumble and fall; and will be, if God prevent not, the ruin of many more.<\/p>\n

Faithful: Well, my brother, I am bound to believe you; not only because you say you know him, but also because, like a Christian, you make your reports of men. For I cannot think that you speak these things of ill-will, but because it is even so as you say.<\/p>\n

Christian: Had I known him no more than you, I might perhaps have thought of him, as, at the first, you did; yea, had he received this report at their hands only that are enemies to religion, I should have thought it had been a slander\u2014a lot that often falls from bad men’s mouths upon good men’s names and professions; but all these things, yea, and a great many more as bad, of my own knowledge, I can prove him guilty of. Besides, good men are ashamed of him; they can neither call him brother, nor friend; the very naming of him among them makes them blush, if they know him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Talkative\"<\/a>In the previous post<\/a> Faithful began a conversation with a traveler whose name was Talkative. Talkative quickly impressed Faithful with his fluent words and contagious enthusiasm. Now the conversation shifts; Faithful steps aside to speak privately with Christian. Though Faithful has a high regard for Talkative, Christian is not so convinced.<\/p>\n

Christian knows the truth about Talkative. He knows of his reputation among family and friends in the City of Destruction. Christian raises three serious concerns that should give Faithful pause in his assessment of Talkative:<\/p>\n

1. Though Talkative speaks well, his life doesn\u2019t measure up to his talk.\u00a0<\/strong>Bunyan highlights this discrepancy between Talkative\u2019s words and walk in his description: \u201cHe is the son of one Say-Well\u201d and lives on Prating Row. His speech sounds refined and informed, yet it amounts to little more than babbling and gibberish.<\/p>\n

He talks of God at church and in the company of believers. He can dissect doctrine and even base his conclusions on Scripture. Yet he fails to live by what he professes. Though he speaks of prayer, faith and repentance; yet these are absent from his life. Christian observes that: \u201creligion has no place in his heart, or house, or conversation; all he has lies in his tongue, and his religion is, to make a noise therewith.\u201d<\/p>\n

Talkative\u2019s life resembles that of the Scribes and Pharisees who \u201csay, and do not do\u201d (Matthew 23:3). Even animals, when they act according to their God-given natures, serve God better than he (Jeremiah 8:7; Job 12:7\u201310). True salvation is more than knowing and saying right things; it is a change of heart that leads to a changed life. \u201cFor the kingdom of God is not in word but in power\u201d (1 Corinthians 4:20).<\/p>\n

2. Though Talkative appears to be a passionate pilgrim, his life looks better from a distance than close up<\/strong>. He presents himself well, but on closer examination, his actions don\u2019t measure up to his words. Christian notes that \u201che is best abroad; near home, he is ugly enough.\u201d To those casually acquainted with him, he appears to excel. He is knowledgeable, well-spoken and polite. But to those who know him more intimately, he falls short. His actions toward them are sinful, unjust and unreasonable. He is \u201ca saint abroad, and a devil at home.\u201d His religion is but a fa\u00e7ade he has built to cover his life.<\/p>\n

3. Though Talkative is fervent in how he speaks of his faith, his witness before others is both deceptive and dangerous.<\/strong> His life discredits the words he speaks. His hypocrisy leads to devastating consequences. His conduct causes \u201cmany to stumble and fall, disgusting some and causing them to turn away from the faith, while diluting others into thinking a believer can live comfortably with sin in his life. Christian asserts, \u201che is the very stain, reproach, and shame of religion, to all that know him.\u201d Because of his disregard for God\u2019 Law \u201cthe name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles\u201d (Romans 2:24). Because of his presumption of the Gospel, he speaks \u201cpeace, peace, where there is no peace\u201d (Jeremiah 6:14).<\/p>\n

Christian\u2019s assessment of Talkative may seem quite severe. But his judgments and warnings are warranted. Some of Jesus\u2019 sharpest words were aimed at those who lived in hypocrisy and led others astray by their hypocrisy. On two\u00a0occasions in the book of Matthew Jesus referred to the Scribes and Pharisees as a \u201cbrood of vipers\u201d (Matthew 12:34, 23:33). In Matthew 18 he warns:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes\u201d (Matthew 18:6\u20137).<\/p>\n

Sadly, there are many in the church today who fit the description of Talkative. They speak the language of a Pilgrim, are convinced that they are on the path to the Celestial City, yet their lives do not bear the marks of a Pilgrim. They like to mingle with God\u2019s people, engage in theological conversation, and may even be well-versed in explaining and arguing the nuances of difficult doctrines. Yet their conduct bears little resemblance to the truth they so eloquently champion with their lips.<\/p>\n

Talkative is satisfied that he can make the journey with mere knowledge and talk. In the next post will we look further in the Fallacy of Talkative\u2019s thinking.<\/p>\n

A Guide to John Bunyan’s\u00a0The Pilgrim’s Progress<\/em>
\nSee TOC<\/a>\u00a0for more posts from this commentary<\/p>\n

The text for\u00a0The Pilgrim’s Progress\u00a0<\/em>and images used are public domain
\nNotes and Commentary \u00a92016 Ken Puls
\nUnless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from\u00a0the New King James Version (NKJV) \u00a91982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Faithful: Now did Faithful begin to wonder; and stepping to Christian, (for he walked all this while by himself), he said to him, (but softly), What a brave companion have we got! Surely this man will make a very excellent pilgrim. Christian: At this Christian modestly smiled, and said: This man, with whom you are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5,10],"tags":[106,108,12,11,107],"class_list":["post-425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary","category-the-pilgrims-progress","tag-conversation","tag-hypocrisy","tag-john-bunyan","tag-pilgrims-progress","tag-speech"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4lLgO-6R","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":429,"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425\/revisions\/429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}