Prayer
Reading
Passage will be read from off the screen, slides 2-5
Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 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.
3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 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. 5 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. 6 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.
7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
Knowing your enemyThose are strong words, aren’t they! Just in reading this passage, it’s clear that James isn’t messing around, and he wants to make it clear that this is a big issue that Christian’s everywhere need to get serious about dealing with. Now, to me, when I read this passage, I read it a little bit like a war strategy. It kicks off by giving us three characteristics of our tongues, then dives into some different strategies on how to deal with the issues it can cause. It’s essential for us to understand these aspects of the tongue in order to properly address its nature. Without understanding these basic principles, we’ll be floundering in light of its power.
So here we go; three characteristics of the tongue.
- The tongue influences and affects everybody – you know, when I first read this passage, I thought that it wasn’t really talking about me, and why should it? After I’m a pretty good guy. I don’t yell at bad drivers in the road, right? I don’t have outbursts of rage at people everywhere I go, I don’t even swear – when others can hear me. Surely this passage is talking about somebody else. I thought this until I caught the last part of verse 2. Did you catch it? It says “Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.” In other words, only a perfect person has their tongue completely in check. Now, as Christian’s, we all know who the only perfect person is right? It’s Jesus! Everybody else left on this planet, all 7 billion of us, still struggle with our tongues from time to time. Everybody for the worst criminal to Pastor Bob himself. Maybe we can’t always recognize it right away, but there’s definitely somewhere in everybody’s life where our words reign unchecked. That can look in many different ways in many different people. Maybe it lies in how you talk about others when they’re not around. Maybe your words cause disunity among your peers rather than unity. Maybe it lies in how you deal with your anger. There’s an endless amount of situations where we could inadvertently use our tongues for wrong, and this is a problem all of us suffer from.
- The tongue has influence over our entire being – throughout verses 3-6, we can see a reoccurring theme in the passage where the tongue is compared to something small that has great influence, in verse three, the bits we put into a horse’s mouth, in verse 4, the rudder we use to steer a ship, and in verse 6, the little spark that starts a massive forest fire. In light of the Fort McMurray wildfire, I think we are all familiar with the immense power a wildfire has, and to think that all was started by one little spark. 80000 were displaced for weeks as a result of the one spark. The tongue is compared to something devastating like this for a reason. Our words have the power to build unity, trust, acceptance, and relationship, or they have the power to totally alienate someone. The tongue is a small part of the body, yes, but it’s influence is far greater then it’s stature, and it’s paramount that it’s effects not be ignored.
- The tongue cannot be controlled – We see this idea developed in verses 7-8 of our passage, check it out. It says that “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.” In the message Bible, it makes this statement a bit differently. It says “You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue”. now let me ask you a question, how many of you guys out there have traded in your dog for a tiger? How many of you have tried to convince your mothers or spouse that this was a pretty neat idea? You wouldn’t adopt a tiger into your home! That’s crazy, those things are dangerous, but this verse is suggesting that we are better off with the tiger, then a piece of our own bodies. This picture really shows just how out of control our tongues can become, and how hopeless it can feel to deal with it on your own. Has anyone ever told you to just stop swearing? What about to just get your life under control? How helpful was that advice to you, really? Unfortunately, the tongue can’t be managed by our own means. We can’t bite down on out tongues every time we think something bad is going to happen, this kind of strategy will only weaken our resolve and wear us down till we’re exhausted. Unfortunately, we’re better off trying to tame a tiger then controlling the tongue.
Results of a losing strategy
- It Affects our relationship of God.
- It Affects our relationship with others
First/Secound Slide about bullying
It’s clear that even our secular society understands the destructive power of our words. We can’t be naive about how our gossip or hurtful words can affect people; the stakes are too high. But that’s not the end of the story, bullying also has a notable impact on the bully as well. Take a look.
Third Slide about bullying
Not only do our words effect the people around us, they also effects ourselves as well, which leads us to our third point
- It effects ourselves.
The winning Strategy – Attack the sourceSo what do we do? How do we respond to this issue? How do we cure the evil in a restless tongue? well, fortunately for us, Jesus already wrote the prescription. It says in Matthew 12:34 “…the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” See, our mouths are not the root of the issue at all, our hearts are! Our tongues don’t instigate the things we say, but rather, they act as a witness to what’s happening inside of your heart. The tongue can’t be thought of as the individual instigator for evil, but rather, as an exit point for it to emerge from your heart. It’s for this reason that Jesus doesn’t challenge His followers examine their mouths, but examine their hearts.
So what’s going on in your heart? The heart is one of the core issues of our faith, and one of the reasons Jesus had to come and die in the first place. It says in Jeremiah 17:9 that the heart is “desperately wicked”. Every insult, lie, gossip, and snide remark emerges through our tongues directly from the heart. When it comes to our lives, the heart is instigator of our tongue, and when it comes to our relationship with God, our heart is what leads the charge of rebellion.
To our human standards, it doesn’t seem like we are bad people, but when we compare ourselves to God, the difference is like night and day. Not many of us have seen God face to face, but those who have actually felt unworthy in his presence. The prophet Isaiah is one such man who appeared before God, and we know from His account in Isaiah 6 that he reported feeling shameful and guilty in God’s presence. Despite being a renowned prophet of God and a loyal follower of Him, Isaiah still was faced with his sinfulness when in the presence of God. To Him, the contrast in his shortcomings was nothing less than overwhelming.
New CreationsHere’s the good new though, it doesn’t have to be that way. Christ has written the prescription to a wicked heart, and that is the gospel! Christ came to earth and died for all of us, and through His sacrifice, He is able to restore us and clean our hearts! Because He came to earth, all of humanity is able to know the depravity of their hearts, and where they can go to get it restored. That offer is open to everybody here, today. If you struggle with your heart today; if you have a problem with anger, temptation, laziness, selfishness, or whatever else, know this; Christ came for you, and wants to transform your heart.
Keys to conquering the tongue
- Learn to talk less, and listen more
- Seek to love others with what you say
CommunionWe’re going to move on into a time of communion soon, but before we do that, I really want to encourage all of you out there if God’s pressing something on your hearts to address right now that you take the time and deal with it. The reality is, all of us our guilty of misusing our tongue somewhere in our lives. Ask yourself, are you using your tongue in a God honoring way? Does your anger lead you to outbursts that hurt others? Do you talk about your friends, church family, or spouse around others in such a way that builds them up, or knocks them down? Are you a gossip? Do your words speak encouragement to others? Are you thankful for what you have, or do you whine and complain when things don’t go your way? Do you use your words to topple others opinions, or to affirm your love and acceptance of them? If you recognize any of those markers in your life, I want to encourage your right now, before you come to the table, to bring them before God; Ask for God’s forgiveness for your misuse of your tongue, and seek his guidance for healing. Maybe for some of you out there can’t think of anything, or feel that you have already dealt with these issues in your life. For you, I want to challenge you to seek a way that you can use your tongue to encourage somebody else today. Following God is about more than just following a bunch rules. God doesn’t care about how well we follow a checklist, but He does care about Christian’s living out their faith. The entire book of James is about just that idea; living it out. God isn’t worried about what you can’t do and shouldn’t do. He doesn’t want Christians to be a group of people who don’t swear, and don’t insult others, but rather, God is calling his followers to become people who do. People who encourage each other, and build them up with their words. People who seek unity with the people around them, and speak words of thankfulness with what they have. Christians are called to be people who love. People who fill their hearts with His word, so that their mouths overflow with His righteousness.