revised version of “Bouncer”

We should be discriminating about which words we allow through the door of our lips.

King James Version

‘Bouncer’ is a cartoon I have long thought needed a revision. I like the idea of the guard keeping “watch over the door of my lips” being like a bouncer at an exclusive night club. He has to be very discriminating: desirable guests are allowed in, undesirables are banned. I thought it depicted how we should be with words. My original cartoon showed a well dressed lady being admitted to the “Club Lips”, and a vagrant being denied. The idea was that these people represented words, but I’m not sure that idea was conveyed very well. At least one person wrote to complain that I was making fun of homeless people, which was not my intent. Also, I thought it might be inferred that the vagrant represented specifically profanity, which was also not my intent.

The revised cartoon replaces the lady and the vagrant, who were to represent words, with actual words, or drawings of words, complete with faces. This is much sillier, which I like. But also, I hope, does a better job of conveying the message.

original version of “Bouncer”

Revisiting this cartoon also made me wonder who, exactly, is the bouncer? In the verse, the person asks the Lord to set a guard over his lips. Who is the guard? In James 3:8 it is stated that no one can tame the tongue. We can’t do it on our own. We need someone to help us. That someone, I believe, is the Holy Spirit. He is there, with us, and in us. He can help us choose our words more carefully.

Mike Waters