SS Outline 11.1.2026

MEMBERS OF ONE ANOTHER: Speaking Truth to Fellow Members

Texts: Ephesians 4:25–32; Zechariah 8:16; Matthew 18:15; Proverbs 11:13; 26:20

Big idea: A body lives on true signals. Speech among members either builds the body or wounds it, so honesty, confidentiality, and direct communication are membership obligations.

1. Example

2. The Command and Its Reason — Ephesians 4:25
The old self is put off, the new self put on (vv. 20–24) — and the first garment handled is speech:

• “Having put away falsehood” — more than false sentences: image management, flattery, and engineered silence all paint false pictures.
• “Speak the truth with his neighbor” — Paul quotes Zechariah 8:16. Truth-telling has always been the speech of God’s gathered people.
• “For we are members of one another” — the reason. Lying to a fellow member is a body sending itself false signals — and a body that stops feeling the burn destroys itself painlessly.

3. The Household of Speech — Ephesians 4:26–32

• Anger gets a sunset deadline (vv. 26–27). 
• The text replaces corrupting talk with words marked by three qualities: 
  • good for building up
  • fitting the occasion
  • giving grace to those who hear (v. 29). 
• Bitterness and slander go out; kindness and forgiveness come in (vv. 31–32).

4. Three Governed Areas

• Honesty — no false signals. 
• Confidentiality — the trustworthy spirit covers a matter (Prov 11:13), and consent governs what gets shared. 
• Routing — to the member before about the member (Matt 18:15); where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases (Prov 26:20).

5. Speech Practices
Speak to, before about → ask consent before sharing → run the hearer test → keep the sunset deadline → cover faithfully, report danger immediately → kill the lateral channel: “Have you talked to them?”

Respond
1. Whose name have I spoken this month to people who were neither part of the problem nor part of the solution?
2. Is there a member I owe a direct conversation to that I have been holding in my head instead?

This week: Read Ephesians 4:25–32. Before speaking about any member, ask: Have I spoken to them? Does this word give grace to the one hearing it?