Watch Your Mouth!

Roe Vs. Wade - Prayer - thank you for Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell, for courageous Supreme Court judges, who more than self their country loved and mercy more than life! You guided our laws because you are a God of order. You said thou shalt not murder because you created us in your image - and that image should be revered and not desecrated.

Our relationships teeter on the brink with every word we speak

Have you ever had someone say to you, “You’d better watch your mouth?”

Yeah, that might have been one of mom and dad’s favorite sentences when I was growing up.

“Boy, you’d better watch your mouth.”

Mostly I was being sassy or dis-respectful.

My parents didn’t think kindly of that very much.

Some kids need to hear more of that on occasion.

Guys, have you ever turned your wife into an iceberg with something you’ve said?

I suspect every man has and if you haven’t, let me help you understand.

The balls on the tee.

It’s only a matter of time before you take a swing and a blast of icy air will enter your life.

Words are important because words convey ideas and meaning.

They can help us.

They can hurt us.

That’s what James is going to share with us today.

Open your Bibles if you will to James 3:1-12.

Let me invite those of you who are joining by live stream, video or podcast, if you are in safe spot, open your Bibles as well.

And as always, if you are in the Jones County area, I promise the experience will be better if you come in person.

As our podcast says, there is nothing that can be a substitute for true Christian fellowship.

So please, come join us.

With your Bibles open, follow along as I read.

Hear the word of the Lord, James 3:1-12

James 3:1–12 ESV

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 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. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 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. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 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. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

James’ argument here is simply this,

The key to success is being able to control your tongue

How many people do you know that their entire life was put on a different trajectory by what they said?

Some of you might remember a man by the name of Howard Dean.

The word “Yeah” probably cost him the presidency.

He was a dark-horse candidate to become the Democratic Party’s nominee for president in 2004.

He was the first presidential candidate to understand the power of the internet and he had a powerful grass roots campaign.

He didn’t finish as well in the Iowa Caucus as he had hoped so, to rally his troops, he gave a speech.

And he got more and more impassioned, and he started naming off the states they were going to win.

And he got so fired up and people were clapping and cheering and he finished his speech with a very hoarse sounding “Yeah.”

And in an instant - he went from contender to also ran.

When he yelled, they way it sounded, made him sound a little bit deranged.

A careless word.

Ecclesiastes 5:2 ESV

Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.

But what if you are in a profession where your words can’t be few?

Like a preacher?

Or a teacher?

James 3:1 “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”

I’ve told you before, one of the things I don’t like about my job is when I misspeak, make a mistake or plainly just say something dumb.

Lots of people will hear it and now with live stream, it’s immortalized - it will be in the ether for anyone to see anytime.

When I was interim back in 2013, I put a Bible event out of sequence in the message.

Before I got out the door, two people had corrected me - and they were right - and I needed to be corrected.

But I hated it.

Nobody that I know of likes to be called out.

But we who are teachers are going to be.

James says, “we will be judged with greater strictness.”

Why?

Shouldn’t the Lord be happy that we are obedient to follow Him and teach to the best of our ability?

I’m sure He is.

But the Lord loves all of His people and He wants all people to be saved.

And one of the biggest hindrances for any teacher is pride.

We start believing our own press.

That I did this.

That I’m really as good as people say I am.

That my words matter.

And the Lord says, “No.”

1 Peter 1:25 “but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

Not my words.

Occasionally the Lord calls preachers and teachers out because we stray into our words giving our word equal weight to scripture.

That’s a bad place to be.

I’ve said many times, without the scripture, I’ve got nothing to say.

And you know what the killer is?

As a teacher, even if you are diligent, even if you prepare meticulously, even if you pray 100 hours before you speak.

At some point, at some place, you’re going to slip and say something that’s not right.

And because you are called by God to teach, your words are going to hurt somebody.

And it is bound to happen.

I remember vividly as a young pastor giving a mother some really bad counsel - thought I was standing on the Bible but I wasn’t.

And it cost her and her son dearly.

God was merciful and he fixed it.

But not because of me - He did it in spite of me.

In verse 2 James 3:2 “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.”

There is James theme: If you are able to bridle your whole body by bridling your tongue, you can be perfect.

But James knows the truth.

“For we all stumble in many ways.”

There is no perfect person.

There will be a time when your whole body isn’t bridled because you open your mouth and foolishness comes out.

And the Lord hears.

Does he really?

Does the Lord really care about every word that comes out of my mouth?

Matthew 12:36–37 ESV

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.”

Ok now wait a minute.

When I pass from this life into eternity, do you mean Christians are going to be judged?

Romans 14:10–12 ESV

Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

2 Corinthians 5:10 ESV

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

There is a difference in our judgment day.

Our names are in the Lambs Book of Life.

We are saved.

We are welcomed into the presence of God.

And we are judged to see what rewards we will receive.

The Bible refers to them as crowns.

But when’s the last time you thought about standing before the Lord?

Or being judged at all?

But we will be.

It won’t be a beat down - that’s the Great White Throne judgment.

But we will be held accountable for every careless word we speak.

Now think back - it’s humbling isn’t it.

In fact, if everyone knew the careless words we’ve spoken, it would be humiliating.

Thank the Lord He is merciful.

James 3:6 “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.”

James 3:8 “but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”

James 3:9 “With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.”

James 3:10 “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.”

These things ought not to be.

Teachers, we are accountable for what we say.

Consider that while you study.

And school teachers - I believe this applies to you as well.

Yes, James is speaking to preachers and teachers in the church specifically - but he doesn’t limit it to us.

He says, “teachers.”

If you are a Christian teacher, you are accountable for what you teach.

And I’m telling you, in the world we are in right now, your world is fraught with peril.

You know that on May 15th, 3 middle school boys have a sexual harassment investigation going on because a girl in their class wanted people to refer to her as they/them.

And the boys called her, her.

And they accused them of sexual harassment.

That’s Wisconsin, not here - but it’s an opening salvo.

Many colleges are heavy into naming your pronoun.

Teachers, what are you going to do?

We’ve already talked about before - that going along to get along never ends well.

Are you ready?

Is your fear of God greater than your fear of man?

Are you prepared to speak the truth - in love - regardless of where you are?

It’s going to be hard - and we’re going to fail at some point - “the tongue is… a world of unrighteousness.”

But if we prevail, if we represent the Lord well, 2 Timothy 4:8

2 Timothy 4:8 ESV

Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

What do we do with all of this?

Do you remember me saying this about the book of James - that it’s written more as sermon notes rather than a book?

And we said he has transitions from one topic to the next, but they are kind of hidden sometimes?

Remember that?

Next week, we’ll work on James 3:13-18, but the transition to the next topic is tucked neatly away in verse 13.

James 3:13 “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.”

In the meekness of wisdom.

I’m sure you’ve all seen the reel of the football player that catches the pass and outruns everybody.

As he nears the goal line, he starts high stepping and celebrating.

And he drops the ball, about a foot shy of the goal line.

It bounces into the end zone and ends up a dead ball.

And his team has to line up on the 1 foot line to punch the ball into the end zone.

He went from glory to goat in a millisecond.

No meekness at all.

James tells us.

Everyone - know that the Lord is watching you and will hold you accountable.

Teachers - know that the Lord assigned you the task and He is inspecting what He is expecting.

Everyone - teachers included, know that you are going to say the wrong thing.

Sometimes by accident.

Sometimes on purpose.

While we have the Holy Spirit in us, we are flesh and sometimes the flesh just won’t be denied.

Work hard to tame your tongue.

This is just the way I’m wired won’t do.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:32 “and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.”

You can hold your tongue.

It is not beyond your ability.

It takes incredible discipline.

And sometimes its just plain not fun.

It’s hard work to control our tongues but

The key to success is being able to control your tongue

And when you fail - and you will fail - let your failure grow your meekness of wisdom.

No, you aren’t all that and a bag of chips.

You are a frail child of God.

Slowly but surely learning how to wear the glory that God created us to display.

And we can’t do much without Him.

I heard a quote from a 17th century English Poet named Francis Quarles.

He said, “Heaven finds an ear when sinners find a tongue.”

When sinners realize who they are before God.

And they lift up their voice to Him in humility and meekness.

Realizing who we are and what we’ve done and what we deserve.

Jesus is quick to hear.

Slow to anger.

And fast to forgive.

Don’t ever forget that - Jesus is just a word away.

Let us pray.