What I Learned from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

I have a rather unusual beginning for this post. Let's dive right into Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (listen to the play here for free):

DON PEDRO (A respected man) Officers, what offense have these men done?

DOGBERRY (The constable) Marry, sir, they have committed false report; moreover, they have spoken untruths; secondarily, they are slanders; sixth and lastly, they have belied a lady; thirdly, they have verified unjust things; and, to conclude, they are lying knaves.

DON PEDRO First, I ask thee what they have done; thirdly, I ask thee what’s their offense; sixth and lastly, why they are committed; and, to conclude, what you lay to their charge.

CLAUDIO (A count) Rightly reasoned, and in his own division; and, by my troth, there’s one meaning well suited.

(to BORACHIO and CONRADE, the prisoners) Who have you offended, masters, that you are thus bound to your answer? This learned constable is too cunning to be understood. What’s your offense?

What Can we Learn from Shakespeare?

Essentially, the character Don Pedro asked the constable a question and, instead of giving a short, straight answer, the "learned" and "cunning" constable rattled off the same thing in six different ways without really saying anything!

Be wary of becoming like Constable Dogberry, who said much but communicates little, either because he didn't have good answer or because he didn't understand the words he was using. People are not often fooled by this charade. Shakespeare knew that they can smell the difference between authenticity and mere show.

I like the old saying that if you can't say something so that a five-year old will understand, you don't know it yourself. When it comes to sharing what you believe, I would like to strongly urge you to walk through different facets of your faith in Christ and see if you are fully able to understand and convey their meanings without pouring out meaningless phrases. Like Dogberry, there are some Christians who are confronted by a hard topic and immediately resort to several dozen clichés that they mince together to answer a question they never sat down to comprehend themselves. James 1:26 makes it very clear that we need to be careful that our words don't just run wild: "If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless." It is better to respond with an honest "I don't know" than provide an answer to a question you don't understand. Let us be "wise as serpents and innocent as doves" (Matthew 10:16), meaning that we are to be aware of our own limitations and of the needs of others, for that honors God.

Rather than regurgitating things that we don't understand in order to impress or to feel that we are accomplishing something, let's spend time to understand what we want to say and then how to say it. I pray that all of us would be careful with our words this week, being ready to share when we are lead and say, "I don't know, but I'll get back to you" when we are out of our depth.

For a more in-depth look at James 1:26 and the importance of our words, check out my book here.

What are some of the way's you've been able to better process through your thoughts to say something valuable?