James 3:1-12
We all know that words have power. We all know the little rhyme is false. It says, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” Well, physical wounds can heal. But, the emotional wounds created by unkind or abusive words can damage a life for years to come and with much less effort than the physical force required to really hurt someone with sticks or stones. In fact, a mere slip of the tongue, taking no effort at all, can do far more damage than we even anticipate.
Sometimes our words can harm others, sometimes we do ourselves no favors. I remember once while I was very young, about 20 maybe, and working as a retail clerk at a hardware store in New York. A lady came in and asked me for help. She said, “’Cues me, do you spic span?” I thought I understood her perfectly and lead her to the cleaning products aisle. I confidently handed her an orange box of spic and span. She looked a little flustered and saw that she had to try again. She said, “No. No. No.” And pronouncing very carefully she said, “Do you spik Span-ish?”
Well, that was just embarrassing, but there was another occasion I’ll share. It was even earlier, while I was still in high school. This was a large school in New Rochelle, NY. Three teenagers, quite a bit larger than me, were entertaining themselves as they walked down the hallway coming toward me. The tallest had his hand up, dragging his fingers along the ceiling. It was only a seven-foot ceiling, but still. After they had passed me the one with his hand up blurted out to no one in particular, “Don’t mind me. I’m retarded.”
Hearing the great humor in this statement, I, for some strange reason decided to join the fun. We must have been at least ten feet apart by the time I retorted, “I believe it.” Instantly I saw my mistake as I heard their footsteps rushing back to me. This was just the type of provocation they were fishing for. I had a vain and fleeting hope that maybe they wouldn’t be able to figure out I was the one who had spoken in the crowd of students. But in a moment, they had me backed up against a pillar in the hallway. Actually, they were quite forgiving once they saw they had me terrified. Thankfully I did not get a beating. But I sure learned a lesson about controlling my tongue. Not that I didn’t ever need any more lessons.
One reason I give thanks for this teaching in James is the comfort I derive from knowing I am not the only one who has ever failed to control my tongue with wisdom. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s a nearly universal affliction.
James begins with, “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”
These words played a role in my sense of call to the ministry. Mostly they kept me humble and cautious. I heeded this advice. I did not become a pastor just because I felt like it or thought I had some good stuff that the world needed to hear. I did not enter seminary until after I had been a Christian for about 10 years and the church around me kept encouraging me. They saw the gifts that might make me suitable to be a pastor.
But what really tipped the scales and confirmed God’s will for me was an actual phone call. That’s right, I felt the call of the Lord when the phone rang. Well, not really just because it rang, but because the person on the other end was saying, “If Greg still would like to go to seminary, we want to support him.” The speaker was a deacon in the church where we attended through college and where we got married. But we had moved away and hadn’t been in that church for about 8 years. We kept in touch with friends there though. So, they knew what was going in on with us and kept us in their prayers. So, in God’s timing, at the right time, in fact on the perfect day, the call of the Lord came through my telephone.
Heed the warning to be careful about whether or not God wants you to be an official teacher in the church. But do not think this lets you off the hook if you decide you’re not cut out to be a teacher. Do not let this scare you away from any form of leadership. Whether you like it or not you are already a leader anyway. The very life you live leads people, either closer to a walk with Jesus or farther away, depending on which way you’re going. J. Vernon McGee used to tell a story about an alcoholic who was brought to his office for a talking to.
The drunken man expected to be called all kinds of names like irresponsible, bad example, pox on society, or worthless. He humbly accepted all those charges. So, it seemed as if the good pastor wasn’t getting through to the man. Then McGee told the drunken man that he was a preacher and a poor one at that. The man jumped out of his chair. He was infuriated. “Nobody calls me a preacher. I ain’t never been and I never will stoop so low as to tell any other man how to live his life!”
But McGee held forth. “You are, by your actions and by your excuses, preaching a message that it’s ok to be a drunken alcoholic. You are telling every man, woman and child that sees you that you think you’re fine just the way you are and everybody else should let you be. By your example, you are telling every other person how to live a good life, at least what you think is a good life.
And yet you know down deep in your heart that the life you have chosen is not a good one. That’s why you don’t get angry with everyone who calls you worthless and all those other judgmental names. You agree with them. But now I am telling you that you may be responsible for leasing others astray and of course you don’t want to be guilty of that. So now you’re mad. But you can’t avoid this responsibility unless you repent in faith and strive to set a better example. Let Jesus help you.”
I think that did the trick. McGee was a great pastor. James who wrote this book was also a great pastor. When he said, “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” He was talking about being humble about what one thinks he knows rather than an arrogant, self-appointed spiritual lecturer. He was warning his audience that the greater weight we give to our own words the greater the trouble we get into when we have to eat crow. He was warning young Christians and developing disciples that the fact there is only one truth is accompanied by the enormous significance of the additional fact that there are many, many ways to go wrong and stray from the one truth and say the wrong things about the gospel.
You only need to scan your own memory of how many cults there are, how many books there are that say the gospel means something other than what the Bible says about it. In fact, you better not just trust me as if you can have absolute confidence that I’ve got my head on straight. I can assure you that I am trying to tell the truth. But every charlatan has said the same thing. The proof is in whether what they say agrees with Scripture. But if you don’t know Scripture, you have nothing to go by to make sure I’m telling the truth. You also have to know your Bible well enough to correct me and hold me accountable for everything I say. Don’t just wait for God in the end to be the one who judges me more strictly. You’ve got to read your Bible so you can be the judge and make sure I’m not leading you astray, even if by accident.
This is very serious business. Jesus said, in Matthew 12:36-37, “But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
The rest of the passage we are looking at reveals just how serious this issue is. It gives several illustrations about the powers of the tongue and the evils of the untamed tongue.
“We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.” Are there any perfect people in this room? Thank God for grace and mercy!
“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.”
These illustrations are pretty obvious and only serve to magnify James point that this tiny little muscle in here, the strongest muscle in the human body by the way, has far more power and influence as a speaking tool than as an eating tool.
“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 body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” Your words can get you in so much trouble and lead you down paths of assent and temptation that you never would have taken seriously if someone hadn’t dared you into saying, “Oh yeah? Watch this!”
Out of the mouth proceeds the thoughts of a man’s heart. In modern culture, we have many expressions that agree with James. There’s the slip of the tongue that means we said something we didn’t mean to say. There’s the Freudian slip too, which indicates… well, I think you all know what that refers to. You can ask me later if you need to.
We’ve all had to eat crow from time to time too. People sometimes say they started talking before they put their brain in gear.
“All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” And we often say things that we wish we could take back, almost right after we said it. This reminds me of the story of the young man who had a temper and said a lot of angry words over the course of time. His grandpa wanted to help him control his tongue and so he suggested that instead of saying anything the next time he was angry, he ought to just go pound a nail in a particular fence post that Grandpa pointed at in the back yard. That way he would have a visible record of just how often anger was tempting him to say some things he would regret saying.
After a few weeks, the young man talked to Grandpa about how well that plan worked. He had gotten pretty good at controlling his tongue. But he noted sadly that there were quite a few nails in the post. Grandpa said, “That’s all right. Lesson learned. Go pull those nails out.”
Grandpa went out there with him to watch. When all the nails were out, Grandpa asked his grandson how the post looked. Now the boy saw lots of nail holes that marred and splintered the otherwise smooth wood. Grandpa said, “There’s another lesson there, son. If you lose control and speak angry words, you pierce the souls of those you love. It’s easy to lose control and say angry words. It takes a lot more effort to smooth things over, just like all the work it would take to smooth out this wood again. It’s always better to not do the damage in the first place.”
Then there’s the dandelion as an illustration of how hard it is to take back eth words we speak. Pick it when it’s gone-to-seed fluffy. One little puff and off they go far and wide into the world. But just try to gather them all back up again!
In an article about speaking truth in politics, from Religion News Network, Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb said, “Words matter profoundly in a tradition that says God created the entire world through speech. We are told in Genesis Chapter 1 that we who are created in the divine image should strive to be divine in our use of speech. That means every word we utter should reflect our values, and one of the highest of those values is truth.”
Now James mentions another problem with the tongue. “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”
In the physical world, you will never have a salty spring give you fresh water. And every plant gives only one kind of fruit. There are no grapes growing on fig trees. But in our hearts, it seems like we can have both good and evil, and it flows out of our mouths too, sometimes sweet, sometimes sour. Except that one wrong or evil word can ruin a years-long reputation of good character. Thank God for his grace and mercy by which we can be forgiven! There is no other way we can solve this problem. We should just admit that without God’s help we will always at some time or another lose control of our tongue and are likely to start a fire of backlash, hurt feelings or regret.
On the positive side, we have Ephesians 4:29. “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
Now remember, while James is talking here about the good and bad uses of the tongue, and pointing out how difficult it is to reign it in so that we do not sin, his primary concern is not to convince us that we can manage this on our own. He wants his audience to be impressed by their great need of placing their faith and trust in the one who can change them in to people of more godly character who have greater control of their tongues.
“My friend, you and I are lost sinners and we come to Jesus Christ bringing nothing and receiving everything from Him. And if you’re able to give, if you’re able to serve, if you’re able to witness, if you’re able to control your tongue properly — that all comes from Him. You can’t do anything for Him without being filled by the Holy Spirit. If God has saved you, He has saved you by faith--plus nothing. God is not accepting any kind of good works for salvation. But after you are saved, God talks to you about your works.” [i]
God loves you. He is not scolding anybody. He does want us to understand our very great need of his forgiveness and mercy. He does want us to see how sinful we are and deserving of death and hell, not so that we’re filled with shame, but so that we turn to him and receive his mercy and grace. He has no anger toward you. He is the great rescuer. He knows you are in a predicament that you can’t fix on your own. He loves you and offers his amazing grace, a great help in a time of great need. He loves you! He wants to help! That’s why Jesus came into this world. By his Word, we were created. By our words, we condemn ourselves to death. But by God’s Word we can be made alive again in Christ! Believe the pure and perfect word of the gospel and feel how much he loves you!
Showed “Words” by Hawk Nelson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anVweXDcxhA
We all know that words have power. We all know the little rhyme is false. It says, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” Well, physical wounds can heal. But, the emotional wounds created by unkind or abusive words can damage a life for years to come and with much less effort than the physical force required to really hurt someone with sticks or stones. In fact, a mere slip of the tongue, taking no effort at all, can do far more damage than we even anticipate.
Sometimes our words can harm others, sometimes we do ourselves no favors. I remember once while I was very young, about 20 maybe, and working as a retail clerk at a hardware store in New York. A lady came in and asked me for help. She said, “’Cues me, do you spic span?” I thought I understood her perfectly and lead her to the cleaning products aisle. I confidently handed her an orange box of spic and span. She looked a little flustered and saw that she had to try again. She said, “No. No. No.” And pronouncing very carefully she said, “Do you spik Span-ish?”
Well, that was just embarrassing, but there was another occasion I’ll share. It was even earlier, while I was still in high school. This was a large school in New Rochelle, NY. Three teenagers, quite a bit larger than me, were entertaining themselves as they walked down the hallway coming toward me. The tallest had his hand up, dragging his fingers along the ceiling. It was only a seven-foot ceiling, but still. After they had passed me the one with his hand up blurted out to no one in particular, “Don’t mind me. I’m retarded.”
Hearing the great humor in this statement, I, for some strange reason decided to join the fun. We must have been at least ten feet apart by the time I retorted, “I believe it.” Instantly I saw my mistake as I heard their footsteps rushing back to me. This was just the type of provocation they were fishing for. I had a vain and fleeting hope that maybe they wouldn’t be able to figure out I was the one who had spoken in the crowd of students. But in a moment, they had me backed up against a pillar in the hallway. Actually, they were quite forgiving once they saw they had me terrified. Thankfully I did not get a beating. But I sure learned a lesson about controlling my tongue. Not that I didn’t ever need any more lessons.
One reason I give thanks for this teaching in James is the comfort I derive from knowing I am not the only one who has ever failed to control my tongue with wisdom. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s a nearly universal affliction.
James begins with, “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”
These words played a role in my sense of call to the ministry. Mostly they kept me humble and cautious. I heeded this advice. I did not become a pastor just because I felt like it or thought I had some good stuff that the world needed to hear. I did not enter seminary until after I had been a Christian for about 10 years and the church around me kept encouraging me. They saw the gifts that might make me suitable to be a pastor.
But what really tipped the scales and confirmed God’s will for me was an actual phone call. That’s right, I felt the call of the Lord when the phone rang. Well, not really just because it rang, but because the person on the other end was saying, “If Greg still would like to go to seminary, we want to support him.” The speaker was a deacon in the church where we attended through college and where we got married. But we had moved away and hadn’t been in that church for about 8 years. We kept in touch with friends there though. So, they knew what was going in on with us and kept us in their prayers. So, in God’s timing, at the right time, in fact on the perfect day, the call of the Lord came through my telephone.
Heed the warning to be careful about whether or not God wants you to be an official teacher in the church. But do not think this lets you off the hook if you decide you’re not cut out to be a teacher. Do not let this scare you away from any form of leadership. Whether you like it or not you are already a leader anyway. The very life you live leads people, either closer to a walk with Jesus or farther away, depending on which way you’re going. J. Vernon McGee used to tell a story about an alcoholic who was brought to his office for a talking to.
The drunken man expected to be called all kinds of names like irresponsible, bad example, pox on society, or worthless. He humbly accepted all those charges. So, it seemed as if the good pastor wasn’t getting through to the man. Then McGee told the drunken man that he was a preacher and a poor one at that. The man jumped out of his chair. He was infuriated. “Nobody calls me a preacher. I ain’t never been and I never will stoop so low as to tell any other man how to live his life!”
But McGee held forth. “You are, by your actions and by your excuses, preaching a message that it’s ok to be a drunken alcoholic. You are telling every man, woman and child that sees you that you think you’re fine just the way you are and everybody else should let you be. By your example, you are telling every other person how to live a good life, at least what you think is a good life.
And yet you know down deep in your heart that the life you have chosen is not a good one. That’s why you don’t get angry with everyone who calls you worthless and all those other judgmental names. You agree with them. But now I am telling you that you may be responsible for leasing others astray and of course you don’t want to be guilty of that. So now you’re mad. But you can’t avoid this responsibility unless you repent in faith and strive to set a better example. Let Jesus help you.”
I think that did the trick. McGee was a great pastor. James who wrote this book was also a great pastor. When he said, “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” He was talking about being humble about what one thinks he knows rather than an arrogant, self-appointed spiritual lecturer. He was warning his audience that the greater weight we give to our own words the greater the trouble we get into when we have to eat crow. He was warning young Christians and developing disciples that the fact there is only one truth is accompanied by the enormous significance of the additional fact that there are many, many ways to go wrong and stray from the one truth and say the wrong things about the gospel.
You only need to scan your own memory of how many cults there are, how many books there are that say the gospel means something other than what the Bible says about it. In fact, you better not just trust me as if you can have absolute confidence that I’ve got my head on straight. I can assure you that I am trying to tell the truth. But every charlatan has said the same thing. The proof is in whether what they say agrees with Scripture. But if you don’t know Scripture, you have nothing to go by to make sure I’m telling the truth. You also have to know your Bible well enough to correct me and hold me accountable for everything I say. Don’t just wait for God in the end to be the one who judges me more strictly. You’ve got to read your Bible so you can be the judge and make sure I’m not leading you astray, even if by accident.
This is very serious business. Jesus said, in Matthew 12:36-37, “But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
The rest of the passage we are looking at reveals just how serious this issue is. It gives several illustrations about the powers of the tongue and the evils of the untamed tongue.
“We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.” Are there any perfect people in this room? Thank God for grace and mercy!
“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.”
These illustrations are pretty obvious and only serve to magnify James point that this tiny little muscle in here, the strongest muscle in the human body by the way, has far more power and influence as a speaking tool than as an eating tool.
“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 body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” Your words can get you in so much trouble and lead you down paths of assent and temptation that you never would have taken seriously if someone hadn’t dared you into saying, “Oh yeah? Watch this!”
Out of the mouth proceeds the thoughts of a man’s heart. In modern culture, we have many expressions that agree with James. There’s the slip of the tongue that means we said something we didn’t mean to say. There’s the Freudian slip too, which indicates… well, I think you all know what that refers to. You can ask me later if you need to.
We’ve all had to eat crow from time to time too. People sometimes say they started talking before they put their brain in gear.
“All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” And we often say things that we wish we could take back, almost right after we said it. This reminds me of the story of the young man who had a temper and said a lot of angry words over the course of time. His grandpa wanted to help him control his tongue and so he suggested that instead of saying anything the next time he was angry, he ought to just go pound a nail in a particular fence post that Grandpa pointed at in the back yard. That way he would have a visible record of just how often anger was tempting him to say some things he would regret saying.
After a few weeks, the young man talked to Grandpa about how well that plan worked. He had gotten pretty good at controlling his tongue. But he noted sadly that there were quite a few nails in the post. Grandpa said, “That’s all right. Lesson learned. Go pull those nails out.”
Grandpa went out there with him to watch. When all the nails were out, Grandpa asked his grandson how the post looked. Now the boy saw lots of nail holes that marred and splintered the otherwise smooth wood. Grandpa said, “There’s another lesson there, son. If you lose control and speak angry words, you pierce the souls of those you love. It’s easy to lose control and say angry words. It takes a lot more effort to smooth things over, just like all the work it would take to smooth out this wood again. It’s always better to not do the damage in the first place.”
Then there’s the dandelion as an illustration of how hard it is to take back eth words we speak. Pick it when it’s gone-to-seed fluffy. One little puff and off they go far and wide into the world. But just try to gather them all back up again!
In an article about speaking truth in politics, from Religion News Network, Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb said, “Words matter profoundly in a tradition that says God created the entire world through speech. We are told in Genesis Chapter 1 that we who are created in the divine image should strive to be divine in our use of speech. That means every word we utter should reflect our values, and one of the highest of those values is truth.”
Now James mentions another problem with the tongue. “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”
In the physical world, you will never have a salty spring give you fresh water. And every plant gives only one kind of fruit. There are no grapes growing on fig trees. But in our hearts, it seems like we can have both good and evil, and it flows out of our mouths too, sometimes sweet, sometimes sour. Except that one wrong or evil word can ruin a years-long reputation of good character. Thank God for his grace and mercy by which we can be forgiven! There is no other way we can solve this problem. We should just admit that without God’s help we will always at some time or another lose control of our tongue and are likely to start a fire of backlash, hurt feelings or regret.
On the positive side, we have Ephesians 4:29. “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
Now remember, while James is talking here about the good and bad uses of the tongue, and pointing out how difficult it is to reign it in so that we do not sin, his primary concern is not to convince us that we can manage this on our own. He wants his audience to be impressed by their great need of placing their faith and trust in the one who can change them in to people of more godly character who have greater control of their tongues.
“My friend, you and I are lost sinners and we come to Jesus Christ bringing nothing and receiving everything from Him. And if you’re able to give, if you’re able to serve, if you’re able to witness, if you’re able to control your tongue properly — that all comes from Him. You can’t do anything for Him without being filled by the Holy Spirit. If God has saved you, He has saved you by faith--plus nothing. God is not accepting any kind of good works for salvation. But after you are saved, God talks to you about your works.” [i]
God loves you. He is not scolding anybody. He does want us to understand our very great need of his forgiveness and mercy. He does want us to see how sinful we are and deserving of death and hell, not so that we’re filled with shame, but so that we turn to him and receive his mercy and grace. He has no anger toward you. He is the great rescuer. He knows you are in a predicament that you can’t fix on your own. He loves you and offers his amazing grace, a great help in a time of great need. He loves you! He wants to help! That’s why Jesus came into this world. By his Word, we were created. By our words, we condemn ourselves to death. But by God’s Word we can be made alive again in Christ! Believe the pure and perfect word of the gospel and feel how much he loves you!
Showed “Words” by Hawk Nelson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anVweXDcxhA
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