Nobody Likes the Gunner

"Words from a wise man's mouth are gracious, but a fool is consumed by his own lips...and the fool multiplies words." Ecclesiastes 10:12, 14

Every first year law school class has a student that earns the nickname "the Gunner."  Nobody wants to be the gunner and nobody likes the gunner.  He (or she) is the first one to raise their hand when a question is asked, the first one that wants to ask a question, and the person who always states facts and information related to class that no one else knows.  This person gives the appearance that they are going to hurt our grading curve.  (Law school classes are graded on a mandatory B curve.  Yes, 1 exam and a forced B curve makes getting A's really hard!) Anyway, after the end of the first year, everyone is often surprised to learn that the gunner didn't do as well on exams as one would think.  As it turns out, the gunner is just full of it and tries to make himself look good.  And in the end, the gunner is a fool.

Sadly, the gunner concept is not foreign inside the church.  I've been to many Bible studies that have a gunner as well.  And for some reason, the gunner is usually a woman.  She's a talker and has stories that she believes illustrate EVERY point of group discussion.  Little does she know that everyone is excited when she doesn't show up!!! 

Ecclesiastes reminds us to restrain our speech.  The fool is the person who talks too much and doesn't have a mute button.  If the fool's brain thinks it, for some reason his mouth speaks it too.  The word filter just doesn't work.  He shares too much too often and at some point his examples and stories lose their effectiveness.  People start to realize that the image that the words portray isn't real. 

I have a rule for group Bible studies that I will only answer 1 or maybe 2 questions.  Thus, I read all the questions in advance and think about where I can contribute the best.  Sometimes I don't share at all if the gunner doesn't let me.  But either way, my speech is restrained.

I'm learning that I need to have this same approach to words in my every day life at home.  With texting and social networking, we use far more words than we realize.  (Hence the fact I'm not on Facebook--waste of time and words.)  My husband may not believe it, but I'm going to work on word reduction this week--fewer phone calls, fewer texts, and less talking.  Hopefully my words will be more gracious and uplifting.  And hopefully I will never have gunner status.