The Untameable Tongue

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Let me begin by asking you this question. What's the most prolific dangerous weapon in the world?.... Well it's a weapon that has caused more pain, more destruction than any other, and in the wrong hands is by far the most dangerous weapon in the world. It's something we all carry around with us - it's the tongue, which, says James, is impossible to tame, humanly speaking.

The tongue is described here in James as: A RESTLESS EVIL, full of DEADLY POISON because we can curse people who are made in the likeness of God; and as DESTRUCTIVE FIRE as rumours, gossip and untruths are spread both about people and about the Christian faith and which can get out of control.

Well I'm sure we could all recount how something we've said has gone terribly wrong. I certainly can. Ecclesiastes 3:7 reminds us there's a 'time to keep silence; and a time to speak'. Someone once said, "Speak when you're angry-and you'll make the best speech you'll ever regret!" Abraham Lincoln said: "I'd rather remain silent and be thought a fool, than speak out and remove all doubt." And apparently 90% of the friction of daily life is caused by the wrong tone of voice! The tongue is a very dangerous weapon, and it's this that James tackles here.

We must be doers of the word, he says in 1:22, not hearers only. And there's always the danger for the Christian of what James calls double mindedness, being those who claim to be going God's way and obeying him and yet all the while actually going their own way. And one big area where we're in danger of being double minded is in the area of our tongues. Back in chapter 1:26 we're told that the taming of the tongue is one of the marks of a true Christian, and that if it isn't bridled our religion is worthless.

But bear in mind as we look at this passage, that James isn't just telling us to pull our socks up, to be good for the sake of it. No he's already told us in 1:18 that, if we're trusting in Christ, God has rescued us through the word of truth, the good news about Jesus. So the challenge for the Christian is not to be good in order to impress God, but rather to live the life that God in his grace has given us to lead, with the marks of a Spirit filled life proving the genuineness of our faith in Christ. So first

1) PAY ATTENTION TO THE WARNING (v1-2)

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

Now you might be asking why does James start his teaching on the tongue with a reference to those in the church who teach the Bible? Well we need to remember that speech and communication is a good gift that God has given human beings. It reflects God's own person. He's a speaking God, and in fact the first thing God does in the Bible is to speak. The way human beings are brought back into relationship with God is through hearing and accepting a message about God's Son Jesus Christ. That's the implanted word that James talks about in chapter 1. But the communication of that message is in the hands of sinful human beings like you and me. So those who've been entrusted to speak this message to the church have a great responsibility. We're handling the very Word of God, and the way we do it is with our mouths. But with responsibility comes accountability. So Bible teachers will be judged more strictly. Now this judgment doesn't mean preachers and teachers will be condemned unless, of course, they're false teachers who've not repented and believed the good news. Rather our work will be tested and evaluated on the day of judgment. In Matthew 12:33-37 Jesus condemned Jewish teachers and said that even our casual or careless words would be judged (Mt 12:36):

I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak... (Matt 12.36)

And, of course, the problem with any sort of speaking ministry is that the way you do it is with the tongue, the most unruly member of the body. Now everyone sins in respect of the tongue and in many ways. None of us is perfect this side of heaven, v2:

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. (3.2)

So, says James, don't covet a teaching responsibility in the local church because you're setting yourself up for greater judgment. And because we all fail, in both the area of the tongue and in our example in other ways, the teacher has a difficult responsibility to fulfil.

You see the public speaker has great power which can either be used for ill or for good. Hitler used his tongue to rally a nation in a dreadful way. A Christian minister must use his gifts to teach the Bible to equip and build up the local church. And we'll be judged more strictly. So please pray for us preachers. But there's also an application to any in the church who teach the Bible be it in a children's or youth groups, student groups, small groups etc. Any responsibility for teaching God's Word brings accountability. Secondly

2) REALISE THE POWER OF THE TONGUE (v3-8)

And James describes the power of the tongue in three ways.

a) Small but strong (v3-5a)

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. (3.3-5)

Horses are very strong beasts and yet they're controlled by just a small bit in the mouth. And with that bit a person who is a fraction of the size of the horse can control it. It's the same with a ship. The ship may be huge, and it may be buffeted by storms and currents and yet it can be controlled by just a small rudder. So it is with the tongue. It's small but very strong. The tongue is 0.4% of a person's total body weight. But it has a power out of all proportion to it's size. The tongue can in one moment express love, and in the next condemn someone to death. No wonder James says the tongue makes great boasts.

b) Little but lethal (v5-6)

In September, 1995, a small squirrel climbed on the Metro-North Railroad power lines near New York City. This set off an electrical surge, which weakened an overhead bracket, which let a wire dangle toward the tracks, which tangled in a train, which tore down all the power lines. As a result, 47,000 commuters were stuck in Manhattan for hours that evening. But something smaller than a squirrel, namely the tongue can cause even more damage. Look at v5-6:

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! 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. (3.5-6)

The tongue may be little but it can have a devastating effect. James uses fire as an example. A huge forest fire is set off by just one spark. And that's what the tongue is like. It's a world of unrighteousness, which sets the whole course of our lives on fire. Just think for a moment of the various things we say and the huge effects they can have. That little bit of gossip, which we sometimes spiritualise by saying 'just for your prayers'. The piece of innuendo dropped into the conversation. That biting criticism, that conversation where we put someone else down. Just with one word we can cut someone to the quick. One lie can deceive someone about the truth. The tongue is such a devastating tool in our mouths, and we use it to such horrific effects. The tongue is little but lethal. Do you remember the children's rhyme? 'Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me.' We all know it's completely untrue. With our tongues we can put nations at war, we can ruin reputations, we can end careers, and we can even destroy lives.

c) Delicate but deadly (v7-8)

V7-8: 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.

Human beings can tame every kind of animal. But one thing they cannot do: tame their own tongues. It's true isn't it? No matter how hard we try, we can't tame our tongues. A sharp word, a blasphemy, a criticism, a piece of slander. We just can't tame that organ inside our mouths. It's a restless evil, says James, full of deadly poison. So thirdly we need to

3) RECOGNISE THE SOURCE OF THE PROBLEM (v9-12)

V9: With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.

Now James reminds us here that there is a good use of the tongue, and that is to praise our Lord and Father. In fact, that's what our tongues were designed to do. Like every part of our body, it was designed to give glory to the God who made it. But our problem is that so often there are other things which come out of our mouths which are exactly contrary to the praise we give God. For we also curse men, who are made in God's image. I heard this true story recently:

A large family sat around the table for breakfast one morning. As the custom was, the father returned thanks, blessing God for the food. Immediately afterward, however, as was his bad habit, he began to grumble about hard times, the poor quality of the food he was forced to eat, the way it was cooked, and much more. His little daughter interrupted him with, "Father, do you suppose God heard what you said a little while ago?" "Certainly," replied the father with a confident air. "And did He hear what you said about the bacon and the coffee?" "Of course," the father replied less confidently. And then his little girl asked him again, "Then, Father, which did God believe?

In one breath we give glory to God, in the next we dishonour him in the way we speak to or about others. My brothers, says James v10, this should not be. It's not right that the tongue is an instrument of praise in one moment and then an instrument of cursing the next.
To make his point, James gives us an illustration in verses 11-12:

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. (3.11-12)

You don't get a spring which gives out both fresh and salt water do you? And if you try and mix fresh water with salty water, what do you get? Salt water. Neither do fig trees bear olives, nor vines figs. If you want grapes, you go to the vine. If you want figs, you go to the fig tree. So what's James saying? Well he's saying there's a problem with the source. And what's the source? The heart. Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). The tongue only speaks what's going on the in the heart. And that says James is the real problem. There's a battle going on in our hearts. And double talk reveals a divided, a double minded heart. We want to go God's way and praise him and yet we can't help but use our tongues for evil as well. We're essentially showing our double mindedness by the way we speak and use our tongues. We slander others because we have a slanderous heart. We lie because we have lying hearts. We cut people down because we're jealous or hateful. So recognise the source of the problem. Then fourthly & finally

4) TAME THE TONGUE WITH GOD'S POWER (v13-18)
We'll come back to these verses next year but I need to give you some hope before then! You see the problem with the human heart is a problem human beings can't deal with. We can't give ourselves spiritual heart surgery. But God can, and that's exactly what he does for the person who trusts in Christ. He's our only hope for any real change in ourselves. And that takes us back to 1:21. Because the word of the gospel which saves us is the same word which can transform us. Only by a humble acceptance and daily submission to that word can we have any hope of change. God's at work in us by His Spirit to make us more like Christ. And our task as Christians is to humbly co-operate with the Holy Spirit and work hard to battle against sin with his power.

And what do we need most in this battle? Wisdom. That's what James tells us in v13-18. Our only hope of taming the tongue is if God helps us to do so by giving us his wisdom. V8 - no human being can tame the tongue. But with God everything is possible, even the taming of the tongue.

Many Christians down the years have seen God change the way they use their tongues. Perhaps you have. John Newton, who wrote the hymn 'Amazing Grace', swore and cursed profusely before he knew Christ. 'My whole life,' he said, 'was a course of most horrid impiety and profaneness.' Maybe he was thinking of v6:

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. (3.6)

But after becoming a Christian he began by the grace of God to use his tongue for good. As v9 reminds us, with it we bless our Lord and Father. And Newton went on to write some amazing hymns. Even he could be changed round for good, and his tongue employed to lead Christians in praising their God.

So will you engage in this battle to tame the tongue? Will you commit yourself to pray for God's strength to help you with your tongue, whatever you slip up on most, whether it be gossip, slander or filthy language? There is hope as God works in us by his Spirit and gives us his wisdom. We won't be able to tame the tongue completely this side of heaven but we can make progress in his strength. Let's not be hearers only, but doers also.


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