The Teacher’s Tongue
Notes
Transcript
This sermon really becomes a part three as the points from Jim’s sermon on verses 1 and 2, mine from last week and this week all connect and build upon each other.
I wanted to revisit this text for two reasons:
Last week I focused mostly on how all Christians ought to tame their tongues, and I certainly think that’s true. But also James is seemingly dealing with teachers who fail to tame their tongues, and thus drawing the whole text together - that teachers ought to tame their tongues so as not to harm to whole community.
There were a few verses that I breezed over last week, that I wanted to address with special attention this morning. verse 6, and verses 10-12. So after we look at the teacher’s tongue, we’ll look at the hardest verse in James, and the conclude with James’ Ridiculous Metaphor.
I’m going to start my sermon this morning with a pop culture reference that I can guarantee many of you don’t care about… but very well may be aware of… even so bare with me for a moment…
Untamed Tongues are rewarded in our society today… and honestly we probably shouldn’t call them untamed… we should call them feral tongues.
We see the damage but instead of shouting fire we buy tickets.
How many of you watched the Super Bowl two Sundays ago?
And how many of you watched the Half Time Show? Or at familiar with it?
A rapper named Kendrick Lamar was invited to perform during the half time show this year. I heard a lot of people comment that they had never heard of Kendrick Lamar before. However, part of the reason that Kendrick Lamar was chosen for that is that in 2024 he made big news because of his involvement an over decade long rap feud. Lamar is said to have won the back and forth rap battle between him and another rapper named Drake. And while some of heard of Kendrick Lamar for the first time, it was pretty huge news in the pop culture - but my point is not to do with the individuals - but that our society loves a feral tongue.
I will not repeat anything from any of the songs in question, or the performance (that I have not bothered to listen to or watch) however, he was celebrated for not only not taming his tongue - but removing the bit and bridle - and instead of being mindful of the spark - he intentionally takes a flamethrower to the desert. But this was not unique to his music, this was on both sides. With them insulting each other, accusing each other of immorality, being boastful over their own abilities, etc.
He won five grammies for having a feral tongue. The song that was the climax of the feud has 1.2b listens on Spotify. But I’m not isolating him. These sort of feuds among musicians has been common for years. These were super common in the 80s with hair metal bands… and since the 90s they have been commonplace in hip hop and rap. Even Taylor Swift has been part of this type of thing. When done right it’s like printing money.
Not all are equal examples of feral tongues, but most of them are. In that world, the stronger the language the greater the appeal - people want to know what the response is. It draws attention - people get interested. It’s an effective marketing tactic - but it also shows what our culture values and loves.
The Teacher’s Tongue
The Teacher’s Tongue
To draw it into our world…
If Pastor Rob at Central Heights and I were to start a public and vocal, and aggressive disagreement that hit social media, that found its way to the Globe-Miami Times, we started taking out personal ads to attack one another - if it’s so heated that people start filling the pews of both churches to hear what one of us might say about the other, if both of our sermon videos start amassing 10s of 1000s of views all because of this feud. In the short term it might benefit both of our church’s bottom lines and attendance goes up, maybe some people learn about the Bible… but if neither of us are taming our tongues then it will do more harm than good.
But what is the damage?
Our churches would be hurt. People might attend church to see if we mentioned each other in our sermons, and people might feed upon the drama and controversy - but the saints would be harmed.
The saints will begin to notice that the feral tongues might bring interest and then in turn that feeds how they speak to one another, how they speak to their spouses, their children, their neighbor. And this deadly poison of a feral tongue will soon kill the churches.
(We would never do that by the way.)
And we’ve seen feuds like this throughout church history. Sometimes to defend against heresy… others because one failed to tame their tongue. One example is that after Marburg Colloquy that separated Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli, Luther called Zwingli a perverted man who was “seven times worse than he was a papist”. Papist being an insult for one who follows the pope.
In recent years, we have seen news of pastors using their feral tongues to cover up serious abuse issues, or protecting themselves from being found out in relation to a crime they committing, or even some disqualifying act.
The reason for why this instruction is so important for teachers is this: What instrument do most teachers rely on to teach?
Their tongues. James then is asking a teacher to be cautious in the way that he uses his primary instrument of instruction. That small member that the teacher uses to do his job so well, the thing that they have trained in order to do their job - is also often the same member that can get them in trouble, or wrongly hide their trouble.
I don’t care how good of a speaker someone is, if a man demonstrates that he is unwilling to try to tame his feral tongue… he has no business behind a pulpit, teaching a Sunday school, or a conference circuit. Even outside the church realm, if a teacher in a school is unwilling to not say things that they shouldn’t say - they shouldn’t be teaching.
As a reminder, James in verses 7-8 warns us that it is impossible to tame the tongue - but we should take that as a challenge, not a statement of defeat.
James writes about the pilot directing the ship in verse 4. In this metaphor it is the rudder, the ship (the body) is guided by the rudder (the tongue) by the will of the pilot (the one speaking.)
And while James is seemingly speaking of this on the individual level. It is easy to see how this applies to the corporate as well.
The manner in how a teacher uses their tongue impacts the community.
If your pastor does not tame his tongue… he should probably not be a pastor. He should heed that warning at the beginning. But also heed the warning of Jesus in Matt 12:36.
36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,
And Jesus there is not merely speaking to teachers. He is speaking to everyone.
How Jesus’ uses his tongue. Luke 6:45
Jim “this is a warning not to discourage teachers, but to encourage them.”
45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
Brian: To encourage them in how they ought to use their words, and their tongues.
While there are certain ways that people can teach without speech - even so this lesson applies then as well.
Jim mentioned how James begins this text by mentioned WE in relation to teachers 2 weeks ago. James is not above his text.
I don’t expect that many of you will look at this text in the practical in the sense of “I desire to be a teacher, so I should tame my tongue as a teacher ought to.” And that’s not the intent that I am going to address it with.
So one the one hand, this is what you ought to expect from your pastors - the standard that you ought to see Jim and I adhere to. But on the other hand it is also a text that shows us the side effects of what can happen to a community.
The Hardest Verse in James
The Hardest Verse in James
Verses 6, 9-12.
One of the verses that I wanted to revisit this morning is verse 6. Part of the reasons is because I ignored it, last week, and another is because of how it further shows how dangerous the tongue can be - and all the more reason for why the teacher needs to tame it.
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.
One Bible Scholar, Fenton J.A. Hort referred to this as the most difficult passage in the Bible. Another scholar, A.T. Robertson quoted Hort in regards to this verse - which is part of the reason I didn’t focus on it last week.
There is some debate among scholars concerning whether or not body refers to only an individual or if it might refer to a community as well. I have a hard time not reading it as both. James is writing to churches in and around Jerusalem - and warning them of how they teachers, and each person ought to speak, when we open our mouths and start fires - we are not the only ones who will get burned.
A feral tongue will wreak havoc among a community as well among an individual.
The tongue will corrupt one’s body. Body here could refer to a church body. It definitely refers to one’s own physical body, but many times in the NT it also refers to the community of faith. When we gossip, lie, boast arrogantly, thoughtlessly speak - it harms but the individual and the community.
Sticks and stones
Within this fire metaphor beginning in verse 5, James starts small and expands. A small fire sets ablaze a large forest, and then he moves from the tongue as a small member to being a world of unrighteousness - then he continues to expand the metaphor from campfire, to forest fire, fire that consumes all of life to eternal hellfire.
The word that James’ uses for hell there is Gehenna, this word is used 12 times in the New Testament. Every other instance is used by Jesus. The word initially refers to the Valley of Hinnom, where pagan child sacrifices would be practiced and trash would be burned. It was a wicked and vile place of destruction. Jesus uses the picture of this place to describe eternal judgment. James picks up on this language to describe the danger of the tongue.
Anyone who reads this verse and comes away thinking that words don’t hurt misses James’ point. James has used such severe language to describe the tongue that he has compared it to every form of a destructive fire that one can imagine.
The Ridiculous Metaphor
The Ridiculous Metaphor
Last week, I didn’t quite have enough time to get to verses 9-12. In that final part of this section of the text - James demonstrates why it is ridiculous that any Christian would not pursue to tame their tongue.
9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
I mentioned verse 9 last week, though I want to return to that again today. I addressed it in to context of how we ought to not have our mouths filled with blessing and cursing, and I will touch on that again in a moment in relation to verse 10-12. However, I want to highlight the likeness of God portion here.
The image of God here is the very first thing we are told about humans in the Bible. In Genesis 1:26 God speaks and says “Let us make man in our own image.” Human beings have worth and value because we are created in God’s image. This is what sets us aside from every other creature.
And it’s why you should be mindful of how you speak of others. They are not some worthless clump of cells - but they are beloved creatures who bear the image of their creator.
Stop thinking of people who disagree with you as enemies when you speak about them, but think about them as image bearers. Even if they are your enemies - Jesus tells us to love them and to pray for them.
I want to once again point to the condemnation that Jesus speaks in Matthew 12:36.
36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,
On the day of judgment you will give an account for what you said about image bearers. You called someone worthless, you said that you wish bad things would happen to them, you gossiped about them, you cursed them - what will judgment day look like when you must defend that?
If you’re in Christ, you’re forgiven - but that forgiveness comes with a price.
If James’ words here in James 3 do not give you strong concern over how you speak of others - consider Jesus’ words.
Is that insult worth Jesus being nailed to the cross? Is that gossip really so juicy that on the day of judgment you will feel justified for the price of your redemption?
Now James continues on to give another illustration to demonstrate how our speech ought to function.
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.
James concludes this section by teaching about nature. He makes the comparison of a tongue that both blesses and curses to aspects of nature that are contradictory. He is intentionally using a ridiculous example to show how absurd it is that anyone’s speech might be filled with both blessing and cursing.
It should seem as ridiculous to us that our tongues would speak both blessing to God, and curses against those made in his image as it would be to walk outside your house and find your orange tree growing a pomegranate.
A spring pours out only one sort of water. There are salt springs, or there are freshwater springs - but one spring does not bear both. There are fig trees and there are olive trees. You can’t get olives from a fig tree, and you don’t get figs from a grapevine.
The mouth of the preacher who teaches about the wondrous works of God, and proclaims the glorious saving gospel of Jesus Christ - should not be the same mouth that is gossiping come Tuesday with others in the church about someone’s secret confessions.
While we ought to all understand that even the people we dislike the most - politicians, neighbors, enemies, etc. - are all image bearers - thus we ought to love them, and be kind to them, and to be mindful how we speak of them.
APPLICATION:
Pray for those who teach. Please.
Keep them accountable. Don’t let people get away with feral tongues just because they are teachers. But also do not demonstrate yourself to have an untamed tongue in how your respond to their shortcomings.
James has given teachers the warning here in verse 1 - that not many should be teachers. It’s a warning to those who seek to teach. And he further demonstrates why. The tongue is dangerous.
When you look for teachers - Look for those who seek to tame their tongue. When someone aspires to be a teacher - they are someone who should
Avoid teachers who gossip… even if it makes things interesting. When a pastor or a teacher is too quick to share information that is a result of an untamed tongue.
You don’t let feral animals in to your home to play with your children - and you should not encourage a teacher with a feral tongue.
****
Conclusion:
This morning we will conclude our service in a few moments by singing “Take my Life and Let It Be” the third verse of this hymn is:
Take my voice, and let me sing
Always, only, for my King;
Take my lips, and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee.
That ought to be our prayer as we leave this morning - that our lips are filled with messages from God. Messages of blessing and not cursing. Messages of grace and mercy.
