Tame That Tongue or Else...

Introduction

Last week we tackled James 2:14-26 and saw a warning from James regarding our words and our actions. James 2:14-26 is a text that has led some to an unhealthy place that says that all that matters is our works and that our works can even save ourselves - obviously that’s not true. But another extreme from that passage is that our works matter so much that our words don’t matter at all. Words matter. Think of a time where your words came back to bit you! Anyone got one of those moments? I have had more than a few in my lifetime, especially in recent years. Around Christmas there were a few days when it was super cold, like negative 10-20 degree windchills. A couple of days where every normal person was trying to stay inside as much as they possibly could, right? Our staff knows where this is going… David sends a text saying that it’s 3 degrees outside and there was some snow on the ground. I make the joke that it’s obviously too cold to go running because that’s what some people around here like to do. I received a text message from someone in the group saying that “I’ll go for a run if you do.”

Now, when it comes to physical activities and dangerous things… you don’t say those words in any situation! “I’ll jump off that cliff if you do!” “I’ll touch that thing if you do!” “I’ll go for a run in subzero temperatures if you do!” Needless to say, those words came back to bite a couple of people because I immediately looked at Lindsey while at my parents house and say that I’m going to go put my coat on and go for a run. Y’all should’ve seen the look I got whenever those words came out of my mouth on December 22nd. A half a mile later and the point was proven and 2 other people went for runs shortly thereafter.

Words can bite us! They can cost us! They can get us in trouble. Where do words begin? Why do we say the things that we say? James will dive into the complexity of our words tonight in James 3:1-12 as we see that the tongue is a gateway to something much deeper and more significant: The tongue points to our heart. The tongue reveals what we think and in some ways, who we are. The tongue has the power to build up and to tear down. For that reason, James will tell us tonight that we must strive to tame it because it we don’t, it will destroy us.

James 3:1–12 CSB

1 Not many should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we will receive a stricter judgment. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is mature, able also to control the whole body. 3 Now if we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we direct their whole bodies. 4 And consider ships: Though very large and driven by fierce winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So too, though the tongue is a small part of the body, it boasts great things. Consider how a small fire sets ablaze a large forest. 6 And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is placed among our members. It stains the whole body, sets the course of life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7 Every kind of animal, bird, reptile, and fish is tamed and has been tamed by humankind, 8 but no one can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in God’s likeness. 10 Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way. 11 Does a spring pour out sweet and bitter water from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree produce olives, my brothers and sisters, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a saltwater spring yield fresh water.

Tonight, as we look at the tongue, we’re also going to look into our hearts. Before we do that, we need to check ourselves. Yes, actions matter. Yes, we are to be people of faith and to demonstrate our faith by bearing fruit. But, yes, our words matter so much. The things that we say in public and private and the things that we post in public forums matter. If we don’t get it in check and keep it in check, we’re going to be in deep trouble. I’m not sure about you, but I’m willing to admit that this is a convicting passage of Scripture because it’s so easy to buy into the lie that tells us that our words, especially those in private, don’t impact anyone. No one heard what I said. No one was impacted by what I said. No one cares! God knows. God see’s. God hears. God cares. We break His heart whenever we use our words to tear down. Tonight let’s pray that God would help us take captive every word and every thought.

The Tongue is Powerful (1-5)

James begins this chapter following his reminder that works matter by saying that not many should become teachers because they will be judged strictly. Again, this book is a letter to the local church and every church has leadership within it. As Baptist churches we have pastors who lead the church to fulfill our God-given mission. Pastors cannot do everything, though. Pastors have never been expected to do everything either. By God’s grace, He has gifted us all as Christians with a spiritual gift - and we are so thankful for each of those gifts and each of you as you serve faithfully! He has gifted some people with the gift of teaching and leadership and some of you all have those gifts and you serve in this church by teaching - possibly kids, youth, or even adults! There are very clear rules for those in leadership positions within the church as 1 Timothy 2 and 3 tells us. Teaching is a serious deal and our world is full of people who are in teaching positions (not only preaching positions) who are not qualified and they are deceiving people and dishonoring God! Teachers will be judged based on the content that they teach and the character that they display. Because of this, James starts this chapter off with a warning to these people. Every human sins and falls short, but teachers will be judged more strictly so not many should be teachers. Teachers can deepen the faith of the church or cause destruction within the church and it starts with their tongue and the things that they teach! I’m not sure about you, but I am thankful for the teachers of this church - genuinely. Pray for your teachers and do so consistently as they seek to rightly divide God’s Word and point you to Jesus.

Our tongue is powerful. Our words bring people closer to God’s Word or they can push people further away from God’s Word. To demonstrate this point, James gives 2 examples in these opening verses regarding the tongue: horses and ships. I’m going to be honest, some of you are much more familiar with horses than I am. Outside of going on a horseback ride at Big Cedar back in the day, I haven’t encountered many hoses but I know that they’re big, fast, and seem as though they can’t be controlled at times.

James shares that the reason that bits are put into the mouths of horses so that they obey the rider and so that the rider can direct the horse. A horse bit is tiny compared to the entire horse - but that tiny bit apparently can help control the entire large horse! The next comparison James makes about the tongue is to a ship rudder as a tiny piece of hardware can control a much larger ship. One commentator shared this really cool fact about ship rudders: Take the USS Eisenhower, it is over 1000 feet long and carries over 6000 sailors and 100 aircraft. It has been called a floating city and that number of people is larger than the population of Salem! That’s crazy and it weighs nearly 100,000 tons! Do you know what steers the USS Eisenhower? A rudder that is .1% the size of the ship!

Something so small can be so powerful! So it is with our tongue… The tongue is such a small part of our bodies. It doesn’t weigh much. You can’t really see it all that often. But this tiny thing has so much power. The final thing James shares in verse 5 is that the tongue is like a spark that sets an entire forest ablaze with fire. A small fire can be a great thing as it warms our homes and provides a setting for us to eat yummy s'mores and things like that… but a large fire can be dangerous. Have you ever heard about the story of the great Chicago fire? In 1871 there was a woman milking her cow in her barn outside of Chicago. The cow kicked over a lantern in the barn and caught the burn and hay on fire. Before all was done, the entire downtown of Chicago along with thousands of homes were destroyed and 250 people lost their lives! One tiny lantern led to the whole city going up in flames!

Fire is powerful. Words are powerful. Proverbs 16:27

Proverbs 16:27 CSB

27 A worthless person digs up evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire.

Proverbs 12:18 CSB

18 There is one who speaks rashly, like a piercing sword; but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Let’s look at what these powerful words can do in the 3 verses to come

The Tongue Can Be Destructive (6-8)

Just like a fire can do many wonderful things, like keep us warm on a cold day or bless our stomachs with hot food, a fire can also cause destruction. The tongue is no different and the same way that our words can build up, they can just as easily tear down. Because of the power in the tongue, James has cautioned us from using it too quickly. Look back with me to James 1:19

James 1:19 CSB

19 My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,

We get all 3 of those wrong, often times. We’re slow to listen, quick to talk, and immediately get mad! Why does James tell us to be slow to speak and quick to listen? From a biological standpoint, God gifted us with 2 ears and 1 mouth… meaning that it should be easier to listen than to speak for one! But we often take matters into our hands and part of that is because of our own sinfulness. James calls the tongue a world of unrighteousness. It stands the body and sets our life on fire! The tongue gets us in trouble real quick and the solution is to be slow to use it at times. Do you know how many words the average man says per day? 7,000… what about the average woman? 20,000! We talk a bunch. How can we keep those words in check? It starts with our heart because the tongue simply reveals the heart as we’ll see in a few verses time.

Think about the fruit of the Spirit this evening. Does the fruit of the Spirit say anything about our words and actions and behavior? It says much about those things!

Galatians 5:22–23 CSB

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.

What’s the last fruit of the Spirit? Self-Control. What’s the 1st fruit of the Spirit? Love. Why does the tongue cause us so many problems? Because we quickly realize that our words aren’t always loving and the reason that we use them negatively at times is because we actually lack self-control. Just a few accidental words can cause enormous amounts of damage. Rather than demonstrating that we have the fruit of the Spirit, at times our words are more indicative of the spirit of Satan. Look at James 3:6 with me. The tongue is itself set on fire by hell! That’s incredibly strong language here. How can this take place? In what ways can the tongue be a force of Satan? Let’s look to Proverbs to see 4 ways

Proverbs 10:8 CSB

8 A wise heart accepts commands, but foolish lips will be destroyed.

Proverbs 12:19 CSB

19 Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue, only a moment.

Proverbs 18:12 CSB

12 Before his downfall a person’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.

Proverbs 10:18 CSB

18 The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.

Foolish words. Untrue words. Arrogant words. Gossiping words. What do these things do? They are not fruit of the Spirit. They tear down, they don’t build up. Let’s hone in on gossip for a moment, because this is something that we’ve all been guilty of before. One leadership author compares gossip to barnacles in the ocean. Barnacles can slow down a ship by 40%. Barnacles can get inside engines and can even crack the hull of smaller ships. Barnacles make the boat less aerodynamic. They multiply rapidly after they first appear and the US Navy spends over a half a billion dollars each year on simply removing barnacles from Navy ships. Our words have the power to stunt the growth of others. Our words have the power to slow the mission that God has for our church as we build up walls between the Gospel and other people. Our words have the power to impact the health of our church body. Our words cause problems to fester and those problems can grow like wildfire. So, whenever you find yourself in a critical spirit - be mindful of your words. Be mindful of the things that we post on Facebook because those are things that other people can see. Be mindful of the things that we say in certain settings that can cause problems to fester. There is a cost that comes with dealing with negative words and gossip just as there is a cost of removing barnacles… It takes time, sometimes years to undo the damage that takes 5 seconds to start simply because of some careless or hurtful words.

The problem that we have is that we can justify our tongue all day long. It’s not me being mean, I’m just an honest person. It’s not me gossiping, I’m just not a fan of that person or decision. It’s not me having a lack of self-control, I just think that I’m right and I want everyone to know my opinion because I’m obviously right. As a side note, it’s fascinating how the loudest chirps come from the crickets who contribute the least. Friends, if we don’t master our own tongue, it will master us and it starts here in our churches and here in our hearts. James calls the tongue a restless evil full of deadly poison. What do we need? We need a whole lot of help and this is what the Holy Spirit alone can do for us. We’re seeing God move so much in our church, friends! We’re seeing spiritual growth. We’re seeing the spiritual lightbulb go off in the lives of many people. We’re seeing more and more people desiring to serve and participate and contribute in the life of this church and that’s 100% a move of God! Do you know what the biggest threat to that is? Us. You know that don’t you? We, our sin and pride and selfishness, are the biggest threat to God continuing to move in our church and community and change lives. We have to be obedient to whatever it is that God wants to do and to live our Isaiah 6:8 and say here I am, Lord send and use me! We have to continue to be flexible and moldable and not get too comfortable. That starts with our words and extends to our hearts. Are you willing to get uncomfortable if it means that God changes lives and saves souls? I’m ready to get completely uncomfortable if that’s the cost!

The Tongue Must Be Tamed (9-12)

Look at verse 9 with me, to this congregation of Christians, James shares a convicting message that pierces to my heart and it likely does yours as well. Sometimes we use our words to praise Jesus and bless our Lord and give Him thanks for His provision and kindness and grace and mercy… and what do we do Sunday afternoon right after church? We use it to curse people made in God’s image. That shouldn’t happen - but we’re all guilty! We shouldn’t use our tongue to do both of those things! This is like what Jesus tells the church of Laodicea in Revelation 3:15-16

Revelation 3:15–16 CSB

15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth.

I’m going to be honest with you all here and say that I used to interpret this verse incorrectly. I used to think as a child that hot was good, cold was bad, and lukewarm was really bad here in this text… kind of like a shower. A hot shower is good, a cold shower isn’t all that fun but can wake you up in the morning, but a lukewarm shower is pretty gross. Why does Jesus say that He wishes these people would be either hot or cold? He’s not saying that hot is good and cold is bad… Think about our words for a moment. There are times where we are to be on the offensive and to share the Gospel and to be hot and to pierce through arguments and the defenses of this dark and depressing world. Being hot is good! But there are other times where people are out on the offensive and they’re looking for a fight… what should we do around those people? We need our words to be ice cold and put out fires before they even start!

Proverbs 15:1 CSB

1 A gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath.

Hot is good - cold is good… but lukewarm gets you vomited out of Jesus’ mouth. Let’s apply that to our text here. With our mouth we are to praise Jesus. His praise should be forever on our lips. He has given us breath to praise Him and He has saved us to serve Him… but what do we do? Like James 3:10 tells us, we bless God and we curse others… We demonstrate to others that we are the lukewarm person so often and this shouldn’t be the way that it is. That’s an oxymoron. That’s inconsistent. Do you remember what Jesus says in Matthew 7? A good tree produces good fruit and a bad tree produces bad fruit? James shares the same here. James 3:11-12

James 3:11–12 CSB

11 Does a spring pour out sweet and bitter water from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree produce olives, my brothers and sisters, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a saltwater spring yield fresh water.

It doesn’t work that way. The Current River can’t suddenly have salt water coming down it because it’s fed by a freshwater spring. If we are saved and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we can’t in good conscience use our words to praise God at church and curse others outside of it. It doesn’t work that way.

I don’t know about you, but this message and text has me just about ready to cut my tongue off to borrow from Jesus’ illustration in the Sermon on the Mount about if your eye causes you to stumble then you’re better off gouging it out. We quickly feel condemned here because we’re all guilty of sinning with our words - even the best of us! Where is the Gospel hope here because we’re in deep need of it tonight?

Our hope to tame our tongue isn’t in ourselves - although we have the responsibility to use our words wisely and carefully. As a Christian, it’s so important to remember that our sin, past present and future, is paid in full on the cross of Calvary. God has provided a way to save us from the punishment of our careless words and the imperfect words that we’re tempted to believe. This is why it’s so important for us to see our salvation not as a contract… but as a covenant as we looked at last fall in our Bible study. If our salvation was a contract where God could void it after our first offense, or even our 10th offense, we wouldn’t last a day because we can’t save ourselves… But our salvation is a covenant where God promises to always remain faithful, even when His people at times act faithless. God always keeps His promises. See, after Adam and Eve sinned, God made a covenantal promise with His words to send a snake-crushing Savior in Genesis 3:15 who would crush the speaking serpent and overthrow the grave. God kept His promise, church. He sent His Son as Galatians 4:4-5 reminds us

Galatians 4:4–5 CSB

4 When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

Jesus, as the eternal Word of the Lord, spoke of the Father’s love and grace. He spoke of our sin and need for a Savior. He died in our place and was raised from the death. See, Jesus is still the solution to our sin problem and the awesome thing about Jesus is that He gets the last word. We will stumble and fall with our actions and our words, and God knows it all. The blood of Jesus still covers us from all our sin. Whenever you and I mess up, there is grace and forgiveness at the foot of the cross. Because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, though, we don’t have to give into this fleshly desire and temptation to sin with our words, though. There is an antidote to that poison and it’s the Spirit of the Living God. It’s being quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger whenever we’re ticked. It’s about demonstrating self-control whenever it’d be much easier to have no control like the rest of our world. It’s about using our words to build up and not tear down. It’s about choosing to love our enemies rather than longing to get even with them.

What our world needs is not the church to fight fire with fire. Our world needs Christians who live our Romans 10:14-17

Romans 10:14–17 CSB

14 How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. 16 But not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our message? 17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.

Whose with me on that? Thousands of people in Dent County need Jesus. If you are in Christ today, let’s vow to use our words to share the Gospel and invite people to taste and see the goodness of the One who died for you and me. We must tame our tongue and our only hope is that snake-crushing Savior. Thankfully, that means we have a living hope. We have a blessed hope.