The Danger of the Tongue
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Our words expose the inconsistency of our hearts, showing our deep need for God’s grace to tame what we cannot.
James’ concern through the entire book so far has been that believers live lives that reflect their faith and profession of Christ!
2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials,
3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
4 And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
Trials help us by enriching our character and increasing our strength and grace under pressure - something God desires for us to have!
He then goes on to talk about humbling ourselves before God and actually putting to practice what we learn in Scripture because it leads to perseverance!
21 Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror.
24 For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was.
25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does.
He unpacks this further in chapter 2 by talking about the sin of favoritism and how it goes against the will of the Lord - and how the fruit of faith is good works.
His emphasis has been locked in on this idea of living lives worthy of the name of Christ. His original audience was Jews who lived among the gentile nations in the diaspora - or the dispersion - these are those who probably fled to escape persecution.
We know God used the scattering church to make the gospel spread like wildfire. When Stephen was stoned in Acts, becoming the first Christian martyr in the early church, it gave Saul the tenacity he needed to lead the Jewish persecution effort against Christians - and many fled. As Acts reports, the more the church scattered, the more spread out the gospel became and persecution served to grow the church.
But now we have believers in areas where they are greatly outnumbered - many of these people evangelize in areas where believers are very few in number and these people have become the sole representative to a skeptical world of what it means to be a Christian - so James is telling them to rejoice, endure and act as representatives of Christ in the midst of where God has them. One thing about being a Christian is that when people learn you claim Christ as your savior, they begin to size you up very quickly in terms of how you live to see if you walking the walk or just talking the talk.
The thing we advertise with the most is our words. We give people a pretty good idea of what and who we value based on how we speak. If someone I know speaks disparagingly about his wife, it will eventually be enough to make me question - “Does this guy really love his wife? Hard to know with how he talks about her…”
However, it doesn’t need to be anything nearly as drawn out as that - 1st impressions matter! If people see you associating yourself with Christ to then engage in gossip behind other people’s backs, how does that make you look? Worse off, how does that make the God we serve look? Impotent at best, fake at worst.
The problems Jame will address about the tongue, or speech, extend throughout the rest of the letter: in the warning against slandering (4:11), empty boasting (4:13), and grumbling against others in the fellowship (5:9).
Today, our passage serves as an introduction to this greater theme of James’ by first pointing out the evil of the tongue and man’s incapability at controlling it completely.
We are going to look at our passage today with three main ideas coming to mind:
The Tongue is the Body’s Helmsman (1-4)
The Tongue Is An Untamable Hazard (5-8)
The Tongue Reveals Our Hypocrisy (9-12)
The Tongue is the Body’s Helmsman (1-4)
The Tongue is the Body’s Helmsman (1-4)
Please read with me, starting in…
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.
Notice how he begins with a warning that not all should become teachers because of the stricter judgment that is in store for teachers? He acknowledges that we all stumble in what we say - we slip up and say something unloving, ungracious, unkind - something against someone else that we would never say to their face. We all stumble - James uses hyperbole here to say if anyone does not stumble in what he says, that he is perfect!
Who is perfect? God alone!
James uses the examples of a bit in a horse’s mouth or a rudder of a ship to describe how a small thing (like the tongue) can guide the entire direction of the body.
Modern science teaches us that communication is 55% non verbal, 38% vocal (in terms of tone and expression), and 7% words only. However, we know from Scripture that…
45 A good person produces good out of the good stored up in his heart. An evil person produces evil out of the evil stored up in his heart, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.
What a person says reveals the heart - the good, the bad and the ugly. We all have a touch of ugly in our hearts, don’t we? We all have the ability to say things that are hurtful and condemning. We like to think that we have control over it most of the time and that the ugliest only comes out when we stub a toe or encounter obstacles that are out of the realm of normal. But the reality is that a careless word can cause great pain for people - and therein lies his warning about how many teachers the church should have.
The Commentator, Kurt Richardson points out that James could be speaking in the same vain as Jesus in the sermon on the Mount - that some who would speak may be inclined to judge more harshly and with more condemnation than they should - reminding those of us wanting to teach that those who judge without mercy will also be shown no mercy.
I know from experience how a judgmental pastor can leave tremendous amounts of damage in their wake. For years, Becky and I had a bit a complex about how we were raising Nehemiah because a pastor would make comments about his inability to sit still or the fact that he is a fun-loving kid. This condemnation was heaped on in the midst of going through the process of raising a rambunctious, and amazing young boy. But we were tired, we were in need of compassion and instead were met with judgment and condemnation.
The sting of the impact of another’s words can only be matched and rivaled by the sting of realizing how our own words have greatly impacted another person negatively. No matter how much attention we pay to this, there will be times when a word given carelessly can communicate condemnation instead of life - whether we intended it to or not.
James notes how the direction of a person’s life is not unlike the rudder to a ship or the bit to a horse. The things we say and how we say them impact the course and direction of our lives. It can open doors to opportunity or close them. It can make someone fall in love with you or rue the day you were born.
Whether we are teachers or not - our job is to speak life to people. It is not for us to condemn. We do have to make judgment calls - the church’s job is to call sin what is is - sin! However, our goal should always be restorative, never punitive. We leave that to Jesus alone because unlike us - his judgements are righteous and he alone has the authority to decide what is to be done with people.
But we see that the tongue can be the helmsman of the body, guiding and directing how one’s life unfolds. But we also see that…
The Tongue is an Untamable Hazard (5-8)
The Tongue is an Untamable Hazard (5-8)
Read with me again, starting in verse…
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.
There is so much figurative language here - specifically metaphors to describe the tongue. By way of reminder, a metaphor is where we liken something to another thing by saying it is that thing. For example, I could say that our board meetings at the church are all puppies and rainbows - rest assured, there are neither puppies nor rainbows, but it describes a general sense of happiness associated with how our board meetings go.
Another example would be to say something like this - “My kids can be real Tasmanian Devils!” Any of you who watched cartoons long enough to know who the Tasmanian Devil is knows that the reference is to the destruction and debris he leaves in his wake. They are not literally Tasmanian Devils, but are associated by a characteristic of messiness.
James uses the metaphor here to describe a few things -
The tongue is a fire. He says that a large blaze is started by a small spark - in this case, the tongue. How much of the grief and strife - or to use more common modern venacular, drama - is caused by the things that people say. I would probably assume that it is at least a significant majority. If we could only control what we say, we could avoid the drama!
The tongue, a world of unrighteousness. The boasts of the tongue have inspired uncountable evils in our world - all with the same port of entry - the tongue.
A restless evil, full of deadly poison. While the tongue is simple a muscle, it is described as a restless evil because of what it can produce and how it reveals the evil and wickedness within us.
James describes the tongue as untamable. That is to say that one proclivity people have is to speak things we ought not to - and that’s not a problem only faced by a few, but by all. The deadly poison is the seed of division it sows among people - the tongue serve to divide instead of unify.
The 19th century British Pastor, Charles Spurgeon said this:
Some men’s tongues bite more than their teeth.
Charles Spurgeon
Consider a personal experience where a thoughtless comment made in a moment of anger caused a rift in a close friendship. Words spoken hastily can have long-lasting effects, much like what James describes when he talks about the tongue being a restless evil. It serves as a reminder that we must be mindful of our words, as they can tear down what took years to build.
Within the church, specifically, our words should be used for building others up
29 No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear.
Our words should be a vehicle for grace to others, not condemnation - we don’t want to tear others down by using filthy language or harsh words, we want to build others up the way we know that we need to be built up ourselves at points!
James says that the tongue is man’s helmsman and can direct the way his life unfolds. He also says that this dangerous member is an untamable hazard, able to inflict all sort of pain as the vehicle of evil in the world. He also says of the tongue that…
The Tongue Reveals Our Hypocrisy (9-12)
The Tongue Reveals Our Hypocrisy (9-12)
Read with me again starting in verse…
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.
This goes back to what we learned when James taught about the awful realities of favoritism - man is unable to give himself any real lasting value - all the value we have is bestowed upon us by God through the fact that we are image bearers of God and redeemed by the precious blood of Christ.
What Jame sis saying here is that our tongue reveal the hypocrisy in our hearts when we bless God in one moment and then curse a man or woman who is made in his very image. The way he words it is to point out - purposely - the level of contradiction that represents. How can we love God yet curse one who bears his image? It should be a crazy notion to us!
He says very clearly in verse 10 - these things should not be this way.
There is an old adage that says when you see how a person responds under pressure, you get the closest possible glimpse of who they really are. I don’t know about you, but that terrifies me! I like to think I can handle a fair bit of pressure, but at the end of the day, I know my limits and what kind of strange monster I can morph into when pushed beyond those limits. Generally, the first thing to go - when exceeding my own ability to tolerate a situation - is the filter for my language and then, shortly after, my filter for what I say about others. In my own experience, a lot of this comes from a matter of perspective and pressure tends to skew perspective - but it does reveal what we try so hard to hide: a little insecurity here, a bit of distrust and skepticism there.
It is all revealed to the outside world through the vehicle of the tongue. I hate to say it, church, but when I get a glimpse of this monster within, I am so glad God allows me to keep it locked away and in a cage. When I see my own hypocrisy, its devastating! However, that is a good thing! We should never be “okay” or have a sense of indifference toward our sin - it should devastate us - it’s one of the ways we know we belong to him!
John Blanchard makes a great observation when he says this:
Hypocrisy is nothing better than skindeep holiness.
John Blanchard
Our words have the ability to reveal that what is on the inside doesn’t always match with / or allign perfectly / with the people we portray ourselves to be. It is not to say that we are trying to portray ourselves as being perfect, but most people don’t get access to the ugliness we all have deep down inside. God has given us the amazing grace we need to walk under the weight of the sin nature that still resides in us until we go be with him, but until that time comes, we echo the thoughts of the Apostle Paul, who said
22 For in my inner self I delight in God’s law,
23 but I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body.
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am serving the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin.
In terms of this wicked nature - Paul referred to it as the flesh. Its that carnality that remains in us because we still live in a world tainted by the effects of sin.
5 For those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on the things of the Spirit.
Just because the flesh uses the tongue to reveal our hypocrisy doesn’t mean we need to live there. Paul describes this epic battle between our spirit aligning itself with the Spirit of God and our flesh aligning itself with slavery to sin.
There is a reminder here that is steeped in grace - in terms of the tongue, I have never met anyone who would argue that they never speak ill of anyone or witness a slip of some sort here or there. But that is the flesh waging war against us! and the great part is, we know who wins this war!
8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.
10 Now if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.
11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his Spirit who lives in you.
If your tongue reveals wickedness in you and it bothers you - take that as a sign that you do, in-deed, bleong to Jesus. The worst thing we can allow in terms of our tongue exposing our hypocrisy is to accept it and be open for the sake of authenticity. I don’t think someone trying to be authentic is doing themselves or their community any good by not taking their thoughts and words captive and making them submit to Jesus Christ.
How can we say we love God yet curse his creation? Those are two behaviors that are mutually exclusive and riddled with contradiction. This is why gossip in the church is so wicked and evil in the sight of the Lord. If we are supposed to use our words to build others up but do the exact opposite and tear them down, how are we any different than the serpent who stands before God to accuse us?
If the words we speak against a brother or sister are sinful, it reveals the flesh in us that is against the spirit of love, peace and truth God gave us. It is merciless and rejoices in the sin and shame of another. We should pray that God would deliver us all and deliver our church from the bonds of gossip and anger.
Conclusion
Conclusion
When we remember the purpose of James’ letter as a whole - that he wants believers to live lives that reflect our calling in Christ, it is only natural for the tongue to get so much attention. We see James’ pastoral heart for his audience as he addresses the sin we all struggle with as he calls them brothers and sisters. We are reminded that the untamable tongue is part of the human condition - no man/woman can tame the tongue. What we strive for though is to live in a manner worthy of our calling in Christ.
If we asked ourselves - is what I am about to say honoring to the Lord? Would I say it if I say him sitting in this room? Would the attitude of my heart behind these words cause me to be dishonored before my Lord? - we would do well. However, sometimes words come more quickly than we can manage. This is an area where we will all fail - so what do we do?
First -
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We press in to the grace, mercy and sanctifying power of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We call our behavior what it is and we ask Him to forgive us and cleanse us from it.
Next, we do all we can to be reconciled with those whom we have offended and strive to live in peace.
23 So if you are offering your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your brother or sister has something against you,
24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.
18 If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
The worst thing we can do, brothers and sisters, is to pretend like this isn’t an issue. There are some of us farther along in our spiritual journey’s who have experienced tremendous victory in terms of how they use their tongue and we should rejoice with them in that and use their example to continually strive for holiness! Our desire should be to be holy like Christ is holy - and the tongue is going to be the greatest stumbling block along the way. Victory can be seen, but only in Christ - we need to be humble enough to admit when we are wrong in what we say or how we say things, strive to be at peace and work diligently towards our own holiness. The goal of every believer should be to be a good reflection of Jesus in this world. Though, we sometimes seem to enjoy the taste of shoe leather, we need to remember the impact our words can have on others and ask the Lord’s help in taming this untamable evil in our lives.
It is similar to the circumstance in which Jesus said these words:
26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
God can accomplish the things we cannot - so we need to press into him, abide in him and grow in him to receive the victory he desires for us in this area of our lives.
Let’s pray.
