On Sticks and Stones and the Breaking of Bones

REVIEW/CATCH UP on the Series:

We’ve been studying the book of James for the last 2 weeks and tonight, we’re continuing it. Throughout the book of James, he has been asking the question: what does it mean to have authentic faith? The late, great pastor and author, Tim Keller says it this way: James is distinguishing the stark contrast between someone who simply professes faith and someone who truly possesses faith.

In week 1, several of our own high school students showed us what James had to say about how authentic faith seeks and walks in wisdom.

In week 2, we talked about how authentic faith endures through trials with joy and hope because of Jesus.

Tonight, we’re going to be talking about some of James’s harshest and most challenging words. Tonight, I really believe if we’re honest, not a single one of us in the room is going to walk away untouched by his comments. But, before we get to that, I want to take you guys back to my childhood.

Crisis:

Illustration: The foundational cultural myth—sticks and stones and the breaking of bones.

Complication:

2. The culture around us fuels untamed tongues and celebrates inflammatory speech

Social media teaches us to say whatever we want, whenever we want, to whoever we want, however we want

The current political climate teach us that the loudest and most aggressive voice wins

The world says that since truth is subjective at best, white lies are fine

Clue:

What if our words actually had power? What if the things we say deeply impact those around us and can even impact us? What if words actually have the power to hurt and to bring life?

Climax:

James has a lot to say about our words! Throughout this letter, James keeps riffing on the theme of “the tongue.” James is convinced that the easiest way to determine whether someone has authentic faith is to listen carefully to their words.

Tonight, I want us to take a look at James’ teachings on the subject and see that having an authentic faith ought to shape our words and our speech.

First, I want us to observe what James understands as…

The Power of Our Speech

“And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 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. 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! 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 3:2-6).

James uses 3 illustrations to get at the same point: the tongue (the way we talk to people) has immense power in our lives.

He first compares the tongue to a bit and bridle for a horse

The Kentucky Derby just happened this past weekend. Those horses can fly. It was a photo-finish, with the 2nd and 3rd place horses officially coming a “nose” behind the winner. The winner’s name is Mystik Dan.

Does anyone know how much money Mystik Dan won at the Kentucky Derby? $3.1 million! Isn’t that insane? You know what’s even crazier? The 2nd place horse that was literally an official “nose” behind him? He won $1 million. And the 3rd horse? Again, literally just an official “nose” behind? $500k. Now, I’m not trying to say that $500,000 is nothing, but the staggering drop off from 3.1 million to 500k is crazy when you consider that they finished a “nose” apart.

You know what’s even crazier to me? It costs more than $25,000 to enter your horse into the KY Derby and only the top 5 finishers out of 20 actually win any money. So the 6th place horse, who finished mere seconds after Mystik Dan won $0 and also is out an additional $25,000 + expenses for even racing.

Now, I tell you all about the KY Derby to make this point: do you think those jockeys and horse trainers care about how responsive those horses are to the bit and bridle? Do you think it’s important that those bits can make the horse turn on a dime or stop or accelerate with just the slightest motion? The bit is massively important. In some cases, it may be the difference between millions of dollars and nothing.

James is saying that the tongue is like a bit in a horse’s mouth, but instead of the horse obeying the bit, it rebels and bucks against it the whole time. This is what a rebellious tongue will do to the body. Someone who is unable to keep their speech under control is on a course for ruin.

Then he compares it to a ship’s rudder

You guys have heard of the Titanic, right? Big ship, crashed into an iceberg over 100 years ago? Yeah, that’s the one. James is making the point that the rudder is such a small part of a ship, yet it steers the whole thing. In the same way, our tongue is a small part of the body but it controls the whole thing.

Do you guys know how small the rudder was on the Titanic? It was 8 stories tall and weighed over 100 tons. That’s the weight of more than 2,000 hippos.

And it was technically too small for the ship.

Big ships don’t turn quickly, and unfortunately for the Titanic, it wasn’t just the size of the rudder that led to its downfall. There were several factors there, but the rudder played a part. In your life, think about how you are using your tongue and remember that just like a ship, it can take a long time to curb some habits of the tongue.

Finally, he compares the tongue to a forest fire

Several years before I moved to Colorado, there was a massive wildfire that tore through the middle of the state. Most of the time, wildfires in Colorado stick to the mountains and less densely populated areas, but this one, the Waldo Canyon Fire, swept through major cities all along one of Colorado Springs’ main highways, Highway 24. It burned for a couple of days before it was able to be contained and in that time 30,000 people were evacuated from the area, 18,000 acres of land was destroyed, and over $350 million in damage was done.

That massive fire was started by a small spark.

On the flip side, you guys have probably all experienced the joy of sitting around a campfire on a cool night, making s’mores with your friends and looking at the stars, right? That scene is so iconic and wonderful and conjures up amazing memories for all of us. You see, fire can be good, when it’s contained in the right place and used for the right purpose. But when it spreads beyond its good and right purpose, it can be deadly and detrimental to everyone in its path. This, James wants us to see, is the power of our speech as well.

Next, I want to look at what James identifies as…

The Problems with Our Speech

The Untamed Tongue (3:7-8)

“Every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison,” (James 3:7-8).

James is identifying here that no one can tame the tongue. This is a universal problem.

Two-Faced Speech (3:9-12)

“With it (the tongue) we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not be so,” (James 3:9-12).

When it comes to measuring or evaluating authentic faith, this one might hit the closest to home. You know exactly what I’m talking about: it’s coming to FSM and going after it in worship and singing praises at the top of your lungs and taking the best notes and posting it on instagram and then talking however you want in your classes and in the hallways at school tomorrow.

One commentator says this… “Like Jesus, James sees a person’s speech as a barometer of his spirituality; it reveals what is in the heart.”[1]

Evil, Angry, and Judgmental (4:11-12)

“Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law…There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? (James 4:11-12).

See also:

“if anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen,” (1 John 4:20).

Lying and Deceitful (5:12)

“But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your ‘yes’ be yes and your ‘no’ be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation,” (James 5:12).

Speaking about this, one commentator put it this way:

“It would be splendid if only we could say that we have never suffered from the white lies and intentionally misleading words and pledges of believers. It would be even more splendid if we had never been guilty ourselves…. We are extremely lacking in self-knowledge if we even begin to think that James’ words in this verse have no application or bearing for us…. [this] is a matter of integrity of character rather than a form of words.”[2]

Conclusion:

The Solution for our Speech:

“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God,” (James 1:19-20).

By the power of the Spirit, may we bridle the tongue, control our anger and impulses, and speak life and blessing to those around us!

“Only a renewed heart can produce pure speech; and consistently (though not perfectly) pure speech is to be the product of the renewed heart.”[3]

“Only if the Word of God is actively applied to the situation will there be the guidance required for virtuous action and beneficial results.”[4]

The solution for our speech is not simply trying harder, or becoming legalistic about a list of “Do’s and Don’t’s” when it comes to how we talk.

The solution for our speech is to allow the Holy Spirit to do its work in our hearts and make us more like Jesus! Notice, James instructs his readers to be slow to speak and slow to anger. He’s referencing one of the core attributes of God laid out in Exodus 34:6-7. He’s saying the only way we are going to learn to control the tongue is not by putting bits in our mouths or anything like that, it’s when we conform more into the image of our compassionate, merciful, loving Creator.

Ask yourself tonight: Are any of the problems with our speech that James outlines in this letter present in my life?

What would it look like for you to become slow to speak and slow to anger?

Who in your life can help keep you accountable in your speech?

How can you begin to use your tongue to bless others and speak life by the power of the Spirit?

Look to the words of Jesus as a model for a life that is led by words that give God glory and show honor to those who bear God’s image.

_________________

[1] Douglas J. Moo, James: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 16, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 133. [2] Motyer, 184-85. [3] Moo, 135. [4] Kurt A. Richardson, James, vol. 36, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997), 149.