Words are Dangerous

James 3:1-12 - Words are Dangerous

Introduction

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Chris Hempstead and I’m the youth pastor here at Community Bible Church And today I have the privilege of speaking to you today about James 3:1-12 from this passage we are going to see that our words are dangerous - James gives us three reasons in this passage for why are our words are dangerous Our words are dangerous because they are … Hard to Control / They Cause Great Damage / They Reveal our HeartsWe all communicate through words every day - We say good morning to our families, we text our family/friends, we email our co-workers, we comment on people’s photos on social media, we make small talk with the cashier at one of the few stores that still doesn’t have self checkout, we discipline our kids, we FaceTime our grandkids - we all talk every dayWether it’s verbally or through written communication, in person or virtually, we all talk every day - communication is central to our lives - and as I’ve already said, James in this passage warns us that our words are dangerous I’m sure that if you think hard enough, you can think of examples of times where you were hurt by the words of others, and those wounds cut deepWhoever made up the saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” - obviously never spent any time with teenagers, because they are master craftsmen at doing damage with their words We can all think of examples of others hurting others with their words, but if we are humble and honest enough to look at our own lives, we can all think of examples of times we have hurt others with our words We have all said something to someone, and immediately thought, “wow, I should not have said that”- And the person you were talking to got hurt and offended - Without even realizing it, we do immense amounts of damage with our words, because words are dangerous

James Introduces concept - V 1-2

In verses 1 & 2, James introduces the topic of our words by addressing his readers who were aspiring to be pastors - That’s who is referring to when he says “teachers” in v. 1 - but we broaden the application out a bit more to anyone who is teaching in a church settingAnyone who is teaching from God’s Word, whether it’s in the pulpit here on a Sunday Morning, in Children’s church, youth group, or Sunday school, is communicating through their words the meaning of God’s WordJames here gives this group a very stern warning here at the beginning of the chapter - By saying “not many of you should become teachers” he is encouraging his readers to examine themselves To all of you who teach in any capacity here at CBC, first I want to say thank you for sacrificing your time to benefit others, and I want to encourage you to be faithful in your preparation - If those who teach are truly judged with a higher standard as James says, then we need to take our responsibility as teachers seriously when we prepare to teach His WordIn verse 2, James further explains why teachers will be judged with a higher standard - teachers speak, and speaking is fraught with danger because our words are dangerous He makes it clear that we all sin, we are all fallen and broken sinners who stumble and fall in various ways, but there is one area where we all sin - with our words He makes the point in verse 2 that the person who does not sin with their words is a perfect person whose entire body - their thoughts, desires, and actions, - are completely under I might not wrestle with the same temptations you do, and you might not stumble in the same ways I do, but there is one area where we all struggle - with our wordsIt’s comforting when we realize that James here says “we” in verse 2 - he even includes himself in the group of people who sin with their words Here James shifts gears - in verse 1, he is addressing teachers and those who desire to be teachers, the inclusivity of verse 2 includes all of us and in the following verses, James address how all of our words are dangerous

They must be Controlled - V 2-5a

Our words are dangerous because they must be controlled - we see this concept first in verse 2, which we just looked at - we all stumble with how we speak we are all guilty of sinning against God and against the people around us by speaking in ways that are not motivated by love and that do not honor GodWe see this in verses 3-5 as well - he uses 2 analogies here to prove his point - he compares the tongue first to a bit in a horses’ mouth and then to the rudder of a ship A bit is a small object put into the horses’ mouth that connects to the reigns enabling the rider to control the direction of the horseSimilarly, a rudder in the day James was writing was the small fin-like object that sticks out the back of a ship - as the pilot drives it, he is directing the course of a massive vessel with a small, seemingly insignificant device at the back of the ship V 5 summarizes what James is trying to communicate to use with these analogies - the tongue, even though it is small, can accomplish great things - even though our tongues, and the words it speaks are seemingly insignificant, they are powerfulTherefore, they must be controlled - if the rider of a horse were to let go of the reigns and stop controlling the bit, the horse would go wherever it chose - and depending on how wild the horse was, this could be very dangerous to everyone involvedThis is also true of the rudder analogy that James uses - if the pilot of the ship were to let go of the wheel of the ship which controls the rudder, the strong winds would take the ship wherever it was pushed Again, we can all think of times where we did not bite our tongues and we let ourselves say what was on our minds regardless of the consequences, and if we could go back, I expect most of us would choose to control our tongues instead of allowing them to take us wherever they wanted to go When we allow the strong winds of temptation or the wildness of our hearts to control our tongues, the results will be devastating

Cause Great Damage - V 5b

Which leads us to the next reason James warns us about the danger of our words - our words are dangerous because they can cause great damage Verse 5 ends with another analogy for the damage the tongue can do - he compares our tongues to a small fire that causes a forest fire - James compares the damage that our words can cause to a forest fire, and he compares our tongues (words we speak) to a small spark or fire (V. 5 NIV “Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.”)Our tongues might be small and it might seem like our words are insignificant, but they can do a ton of damage if we aren’t careful When you think about forest fires I immediately think of Smokey Bear - The US Forest Service did a good job ingraining his message in my mind - “Only can prevent forest fires”I love his slogan because it’s true with our words too - only you can control your words, so only you can prevent the damage that your words can cause when left unchecked Forest fires are a huge deal, and they can cause a ton of destruction - 2020 was a year where the news headlines were a mess, but one story stands out In 2020 in El Dorado California, a couple had a gender reveal party, and the machine they had that was supposed to release colored smoke malfunctioned and it caused a massive fireThis fire caused a ton of destruction - It lasted over 2 months, covered a distance of over 22k acres (about 188 x the size of Hershey park for perspective) several houses were burned to the ground, it caused millions in damages and cost millions to put out, 1 firefighter died, and the people responsible were charged with manslaughterThat’s what a wildfire is, and that’s what James compares our words to - Our words might not have as visible an impact as a forest fire, but the words we carelessly speak to others can and do cause emotional and psychological damage It doesn’t take much to cause a wildfire - a small fire left unchecked, or even just a small spark can cause a massive blaze - and it doesn’t take much to inflict serious damage on the people we are speaking to - a snide comment about someone’s appearance, a word spoken in anger toward a family member, a harsh comment toward someone that bugs youThe hurt and damage that you inflict on others with your words is serious, and should not be taken lightly - we are responsible to keep our words in check Our words can even hurt others unintentionally - This happened to me once - Once when I was 12 I was with my pastor and we were meeting his father at Cracker Barrel - as we were in the parking lot, his dad looked at me and goes “what do you think of that car over there?”It was a brown Kia Sole, which is this cube-like car with pink bumper stickers all over it, so me, being the punk 12 year old I was laughed and replied “That car is really stupid”My pastor’s dad didn’t hear me, so he asked his son what I said, and my pastor replied “he doesn’t like your car dad” - my stomach immediately dropped when I realized what I had done, and his dad was visibly upset If any of you drive a Brown Kia Sole with pink bumper stickers, I apologize That example is obviously a little silly - his dad was not very offended by my comments, but it is a reminder to me that my words can hurt others even unintentionally if I’m not carefulOur words are dangerous because they can do a huge amount of damage so we need to be very careful with how we speak to one another

Reveal our Hearts - V - 6-12

Lastly, our words are dangerous because they reveal our hearts - Jesus said this about our hearts in Matthew 12:33-34 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”Much like the fruit of our lives reveals whether or not we are of Christ, our words also reveal our hearts - our words reveal to everyone in earshot what is going on inside of us Obviously, by the heart I’m not referring to the organ, but to that part of our inner man where our emotions and desires are - it’s the part of who we are that either chooses to worship God or so disobey Him James has much to say about how our words reveal our hearts here in chapter 3V. 6 - the tongue is said to be a world of unrighteousness - because through it the evil contents of our hearts spill out - when we speak evil words it is because there is evil in our hearts V. 7-8 Here James compares our tongues to wild animals, but unlike the wild animals of this world, our tongues cannot be tamed - he says the reason the tongue cannot be tamed is because it is a restless evil - as James said back in verse 2, the person who is able to perfectly control their words is perfectV. 9-10 - Here James gives us an example - he explains that if we so misunderstand God that we would praise Him with our words and with the same breath curse the very creatures that are created in His image, there is something wrong - something in our hearts is amissI’ll contextualize this example a bit - Imagine you are on your way home from work - It’s a long commute, so you decide to redeem the time by praying on your drive home - and all of a sudden a car cuts you off, so you lay on your horn and start shouting some not so nice words at the driver And then you go back to praying like nothing ever happened - that’s the absurdity of praising God and cursing others - we misunderstand that the people around us have worth because they are created in God’s image and they are in need of the same grace we areV. 11-12 Finally, James asks 3 rhetorical questions to make the same point that Jesus made back in Matthew 12 - our words reveal our hearts - A grape vine is always consistent - it will always only produce grapes - in the same way, a fig tree will only produce figs, a salt spring will only produce salt water, and a fresh water spring will only produce fresh waterIn the same way, a heart motivated by love and grace will produce words that are loving and gracious - a heart motivated by a love for God and others will never produce harsh words that tear down the hearer in the same way that words motivated by anger and jealousy will never produce words of grace and forgivenessOur words reveal our hearts

Gospel Connection

James made it very clear back in verse 2 and throughout the rest of the passage that we all sin with our words - our words reveal our hearts, and the contents of our hearts are often far more sinful than we even realize God is holy, and His standard is perfection - every single one of us has failed to meet God’s perfect standard of holiness - Romans 3:23 says that we have all sinned against God - if you aren’t convinced that you are a sinner, seriously evaluate the way you speak - it won’t take very long for you to realize that you are in fact a sinnerThe wages of sin is death according to Romans 6:23 - what our sin has earned each and every single one of us is condemnation - we all deserve to spend eternity in hell separated from God But God sent His son, Jesus Christ who was God in the flesh, to walk this earth perfectly keeping God’s holy standard - He never sinned and is the only who has ever lived who never stumbled with how He spoke Jesus Christ died on the cross taking the places of broken sinners like you and me and rose again 3 days later so that you and I could be made right with God - There is only one way to be saved - faith in Christ and His perfect sacrifice for us If you have never placed your faith in Christ, I need you to know that there is nothing more important in this life than faith in Christ - If you would like to talk to someone about that, feel free to speak with me, one of the elders, or someone you know here at the church

Application

As I said before, we all communicate through words every day and James her win chapter three teaches us that Our words are dangerous because they are … Hard to Control / They Cause Great Damage / They Reveal our HeartsJames here has given us a stern warning of the danger of our words but the beauty of the gospel is that it saves us from the penalty of our sin, and as we pursue Christ, the gospel transforms our lives - especially with how we speak Paul addresses this in Ephesians 4 - Ephesians 4:22-24, “put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”Paul says that if we are truly believers being transformed by the power of the gospel, we will seek to put off our old ways of thinking and acting, be transformed by the gospel through the Holy Spirit’s power, and put on the new ways of thinking and acting that honor ChristLater in that same chapter, Paul applies this principle to how we speak - Eph. 4:29 “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”We know how dangerous our words can be if not kept in check, so through the power of the Spirit, we need to put off words that tear down and replace them with words that build up We first do this by allowing the Holy Spirit to transform our hearts - as James taught us, our words are a reflection of the state of our hearts, and as Paul taught us in Ephesians 4:23, a crucial step to the “put off sin/put on righteousness” command is the necessity for our inner man to be renewed - the ways we think and our motives need to be in step with ChristWe need to pursue Christ - we need to be actively spending time with Him in His Word and in prayer - not so we can earn our salvation, but so we can get to know the one who purchased with His blood, and as we get to know Him more, by proximity we will become more like HimA practical suggestion for how we can replace words of destruction with words that build up is to intentionally watch our words when we are in situations where we often struggle to speak in a godly mannerTo go back to an example I used earlier, if you struggle with honoring God with your words when you are driving, every time you get in the car ask God to guard your heart from anger If there’s a coworker/family member/acquaintance that you consistently struggle to speak to in a way that demonstrates that you love them as a fellow image bearer in Christ, when you see that person next, seek God’s help to intentionally replace your sinful words with those that build up Instead of making passive aggressive comments toward the coworker who gets under your skin, go out of your way to compliment themInstead of making jokes at the expense of others in a hurtful way, we can compliment others or encourage them Instead of gossiping about people behind their backs when we hear bad things about them (struggling with sin), we can confront them and encourage them to live the way God desires, - and we can also pray for themInstead of cursing people under your breath when they wrong you, you can actively choose to forgive them and speak to them with respect Instead of disrespecting people that deserve our respect (parents, teachers), we can choose to speak to them with the respect they deserveInstead of complaining when life doesn’t go our way, we can choose to speak words of thankfulnessUltimately, the words we speak should be motivated by a love for God and others and this love should put the wants, needs, and desires of our hearers and those we are talking about above our ownSo whenever we open our mouths, we need to be intentionally asking ourselves, is what I’m saying motivated by love for God and others, or is it motivated by selfishness? Will what I’m about to say do harm to those listening, or will it be good for them? - Will it destroy, or will it build?God is honored when our speech builds others up

Conclusion