06 The Power of the Tongue (James 3:1-12)

 

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James 3:1-2

My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. ² For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. 

After talking about the importance of possessing a faith that results in works or action, James then goes on to talk about another important aspect, which is connected with communication and he goes into great detail to explain how we can actually do something about it if we want to. It concerns the use of our tongue, which is the main tool in verbal communication.

He begins by saying that not all of us should strive to become teachers because we who teach will be held accountable far more than those who are taught. We who have received more instruction and teaching, and teach others, will be judged more strictly than others who have received less. Since we are teaching, we should be the ones who lead by example. We cannot afford to teach one thing and practice the total opposite of what we teach. We would be hypocrites and though it might seem like we are deceiving those we teach, the only ones we are really deceiving are ourselves.

James goes on to say that we all make mistakes and commit sin in various ways, but if a person does not commit sin by the things he says, such a person is considered a perfect person and able to control the whole body. He seems to be saying that the most difficult thing to control in our bodies is our tongue. We can control the use of every other part of our bodies much easier than we can control the use of our tongues.

James 3:3-4

³ Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. ⁴ Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires.

James then begins to draw analogies from horses and ships, the two main modes of transportation back in the day. The horse was a fast means of transportation on land and the ship, a means of transportation at sea. Both these are powerful and bigger than man and yet man can control the direction both these move in a very simple way.

Bits are used in horses’ mouths to control the direction the horse moves. If we want the horse to obey us, we use a bit placed in its mouth to do that. That small little piece of metal helps turn the whole body of the animal in whichever direction the rider chooses. Be it a race or a battle or just moving from one place to the other, the direction the horse moves, can be controlled by that small bit in its mouth.

Likewise, ships are huge vessels, and back in the day were driven by winds and not by engines as they are today. But yet the direction of such mighty ships, both then and now, is controlled by a rudder. When it comes to airoplanes, the pilot uses the control wheel to turn the plane to the right or left, but that happens with the use of a small section on the planes’ wings called ailerons, which causes the turn in the aircraft. It’s similar with other modes of land transport that we use today, where it’s either a steering wheel or a handlebar that helps turn a car, bus, motorbike, cycle, etc. Wherever the ship captain, plane pilot, or car or bus driver chooses to turn the vehicle, all he does is turn one small part of the vehicle and the entire vehicle turns.

James 3:5-6

⁵ Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! ⁶ And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. 

In our bodies, there’s a small little member that can alter the direction our lives take – it’s our tongue. It can make boast of great things. How easy it is for us to boast about things we accomplish, or about the knowledge we possess or the things we possess, or the people we know, the skills we possess, etc. Before we know it, we’ve given rise to envy, coveting, fighting, and a whole lot of trouble.

James uses another analogy – this time a destructive one – it’s that of a forest fire. A very large forest fire usually starts off with a very small spark or small fire. This left unchecked can rage out of control causing destruction of lives and property in its path. We hear of so many forest fires happening across the globe today, some of them explained and some unexplained but all of them caused by a spark or a fire.

He goes on to say that just like a forest fire is destructive, so also the tongue can be very destructive. James calls it a fire and a world of iniquity, meaning that it can set fire to a lot of good things in life like marriage, relationships among friends, it can start war between nations, it can cause businesses to close due to losses incurred due to words. A single word like, ‘Nuclear,’ can cause the markets to plummet. It can also be the cause of all kinds of sins.

The tongue is placed inside our body as one such member that has the potential to cause much harm as it has the potential to do much good – it all depends on how we choose to use it. It can cause the entire body to become defiled, by the words that are spoken. It can cause others to feel defiled as well. It can change the entire direction our lives were meant to move in from a good direction to an entirely wrong and destructive direction; from the direction to heaven, to the direction of hell, and eventually the tongue itself will be set on fire in hell.

James 3:7-8

⁷ For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. ⁸ But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 

James then goes on to talk about how, not only can horses and ships be controlled by bits and rudders respectively, but adds that all kinds of wild animals, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures have been able to be tamed by man. Imagine that – creatures of the land, sky, and sea can be tamed. He goes on to lament that despite all this taming that’s been done, no one has learned to tame the tongue. We have not learned the art of controlling the way we use our tongues. We use it as we wish, to say what we want, to whom we want, when we want, and however we want – much like an untamed beast of the wild.

He goes on to call the tongue an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. The tongue seems to be unwilling to follow any rules and regulations – it’s like an evil law to itself. It’s got the capacity to hurt people and destroy relationships much like the poison of a snake can kill a person.

James 3:9-12

⁹ With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. ¹¹ Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? ¹² Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both saltwater and fresh.

With the same tongue we can both praise God through songs, and prayers, and praise, and also curse men who have been made in the image of God. We can’t afford to be dichotomous. If the same person is saying totally contradicting things, one to God and another to man, who’s created in the image of God, it means that we are not being ourselves - we are playing dual roles. We don’t always take into account this important fact that James points out here - that the people we hurt with our words are also created in the image of God as we are, and speaking ill of them is like speaking ill of the One who created them – God. So, in a sense, we speak well of God on the one hand and speak ill of God on the other.

The same tongue, in the same mouth, can bring forth both blessing and cursing – how sadly true that is. James says that this is not supposed to be so. James goes on to ask a question to make us think. He uses the analogy of a spring. Can a spring bring forth both fresh water and bitter water at the same opening? The answer is an undeniable, ‘No.’ As if to reiterate, he says, that just like a fig tree cannot bring forth olives, and a grapevine figs, but each tree brings forth its own fruit, so also, the same spring cannot bring forth both fresh and salty water. So, if that’s not possible then it should not be that the same tongue should produce both good words and bad words, both helpful and hurtful words, both blessing to God and cursing of men.

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Have a great day or night. God bless you.

Michael Collins