Sermon Tone Analysis
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Let me ask you a question, How many of you have ever experienced the phenomena of being submersed into a different culture for a period of time and noticed how quickly your speech conforms to that culture?
Kipper
my kids watched kipper the dog and they started speaking in a British accent.
Zach moved to NC and started saying Ya’ll
Zach moved to NC and started saying Ya’ll
I remember him coming to MA and and this boy from Maryland starting picking up the
my kids watched kipper the dog and they started speaking in a British accent.
Kyle Waters lived in Alabama and when he moved to Wichita he learned how to speak the right way.
Winter Hat, beanie, he called it a toboggan
Its amazing how impressionable we are when it comes to speech.
Without even thinking about it our speech conforms to the culture.
We speak the dialect of that which we give ourselves too.
Now, this is a very serious issue because the bible cares deeply about the way in which we speak.
And the reason for this is because God is a God who speaks.
(2X)
With the spoken word God creates worlds and empires
He builds up and he tears down
He blesses and he curses
by the word of his power he calls people out of the grave of sin and seats us with him in the heavenlies.
God is a God who speaks and he has created us in his image and has given us the power of speech.
And when we give ourselves to the living Word of God we are formed by it and our speech begins to sound like the speech of the scriptures.
Likewise,
we can build up and we can tear down
We can bless and we can curse
And with our words we speaks the words of God and call people out of the grave of sin into the realms of glory.
We have been given an incredible gift and responsibility
James wants to address the power and seriousness of speech.
The Seriousness of Speech
Yet he does not go into the glories of speech, rather he heads in the other direction warning of the destruction and evil that rests on the tip of our tongues.
James knows the power of speech and wants to warn these young Christians to likewise understand the importance of speech.
He begins by telling them about the
Seriousness of Speech
Power of Speech
Danger of Speech
Duplicity of Speech
So lets begin by looking at the seriousness of speech.
Look with me at James 1:1-2
teachers “expose themselves to greater danger of judgment.
Their constant use of the tongue means they can sin very easily, leading others astray at the same time
Why is James telling the believers that not many of them should become teachers?
Is he worried about having multiple teachers in one place?
As if it better to only have a couple teachers in a local church?
After all, the more cooks you have in the kitchen the more likely things are to become confused.
there is wisdom to this idea, however, this is not what James is referring too.
Some Church Fathers suggested that the reason for the warning was to guard against false doctrine.
if you have a lot different teachers it becomes more difficult to discern true
Again, this is very important to guard against false doctrine, and every church must vet any teacher to make sure they are teaching sound doctrine.
However, I don’t think James has false doctrine in mind, I think he has false testimony in mind.
You see, James warns them that they should not all be teachers because those who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
If you are a teacher of the word of God, not only your speech but your life must be conforming to the word of God .
For what comes out of your mouth must work its way into your own life.
And if it doesn’t, if your life contradicts what you teach, you will be judged with greater strictness.
The reason teachers are held to a higher standard is because their speech impacts more people.
Everyone.
Both God and man.
And teachers within the church are also leaders in the church.
God holds those who teach the word to a higher standard.
Their constant use of speech means they can sin very easily, leading other astray at the same time.
Application** (Facebook)
You know, if James was writing this today I think he would apply this same principle to more than just speech, but to the written form as well.
Its not the number of teachers James is trying to keep down, but rather, the seriousness of being a teacher is what James wanted to emphasize.
Have you ever thought that when you write something on Facebook, or Twitter, or a blog or whatever other public platform you use, you are in that moment speaking to many people?
I could see James reading some of the things that are spewed on facebook and saying, “not many of you should be posting to facebook”
For it is so easy for us to say things that will potentially be read by 100’s or 1000’s of people.
So James wants to warn those who desire to be teachers, for teachers are judged with more strictness because of the seriousness of speech.
James is not saying that teachers are expected to be perfect.
For James says, “we all stumble in many ways.”
James says we all stumble in many ways.
James, as a great teacher, is the first one to admit that we all, teachers included, stumble in many ways.
How could anyone who stands before the cross, and calls others to stand before the cross of Christ ever dare call himself perfect?
James is not calling us to sinless perfection, he is calling us to faithfully pursue Christward maturity.
Look again at verse 2
James says the perfect man is able to not stumble in what he says, Yet, he just said we all stumble.
There has only been one who has ever been able to not stumble in what he says, and he is the only perfect man, Jesus Christ.
When James says that the man who does not stumble in what he says is a perfect man, he is not saying that he has somehow reached a place of perfection.
But rather he is a mature man.
The greek word for “perfect” is telos - which is a word that speaks not of moral perfection, but rather speaks to the end of which we were called which is Christlike maturity.
God created us all as image bearers.
Due to sin in our lives we fail to image him well.
Yet, the telos, the end, of our lives is to image Christ.
James is not trying to limit the number of teachers but rather to warn them against the dangers of false doctrines
James is not trying to limit the number of teachers but rather to warn them against the dangers of false doctrines
We all stumble, in many ways, yet the Spirit of God works in us to conform us more into the image of Christ.
James is not trying to limit the number of teachers but rather to warn them against the dangers of false doctrines
And one of the main ways we are conformed into the image of Christ is being formed and transformed by the word of Christ.
Everything Jesus ever said was measured and intentional.
And when we are formed by the word of God the words of our mouths begin to sound like the words of Christ.
And when our words are formed by the power of Christ not only is our speech transformed but our entires lives.
This shows the power of the tongue.
The Power of Speech
The power of the spoken word is astounding.
By it civilizations can rise or fall
With words you can build or tear down
You can love or you can hate
you can Bless or you can curse
You can teach or you can deceive
The power of the spoken word is not able to be measured.
It can lead to societal bliss and it can lead to a holocaust.
With words you can inspire millions and you can destroy the hopes and dreams of child.
And this should not surprise us.
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