James 3:1-12 Taming the Tongue

Scripture: Greg Eisen

Intro: Teaching Indian Pastors

Christians that James wrote to were apparently having serious problems with their tongues.

James had warned them to be “swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” (James 1:19).

The believer who does not bridle his tongue is not truly religious (James 1:26).

We must speak and act as though we were already facing Christ in judgment (James 2:12).

The power of speech is one of the greatest powers God has given us.

With the tongue, man can praise God, pray, preach the Word, and lead the lost to Christ. What a privilege!

But with that same tongue he can tell lies that could ruin a man’s reputation or break a person’s heart.

The ability to speak words is the ability to influence others and accomplish tremendous tasks; and yet we take this ability for granted

Today James exhorts us to tame our tongue

The Tongue Trips vs. 1-2

In order for us to tame the tongue we need to be aware that it trips us up

Apparently everyone wanted to be a teacher, yet they couldn’t control their tongues

James tells them flat out, not everyone is a teacher

First, not everyone is gifted that way

Second, there is a stricter standard for teachers

There are a lot of people who want to tells others what to do

There are some who want to be perceived as an expert

If you’re not gifted and equipped there are several traps

There is the trap wandering into false doctrine

1 Timothy 1:6–7 ESV

Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.

There is also the trap of leading people astray

Paul calls it “Without Understanding”

There seems to be a tendency in teachers that the less they know the more confident they act

It is important that if we are called to be a teacher that we remain humble

Why?

Because our tongue trips us up

vs. 2 We stumble in many things

The tongue trips everyone

James says that he who is able to bridle the tongue is perfect

WE are all guilty of saying the wrong thing

Some are more frequent offenders than others

Most of the regrets that people have are related to our tongue

It is capable causing incredible damage

David gives us some wisdom on how to handle our tongue

Psalm 34:13 ESV

Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.

Keep from speaking evil and lying

The tongue has the power to build up or tear down

We need to learn to bridle the tongue and make it say what we need

If we can get our tongue under control we can control the whole body

The Tongue Controls vs. 3-5

In order to tame the tongue we need to understand how much our tongue controls us

James continues the Bridle metaphor

A bit is a piece of metal that is put into a horse’ mouth

It is attached to the harness

That small piece of equipment is able to direct a massive horse

James continues the illustration of the tongue by liking it to a ships rudder

A small paddle on the back of a ship can steer a large ship

These are great examples of the tongue

The tongue is a tiny part of the body but exerts incredible control

vs. 5 says its little but boasts great things

We see the importance on bringing our tongue under control

The problem is that we let the emotional parts of our body to control our tongue

Our heart gets hurt and we lash out

Our temper gets the best of us and spew a diatribe

We blurt out inappropriate things when we let our desires get the best of us

Proverbs 15:2 ESV

The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.

The tongue is an issue of self-control

This is a fruit of the Spirit

It is something that He needs to grow in us

That growth happens by recognizing we have blown it

So many people refuse to admit they have done anything wrong

We need to repent to God and to those who we have offended

This has amazing power to prevent us from doing it again

The Tongue Stains vs. 6-8

In order to tame the tongue we need to realize it can stain our life

Not only do we need to realize that the tongue trips us up and controls our lives, we need to understand that it stains our lives

James now switches to the metaphor of fire

The tongue is like a spark that can ignite a forest fire

Anytime something has been torched by fire it leaves a mark

The tongue can stain our whole life and burn down our whole life

We have seen people go off on rants and absolutely burn down their lives

Sadly, most people like to watch dumpster fires

Jesus spoke to this

Matthew 15:11 ESV

is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”

The word Defile means to stain or sully

What causes us to defile oursleves?

Matthew 15:18 ESV

But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.

It is our heart which controls our tongue

The heart is deceptively wicked

The mouth reveals what is boiling in our heart

To control our tongue we need to render our heart

That means to break it down and rid it of anything unhealthy

Training The Tongue vs. 9-12

In order to tame the tongue we need to choose what comes out of our mouth

James tells us that out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing

It is much easier to curse than it to bless

Much easier to criticize than to encourage

James gives us a choice

Both can’t come out of our mouths

We become a useless swamp when our tongue is out of control

Nothing fruitful grows in salt water

Our tongue needs to be a living stream that allows others to grow