Taming the Tongue
Notes
Transcript
1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
James puts a great responsibility on teachers here
The emphasis here is that of someone who is tasked with teaching God’s word as a leader in the church. (elders, and teachers)
But in a sense, we should all be teachers of the word as we are called to make disciples (Matt 28:19)
The judgement of a teacher is greater
36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,
37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
This is why I speak against false teachers. We must be taught rightly. And God puts an emphasis on this. That is why judgement will be greater.
God’s word alone is what we should teach. This is why we go through books of the bible. This is why I struggle so much with some texts that we come to. I don’t want to preach personal opinions. I don’t want to put things in there that aren’t there.
2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.
Notice that James uses the word “we” when he talks about stumbling. He knows that we are all sinners.
Human beings are depraved. Romans 3:13–14 “13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.””
Those who do not know God have tongues that are like open graves filled with smelly, rotting, dead bodies. They use their tongues to lie and to deceive people. They have snake venom spitting from under their lips. They curse people and speak words of bitterness. This is not a pretty picture God’s Word is painting of the tongue.
David Platt, Exalting Jesus in James (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2014), 74.
There is a degree that we will all learn to bridle our tongues. We will all continue to mature in Christ.
The word “perfect” here when taken from the Greek can mean 2 different things. The first is actual perfection, which would mean that James is speaking hypothetically since no one but Jesus has sinless perfection.
The other meaning would be mature. Which is something that each and every one of us can achieve. It is not perfection but progress towards becoming more like Christ.
James is saying that if we can control our tongues, then we should be able to control our entire being. Our tongues are one of the most important parts of the body of a Christian. Someone said that God has given us teeth and a mouth so that the teeth can cage in the deadly weapon, and a mouth to close it in.
3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.
4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.
5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!
6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.
James begins by giving us analogies of our tongues.
Bits in the mouths of horses to guide their whole bodies
Ships with small rudders to drive them
Our tongues are small parts of our bodies just like the bits in horses mouths and rudders on a ship
Pocket Knife or a paint brush analogy
Our tongues can be used in different ways
build people up, glorify God, spread the gospel
tear people down, curse God
Our tongues are the greatest ally to the spread of the gospel
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?”
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind,
8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
training a dog
But the human tongue cannot be tamed
The same mouth spews opposite messages
verses 9-10
My brothers, these things ought not to be so
give me an example (without names) of someone who does this and what are things they would say
11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?
12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
You cannot live like this
This is deception
James Olson, Director of operations in the CIA
I heard him talk about being spy for many years and his family never knew until he was out. He was living a double life, even to his children that were with him.
We must live a true life and have speech that reflects that
Questions
What does James say is the most dangerous part of our body? Why is it?
Do you think that the tongue deserves everything that James says about it?
Does our tongues really cause that must trouble?
What are some practical ways to control our tongues? Disciplines that we can put in our lives?