Colossians 4:5-6, "Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."

Our churches as well as our conversation should be externally focused. The great misdirection of the church has been to concentrate upon itself. We some times feel we must be judge and jury to the world around us and we use people and their lifestyles to justify our speech.

The Message Bible says it this way, "Use your heads as you live and work among outsiders. Don't miss a trick. Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out."

A compliment would go so much further than criticism. Being gracious in our speech is the encouragement of scripture. We cannot thunder forth the "word of the Lord" to a nation and its people who no longer recognise the voice of the Lord. We need to be Jesus to them and speak in a way that "... brings out the best in others."