Taming Your Tweet

We

Our Mouths Give Us Away

“Nowhere is the relationship between faith and works more evident than in a person’s speech. What you are will inevitably be disclosed by what you say. It might be said that a person’s speech is a reliable measure of his spiritual temperature, a monitor of the inner human condition. The rabbis spoke of the tongue as an arrow rather than a dagger or sword, because it can wound and kill from a great distance. It can wreak great damage even when far from its victim.”—John MacArthur

Ever said anything you’ve instantly regretted? We all have. Did you have the opportunity to immediately take it back? Of course, not. Once it’s out, it’s out.

Unless it’s on Twitter. You can delete!

Rita Ora suffered a social media humiliation in October 2014 when an attempt to engage with fans on Twitter backfired.

The 23-year-old British pop star tweeted that she would release her new single on Monday if she got 100,000 retweets. But despite having nearly four million Twitter followers, only 1,000 people retweeted her.

"Going to Africa. Hope I don't get Aids. Just kidding. I'm white!"

This was the career-ending tweet sent by a PR executive as she boarded a plane in December 2013 from London to her native South Africa.

Despite only having 500 followers, Justine Sacco's message went viral and became one of the most discussed topics on Twitter, as the hashtag #HasJustineLandedYet began to trend.

Her employers, media company IAC, said they had "parted ways" with her following the incident.

In September 2013, BBC Newsnight editor Ian Katz accidentally sent a message to his 26,000 Twitter followers describing shadow chief secretary to the treasury Rachel Reeves as “boring snoring” after she appeared as a guest on the show.

In response, Ms Reeves issued an apparently sarcastic reply, simply saying: "Thanks ...".

Mr Katz later wrote an official apology letter to the Labour party for his comments.

Former Liberal Democrat cabinet minister Chris Huhne became the centre of speculation that he was secretly trying to undermine a colleague when he accidentally made public a private message on Twitter.

Chris Huhne wrote in October 2011 to a Guardian journalist that he wanted to keep his “fingerprints” off a story, which must appear as if it had come from “someone else”. He quickly deleted the message.

Mr Huhne later apologised to Home Secretary Theresa May for leaking embarrassing revelations about her party conference speech.

At the time, he was embroiled in a bitter row with his estranged wife over allegations that he asked her to take three penalty points for speeding on his behalf. He was subsequently jailed for eight months for perverting the course of justice.

An internet sensation was born on April 28, 2011 when shadow chancellor Ed Balls accidentally tweeted his own name as he was typing it into Twitter's search box.

An aide had urged Balls to search Twitter for an article mentioning him, but instead tweeted his name to his thousands of followers. He didn't delete the tweet because he didn't know you could.

Three years on, people still celebrate the anniversary of "Ed Balls Day". Last year, Mr Balls honoured the occasion by retweeting the original message, saying: "Ok, ok.. Because it would be rude not to..!'

Labour leader Ed Miliband was left red-faced in January 2012 after bungling the task of tweeting to mark the death of Bob Holness, the host of Blockbusters.

His tweet read: "Sad to hear that Bob Holness has died. A generation will remember him fondly from Blackbusters."

The slip-up came at an unfortunate time for Miliband because it was the day after his then shadow health minister, Diane Abbott, apologised for comments she made on Twitter which had been described as racist.

What we say/don’t say are important. Not only saying right words at right time, but also controlling desire to say what we shouldn’t.

Our tongues disclose the real us, because there are no limits to what we can say, no in-built restraints or boundaries. If we gossip, belittle others, swear, brag, manipulate, lie, exaggerate, complain and flatter, that says something about our hearts.

In the Bible, the tongue is described as wicked, deceitful, perverse, filthy, corrupt, flattering, slanderous, gossiping, blasphemous, foolish, boasting, complaining, cursing, contentious, sensual, and vile. And that’s not an exhaustive list!

In our passage, James sees the tongue as a test of living faith. Our faith is demonstrated by what we say. The tongue represents the inner person because the tongue only ever produces what it’s told to produce by the heart:

God

James 3:1-12, p.1214

James 3:1–12 NLT

Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring.

The Importance of the Use of Words

James 3:5 NLT

In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire.

James wrote during a very difficult, tense political situation. Roman world suffering from economic problems, different factions of Jews were fighting each other, and growing revolutionary resistance from Zealots in Judea.

Eventually, Zealots revolted against Rome in 66AD, leading to huge outbreak in violence, the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple.

James wrote to help Christians live in a world that seemed to be going off the rails with integrity and to represent Christ in the best ways possible. He was wise enough to know that a wrong word in such a volatile situation could light the fuse of yet more violence, strife and misunderstanding.

You might be able to delete a Tweet, but you can’t delete a wrong word in a wrong situation. It can only create an uncontrollable blaze that will cause irreparable harm.

Pay Attention to the Source of Words

James 3:11 NLT

Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water?

James says in view of this, pay attention to the source of your words.

It’s not a difficult sermon to grasp: like begets like. A salt spring produces salt water. A fresh spring produces fresh water. A fig tree cannot bear olives. A fig tree bears figs. An olive tree bears olives.

Matthew 12:34 NLT

You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.

A tongue that produces curses as well as blessing is a contradiction to genuine faith.

Someone who gossips is not a genuine Christian.

Someone who belittles others has a faith problem.

Someone who swears is not fully surrendered to Jesus.

Someone who brags is not growing the spiritual fruit of humility.

Someone who manipulates doesn’t fully follow Jesus.

Someone who lies, someone who exaggerates, someone who is alway complaining or flattering contradicts any idea that the Holy Spirit is living in them.

All this at least raises a question about whether the heart of that person has been properly cleansed, rinsed by God’s powerful spirit.

James says that our lives must show consistency.

He wants us to follow Jesus as closely as possible, to be “blessing-only people rather than blessing-and-cursing people” as Tom Wright puts it.

It’s a high standard.

But as Christians, we are called to use our tongues to spread the Good News message about Jesus Christ.

It’s a high calling, and it needs a high standard.

You

Delight Others with Your Words

Proverbs 18:4 NLT

Wise words are like deep waters; wisdom flows from the wise like a bubbling brook.

Fresh spring water is life-giving. It refreshes. It cleanses. It brings blessing. It’s necessary to life. It brings delight.

Offered to God on the altar, our tongue has the potential of awesome power for good. It can proclaim the life-giving message of salvation. It can cleanse and bless as we share God’s Word with others. It can heal and it can worship. It can bring delight in every situation.

How?

Well, it would help if we thought before we spoke.

Our speaking must be controlled and emerge from the deep well of God’s wisdom.

We should be slow to speak. In this age of instant communication, it’s even more tempting to react quickly when confronted by an idea or provocation. When we’re tempted to respond to someone, we can choose to give it five minutes or longer before we do so. Maybe then we might even choose not to respond at all. A heart that is fully given to God will recognise that it’s best to focus on thinking about and responding to the right things, rather than about everything.

James 3:8 NLT

but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison.

James seems to think there is no hope for ever taming our tongue.

There is just one person who can tame our tongue for us: Jesus Christ.

He will do it for us. He will cleanse and heal our hearts, ensuring they are fresh water springs, not salt water ones.

His Holy Spirit will gives us the power to control our tongues which we often seem incapable of doing in our own strength. He will give us more and more power to monitor and control what we say, as we ask him to help us.

When we feel offended or unjustly criticised, it is the Holy Spirit who will remind us that God loves us and there is no need for us to react.

When we are hurt by someone else’s words or actions, the Holy Spirit will stop us from lashing out.

Let’s give God our tongues this morning, and our hearts, and ask him to use us to be a blessing to others:

Next Steps

SB 300 - Gracious Spirit, dwell with me

Gracious Spirit, dwell with me; I myself would gracious be, And with words that help and heal Would thy life in mine reveal; And with actions bold and meek Would for Christ, my Saviour, speak. 2 Truthful Spirit, dwell with me; I myself would truthful be, And with wisdom kind and clear Let thy life in mine appear; And with actions brotherly Speak my Lord?s sincerity. 3 Tender Spirit, dwell with me; I myself would tender be; Tender in my love for men, Wooing them to God again; With compassion pure and sweet Lead the lost to Jesus? feet. 4 Mighty Spirit, dwell with me; I myself would mighty be, Mighty so as to prevail Where unaided man must fail; Ever by a mighty hope Pressing on and bearing up. 5 Holy Spirit, dwell with me; I myself would holy be, Separate from sin, I would Choose and cherish all things good; And whatever I can be Give to him who gave me thee. Thomas Toke Lynch (1818-1871) Used By Permission. CCL Licence No. 30158 Copied from The Song Book of The Salvation Army Song Number 300