James is a strict teacher, as we've already noted, and today he has some very stern advice about taming the tongue. I don't know about you, but that's one of the areas where I need the most help. Sometimes I speak before I take time to think about what I'm going to say and how I'm going to say it, so I'm sure there are times I come across as insensitive. I hear the words coming out of my mouth and they don't exactly convey what I intended. I fuss out loud to myself in the car when traffic is bad or when someone cuts in front of me or takes my turn at a four-way stop. I've repeated gossip. I've expressed my unhappy or aggravated opinion about things when it would have been better to keep my opinion to myself. I've said negative things to myself and about myself with my tongue, haven't you? Haven't we put ourselves down? Haven't we expressed doubts and fears out loud? Haven't we said, "This is never going to work out," or, "This situation is never going to change," or, "God isn't going to bless somebody like me." When we give voice to such things, we make them a part of our reality when they don't need to be. We cause ourselves to believe the things we say with our tongues. So keeping this in mind, we can see that we all need James's advice today.
James begins by reminding us of the importance of watching what we say, and that's especially true for anyone in a position of religious authority, like a teacher. "Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 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." (James 3:1-2) A teacher, especially in ancient times, was held in high esteem. But this means that teachers are subjected to intense scrutiny. If a teacher of the word of God is caught in a sin, a whole bunch of people are going to start hearing about it within a very short time. That was true even in James's day when they didn't have the technology that's available to us now. Bad news spreads fast, even if it has to spread by word of mouth, so he warns anyone who feels a calling to teach that they are going to have to live lives that hold up to inspection. James is saying something similar to what Jesus said when He warned His listeners that being a disciple was going to cost them something. James is saying, "If you want to become a teacher, make sure you count the cost first. Can you handle the scrutiny? Can you live your private life as honorably as you live your public life?"
We all make mistakes, as James points out in verse 2, but the mistakes of those who hold authority in the church are going to be viewed more harshly. This doesn't mean that those of us who aren't in positions of authority can be lazy about monitoring our speech. The Lord Jesus understood the effect our words have on ourselves and on others, so He said, "What goes into someone's mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, this is what defiles them." (Matthew 15:11)
The apostle now uses some examples to illustrate his point. "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." (James 3:3-5) We might be tempted to think that since the tongue is such a small member of the body, it doesn't matter how we use it. We might think that using our tongues to speak in ungodly ways matters less than using our hands or our whole bodies in ungodly ways. But just the opposite is true. How many wars have been started by words? How many relationships have been broken by words? How many reputations have been harmed by words? James says that our words are like a small spark that starts a huge forest fire. One little word---one wrong word---can swiftly cause things to spiral out of control.
People are often more forgiving of our actions than of our words. Words are powerful and they linger in the mind long after they've been spoken. I bet you can think back on your life and remember hurtful things that have been said to you, maybe things that were spoken to you as far back as childhood. I know I can. I have more trouble remembering unkind things people did to me than remembering unkind things they said to me. This is why James uses such strong and sobering words when he says what he says next: "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." (James 3:6) Just as the bit in the horse's mouth turns it to the right or the left, and just as a ship's rudder is capable of steering it, our tongues are able to lead our our bodies. Unfortunately, our tongues sometimes lead our bodies in the wrong direction. How many wicked schemes, thefts, and murders started as talk between two or more people? How many affairs began with a few flirtatious words? How many feuds broke out because tongues were repeating gossip or spreading rumors? How many times have our tongues promised things that we later regretted promising? I don't know about you, but my tongue has promised things it shouldn't have, and there have been times I've had too much pride to back out of things I should have backed out of. The tongue is a small part of our bodies but it is so powerful that it can lead our bodies wherever it wants them to go.
James urgently appeals to us, "Be careful what you say! Speech is not harmless. It will take you places you never intended to go and it will cause you to do things you never intended to do. The tongue is a dangerous thing; use it wisely."
Man has been able to tame many things on this earth, but we have not perfected the taming of the tongue. "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." (James 3:7-8) Our tongues want to talk, don't they? For some reason we feel the need to fill the silence, and James refers to our tongues as being "restless", meaning we can't be silent for very long.
I fell in love with words almost from birth. My parents used to have some old reel-to-reel audio tapes of me saying my first words at the age of six months. I know that's hard to believe, (I wouldn't believe it myself if it wasn't on those tapes and if my family and my family's friends didn't see it themselves), but my dad used to jokingly tell people, "She started talking at six months and hasn't stopped since." (My parents hoped my early talking meant I was going to be a genius, but their hopes were dashed. I was a very poor student in most subjects, plus I was lazy and uninterested in my schoolwork, preferring only to socialize. I was in very real danger of not graduating high school because I couldn't seem to memorize anything contained in my required Government class during senior year. I still sometimes have nightmares that I failed Government and didn't graduate.) My parents enjoyed encouraging me to say a word to someone in public while I was still a bald-headed and drooling infant because they thought it was the coolest thing ever. It wasn't; it actually creeped people out. In addition to occasionally creeping people out by the things that we say, there's another reason why a love of speaking many words is a bad thing, because King Solomon said, "Sin is not ended by multiplying words, but the prudent hold their tongues." (Proverbs 10:19) Or as some versions of the Bible render this verse, "In the multitude of words there lacketh not sin." Where many words are present, sin is usually present.
James says no human being can tame the tongue. But that doesn't mean it's hopeless. There is nothing our God can't do, and with His help we can learn to use our tongues to speak words that are helpful and encouraging. Reaching out to God for help begins with realizing we are new creatures in Christ and that there are certain things that our tongues should not say. We have to repent of this and rely on the Lord's strength to resist saying things that don't line up with who we are in Christ. "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." (James 3:9-12) James keeps calling his readers "brothers and sisters" because he's giving his advice with love in his heart, saying, "My brothers and sisters in Christ, we all have to watch what we say. We have to remember who we are in Christ. We have to check our speech against who we are. If our speech is contrary to our new nature, we need to repent and let God help us. Words matter. They can build someone up or they can tear someone down. They can lead us down the right path or they can drag us down a dark road."
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