It’s going to happen.  Regardless of how accomplished a speaker is, there are bound to be times when the brain is sluggish yet the mouth is unaware of it.  So, it chatters on long after the brain has taken a respite.

I’ve done it.  Every pastor has.  I did it just this last Sunday. The subject was rather deep and I was in the middle of sharing the thoughts the Lord had given me when I sensed I needed to add a little levity.  All of a sudden I remembered a joke that would have been perfect for the particular point I was making.  All went well except no one laughed.  It wasn’t until later that I realized I had only told half the punch line. 

No wonder nobody joined me in amusement.  I had misspoken.  Over the course of giving nearly 5,000 messages over 31 years, it certainly wasn’t the first time.  My wife still recalls all too fondly the time I tried to convince Dad’s one Father’s Day they needed to “curdle” their babies.  You see, my mind could not decide whether to say “cradle” or “cuddle” so it combined the two.  The minute it left my mouth I knew it had a wrong ring to it but couldn’t figure out what had gone wrong.  So I tried to correct the problem by repeating the phrase.  However, my mind was just as confused the second time as with the first and I “curdled” those babies once again.

Down through the years, we’ve had a good laugh about it, but there are times when misspeaks aren’t funny.  Recently, both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have experienced how serious they can be.  It seems there are always those hanging around who relish such missteps and who will never allow the speaker to correct himself/herself.  I’m not trying to excuse either person, or attempting to prove their misstatements were actually lapses in memory or were simply times, like all speakers experience, when the mind runs amok.  I’m certainly not endorsing either one or attempting to excuse or explain away what seems to be a few obvious falsehoods.  I’m just trying to remind all of us of two very important facts.

1.  Fatigue can create odd situations and cause the mind not to function properly.

In fact, It’s been proven that a severe lack of sleep produces the same reactions as being drunk.  I watched a program that compared the reaction times of automobile drivers.  The drivers were asked to manuever their cars through a series of cones on a track while they were sober and alert.  Then the reseachers kept some of the drivers awake for an unusual amount of time and gave alcoholic drinks to the others.  Result: those who were sleep deprived had the same reactions as those who had been drinking.  

2. We need to be careful not to allow our personal or political agendas to release us from our obligation to be fair.

Jesus taught us that only those who have no sin are allowed to cast stones at others.  If I understand things correctly, that excludes all of us from rock throwing (Romans 3:23). 

I know, I know.  We’re Americans and we have the right to our opinions; especially when it comes to politicians and their positions.  While that’s certainly true, in the political sense, as Christians we are also called to a higher way of life.  Following Jesus isn’t just a game we play at church – it’s a way of living we choose when we accepted Him as our Savior.

Although we might gain some mileage out of berating the poor soul who misspeaks, we belittle ourselves in the process.  Two Presidential election campaigns ago, I received an email about one of the candidates that I knew couldn’t be true.  It claimed that one party’s nominee had misspoken and misquoted the scripture, though the candidate claimed to be a devout Christian.  The message asked me to pass this earth-shaking news along to as many in my contact list as I could. 

Instead of passing along the info as directed, I decided to chase down the source of the information and check out it’s validity.  I found the article had originated with BNN – Bogus News Network.  I then replied to the person who had naively sent it to me with the truth I had discovered, along with the tag: “I want our side to win, not based upon false statements but upon the truth and the rightness of our position.”

That advice still holds water, and in more than simply political elections.  People are people.  In protracted campaigns, such as the one we’re currently experiencing, there are bound to be many moments of fatigue.  And, a weary mind is bound to play havoc with facts and words.  But don’t be so quick to look on the ground for rocks.  Who knows.  Maybe one day you’ll be the one needing to duck for cover and hoping people give you a second chance to straighten up a mistake.