Sermon Tone Analysis

Pressure Points

James tells us that if we want to become more like Jesus we need to learn to control our tongue!

Jesus said that your words reveal what kind of heart you possess “ The truth is every one of your words matter, they influence someone either negatively or positively.

James opens up our thought process on the tongue by telling us that teachers – those who teach life principles to others will be held accountable for what they say.

1.

The Tongue Has the Power to Direct

1.

The Tongue Has the Power to Direct

Jesus said that your words reveal what kind of heart you possess “

The truth is every one of your words matter, they influence someone either negatively or positively.

Let’s look at verse 1: “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”

Because teachers were thought of as having a prestigious position, it’s likely too many were teaching topics they didn’t understand.

Perhaps they were impressed with the authority and prestige of the office and forgot about the tremendous responsibility.

I remember one time I stumbled through a hard-to-pronounce Bible name and without thinking said something like this: “Who’d ever choose that name for their baby?”

I quickly found out that was someone’s mom’s name.

That afternoon I had to make a phone call.

James opens up our thought process on the tongue by telling us that teachers – those who teach life principles to others will be held accountable for what they say.

Here’s the principle: greater authority brings with it greater accountability.

Because I preach and teach on a regular basis, I will be “judged with greater strictness.”

The word “greater” in Greek is megas, meaning huge or large.

This is humbling and frightening at the same time.

Teachers are not the only ones who get tripped up by their tongues.

In verse 2 we read, “For we all stumble in many ways.

And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.”

Notice James is including himself and everyone else by using “we” and “all.”

The word “stumble” is the idea of falling or tripping.

Literally, it means this: “We all are stumbling repeatedly in many ways.”

How would you feel if everything you said this past week was recorded and broadcast for everyone to hear?

Jesus said we’ll all be judged for the words we speak according to : “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Remember this: your conversation reveals your character because what you say shows who you truly are.

James continues by saying if our tongues don’t trip us up, we’re “perfect,” or complete.

If we’re able to muzzle our mouths, we’re able to “bridle” our entire bodies.

James is circling back to a theme introduced in 1:26: “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.”

The hardest sins to control are the trespasses of the tongue.

says, “Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.”

As a good teacher, James uses some unforgettable figures of speech to help us see the importance of being wise with our words.

• Bit.

The first illustration is the bit in a horse’s mouth: “If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.”

This relatively small piece of metal can control a very powerful animal, which on average weighs about a thousand pounds.

I reached out to Sayde Mitchell to get her insight because she has a horse named Tucker.

Here’s part of what she shared: “So the bit helps control the horse…horses don’t like the pressure from the bit and will turn to get away from it, going toward the direction you turned them…without a bit and bridle the horse has a lot more control and most will feel like they can just do whatever they want…he will misbehave…because no one is directing him on where to go.”

The same way a small bit can control a large animal, a small rudder controls a large ship, which is James’ second illustration.

• Rudder.

We see in verse 4: “Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.”

I contacted Dan Sorensen this week because he’s a Captain of a towboat on the Mississippi.

He and his wife Trish, along with their daughter Marisa and son Joey, have been attending Edgewood for about a year.

His towboat can push up to 25 barges over 1,000 feet in length and 175 feet wide.

The rudders on towboats are relatively small: “Between our rudders and sometimes using maximum horsepower the boat has to get around the tighter turns…I am in total control of the vessel at that time.

If I steer too late, I’ll crash and if I steer too early I’ll crash.”

He explained a boat turns when the rudder turns but there must also be power behind it.

What a good reminder we must have the Holy Spirit’s power or we will crash as well.

In high school, I was out water skiing with some friends.

When it was my turn to ski we circled the lake a couple times and then I signaled I wanted to quit.

My buddy was driving the boat and was sitting on top of the driver’s seat.

He decided to turn the wheel sharply to make me wipe out.

As he turned, the boat dipped suddenly, causing him to fall on the floor between the seats.

I hit the water and the boat came right toward me with the throttle wide open.

At the very last second, my sister reached over and turned the wheel.

The boat missed me by just inches!

What was intended to be delightful, almost turned into disaster.

With just a small turn of the wheel, my life was saved.

Friends, our tongues are the same way.

Though tiny, they have a tremendous power to direct.

By the way, I often get teased for using alliteration in my sermons.

I want you to know Pastor James does the same thing in the Greek.

Check out verse 5: “So also the tongue is a small (micron) member (melos), yet it boasts of great (megala) things.”

While the tongue only weighs about two ounces, it receives more exercise than any other muscle in our bodies.

Chuck Swindoll called the tongue a “two-ounce slab of trouble.”

Someone else referred to the tongue as “the two-ounce beast.”

My beloved brothers and sweet sisters, control your tongue or it will control you.

2 - The Tongue has the Power to Destroy

After establishing the power of the tongue to direct, in the last part of verse 5 we’re introduced to the image of an out-of-control fire that destroys: “How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!”

• Fire.

Few disasters in the ancient world were as feared as an out-of-control fire.

Fires started easily in the dry season and were almost impossible to extinguish, leaving destruction in their wake.

When I was about 12 years old a couple of my buddies and I were out in the woods playing with fire – literally.

Our family had ventured from the Promised Land for a weekend visit with my mom’s old college roommate in northern Illinois.

We were lighting matches and throwing them into the dry grass and stomping the flames out before the fire could get out of control.

I threw a match and a clump of dry grass went up in flames.

I remember calling to my friends to come and see what I had done.

I must have enjoyed my masterpiece too long because the flames soon engulfed a pine tree and then spread throughout the entire forest preserve!

We ran out of the woods, stopping just long enough to tell a couple to call 911.

My buddies told me not to say anything to our parents.

I wasn’t sure that would work, not because I wasn’t a good liar, but because I knew my mom would be able to tell I had done something wrong.

As soon as we got back to their house, my mom asked what I had done.

I confessed to being a young arsonist.

She made me call the Fire Department and tell them I was responsible.

I’ll never forget the drive home that night, sitting in the back of the car while my parents listened to WLS.

When it came time for the news, the announcer reported three juveniles had started a forest fire.

All four of my sisters pointed at me.

I just shrank in shame.

By the way, I was kicked out of the Promised Land and now live in Illinois as part of my penance.

JK.

A little spark caused extensive damage to an entire forest…and to my backside after my parents were finished with me!

Like a careless match thrown into dry grass, our words can incinerate individuals.

Listen to this paraphrase of : “Mean people spread mean gossip; their words smart and burn.”

Look at verse 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.”

Here are four truths about the tongue from these verses.

• Our words contain a world of unrighteousness.

We often speak of the world as evil and it is, but there’s a world of rottenness on the tips of our tongues.

• The fires we start with our mouths can quickly become infernos.