Ugly Words

Introduction

Good morning and welcome back!

This morning if you will, start turning in your Bibles to James 3.

In just a moment we will be spending a few minutes with James, the brother of Jesus and we are going to be talking about one of the most dangerous things in all the world.

This thing has the power to bring life into people, but also has the power to bring death as well.

It is more powerful than any animal or beast out there.

And in most cases, it is only a couple of inches long.

And this deadly thing I am talking about is the human tongue.

And really not so much the organ that is in our mouths, but what that organ helps us do.

Which is speak our words.

Remember last week we talked about our ugly thoughts and how we needed to ‘stop it’ when it comes to letting our thoughts run wild and control us.

We talked a great deal about how sin progresses from our hearts and our thoughts.

And we also talked a great deal about the need to allow the Holy Spirit the proper access and control of our hearts in order to empower us to be able to control our thoughts instead of our thoughts controlling us.

Well, this morning we are going to push the conversation forward just a bit and go to that next step.

Remember what Jesus already told us . . .

Luke 6:45 NIV - Anglicised

The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

Out of the overflow of our heart, our mouths speak, meaning that whatever is in our heart that has been fed by our thoughts, that is what we speak.

And those spoken words could be nice and life giving words.

Or they could be ugly and hurtful words that speak only death and destruction.

And I really think we have a good grasp on this, but why does spending time with friends and family during the Christmas season can too often result in us saying things that we regret?

Well, I think it boils down to stress and tension.

And when tensions run high, if we’re not careful to tame our tongues, we can find ourselves hurting those we love with our ugly words.

However, if we call ourselves Christians, we should be careful to choose words to communicate love, to all people.

Just to put it into perspective, let’s think about words. I am going to read some words an you just respond to the first thing that comes to your mind.

Snow

Hot Chocolate

Christmas lights

Eggnog

Mistletoe

Christmas

Covid

Cancer

Satan

Heaven

Hell

Jesus

Now, some of these were everyday words about the Christmas season, some were about Jesus, some the devil, and some the diseases that plague us.

But they were all just words.

However, each word invoked some sort of emotion in us.

And the point is, words have meaning and it does matter how we use them.

Proverbs tell us that . . .

Proverbs 18:21 NIV - Anglicised

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

And we can choose to use our words to build up, which is what God wants us to do, or we can use them to tear others down.

So, we need to choose our words wisely, which is what James gets into.

And this does not mean that we avoid sharing difficult truths with others.

It means we do it in a loving and a Christian way.

And it also means that we treat those who are treating us badly the way we want to be treated not the way they are treating us, which is difficult.

But, getting into the text, James writes this . . .

Scripture Focus

James 3:3–12 NIV - Anglicised

When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig-tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

The Corrupt Tongue (vs 3-6)

So, we see here James hammering home the point that we have got to be careful about how we interact with other people.

Again he starts out with . . .

James 3:3–4 NIV - Anglicised

When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.

And all he is doing here is building up the audience in order to make his comparisons.

He is talking about mighty things in the world that are controlled by very small parts.

A huge horse weighing hundreds of pounds can be completely controlled by a small bit in it’s mouth.

Even a huge ship weighing tons can be steered by just a very small rudder.

Meaning it doesn’t have to be big and strong to be very powerful.

And his comparison for us is . . .

James 3:5–6 NIV - Anglicised

Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

Listen to what James is saying here.

The tongue, this little bitty tongue. This very tiny part of the body is like the bit, the rudder.

It is like a small spark that can burn an entire forest fire—you know the wild fires in California that happen all the time?

Many times those are set ablaze by one cigarette butt or one amber from a campfire.

And they burn thousands upon thousands of acres of land.

It is not the size of the actual spark, it is the result of when we add fuel to it.

And that is what our tongue does.

The little fleshy organ isn’t really much of anything.

It does its job and serves its purpose, but it’s purpose is to deliver the evil and fire that exists in our hearts.

It is the spigot that spews the fuel that either builds up or tears down.

And when we speak something, we cannot take it back.

It’s like the internet, once it’s out there, it’s out there and it cannot be deleted no matter how hard we try.

And it grows and grows and grows.

And when we are calling ourselves Christians and we are not speaking in a Godly way, then we damage our witness and the witness of the Church as a whole.

So, we need to learn to have some restraint and some control over our tongues.

Think about it, how many times have you received an email at work that makes you angry?

How many times have you received a frustrating text?

How many times have your read something on Facebook that offended you to the ends of the earth?

Too often our first response is to want to shoot back with a quick email or text and express our anger or frustration.

However, what we need to do is to learn how to take time before we respond to situations like that.

Because when we take time to consider what message we really want to get across we are able to control our words and keep from causing more harm or causing the situation to escalate.

Because honestly, all we really want to do is make our point and be heard.

But if we are being ugly and lashing out, no one is really going to hear what we are trying to say away.

Rein in the Tongue (vs 7-8)

Which gets to the next point James wants to make to us.

In verse 7, he writes . . .

James 3:7–8 NIV - Anglicised

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

And therein lies the main problem.

We as humans can tame or subdue any animal on this planet.

Some are harder than others but we do have the capacity to do it.

However, there is no man or woman on this planet who can tame the human tongue.

And really what James is saying there is no man or woman on this planet that can heal and purify the human heart, that feeds the tongue.

The only person who can do that is Jesus Christ.

And the only way is if we accept Him as Lord and Savior.

And then allow the Holy Spirit to begin the cleansing and purging work of the Spirit in our lives.

That is the only way.

But we have to choose that.

And when we do say, “I choose God’s way,” then and only then will we have the power to actually tame and control the tongue.

Which gives us options on how we respond to people.

Remember we have already said we need to slow down and think before we speak, but we didn’t say what we need to think about.

Well, here are three things to ask yourself before you speak.

Will what I am about to say honor God?-If it does not, don’t say it.

Will what I am about to say honor the person I am saying it to?-If it does not, again, don’t say it.

Will what I am about to say be something I will regret?-Because again remember, once it’s said, it can’t be unsaid, so if you will eventually regret it, or better yet, if you think it is something that is going to give someone the wrong impression about you or Christians as a whole, don’t say it.

More is at stake than our ego or our feelings.

We are representatives of Jesus Christ—The Church of the God of the Universe and we need to act like it.

And we don’t need to give the devil any more ammunition against us either.

The fight is hard enough without us shooting ourselves in the foot.

So, if it ain’t right then STOP IT!

Don’t Be Double-Tongued (vs 9-12)

And we don’t need to be running around out here talking one way on Sunday and another way the rest of the week.

Look at verses 9-13 . . .

James 3:9–13 NIV - Anglicised

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig-tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.

And this is one good way that this manifests itself in our world today.

And I will say, I see it and I shake my head and wonder sometimes what people are thinking.

You will see people posting things on their social media—Facebook for us old folks.

And in one post it will be something about angels or God or heaven.

Or they will be praising Jesus or even asking for prayer.

Then you go down and 15 minutes later, they are posting something with curse words or just downright ugly.

And sometimes these are things that they are sharing from other people, and I don’t know if they just don’t read what they are sharing or just don’t care.

But sometimes they are typing out their own messages and it has this hate and filth in it.

People, if you are doing that STOP IT!

You are not representing the church in any way or fashion and you are not doing anything to show people you belong to Christ.

James clearly says . . .

James 3:10 NIV - Anglicised

Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.

And yes, this does include all of those curse words, even the ones that tv and society think are not the “bad” ones.

If it is ugly talk and does nothing but tear someone down, it should not come out of a Christian’s mouth.

After all . . .

James 3:11–12 NIV - Anglicised

Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig-tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Can you really be a Christian and act in a way that is contrary to God?

Altar/Challenge

That is really all James is asking here, and honestly all I’m asking.

Does our thoughts and speech line up with what we say we believe?

Are we being the representatives that Christ calls us to be?

That’s really what is is all about.

And that is what we have to decide this morning.

Let’s pray . . .