Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his 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 person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.7
All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8 but no man 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 men, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. — James 3:1-12 (NIV)
Have you ever been hung by your tongue? Sometimes our tongues can get us into a lot of trouble.
It was his first day on the job. He was a new clerk in the green goods department of a super market. A lady came up to him and said she wanted to buy half of a head of lettuce. He tried to dissuade her from that goal, but she persisted. Finally he said, "I’ll have to go back and talk to the manager." He went to the rear of the store to talk to the manager, not noticing that the woman was walking right behind him. When he got into the back of the store, he said to the manager, "There’s some stupid old bag out there who wants to buy half a head of lettuce. What should I tell her?" Seeing the horrified look on the face of the manager, he turned about and, seeing the woman, added, "And this nice lady wants to buy the other half of the head of lettuce. Will it be all right?" Relieved, the manager said, "That would be fine." Later in the day, he congratulated the boy on his quick thinking and asked, "Where are you from, son?" The boy said, "I’m from Toronto, Canada, the home of beautiful hockey players and ugly women." The manager replied, "My wife is from Toronto" — to which the boy said, "Oh, what team did she play for?"
As I said, our tongues can get us into a lot of trouble. And so can the tongues of others. Three pastors went fishing together in the northern wilderness of Canada. While they were there they began to talk about their innermost thoughts. One confessed that he had been guilty of certain sins. He named them, and then he urged the other two to confess their weaknesses. The second pastor confessed that he too, had certain weaknesses and recounted them in detail. The third pastor remained silent for a long time. Finally when pressed by his fellow elders to reveal his weaknesses, he said, "Brethren, I don’t think you want to know my weaknesses, but since you insist, I am going to tell you. I just love to gossip, and I can hardly wait to get home."
Often, we don’t think before we speak. A few years ago the Columbus Dispatch published a list of questions that lawyers had asked people on the stand. David Broome of Phoenix sent these questions, which were taken from official court records:
Q: Was that the same nose you broke as a child?
Q: Now, doctor, isn’t it true that when a person dies in his sleep, in most cases he just passes quietly away and doesn’t know anything about it until the next morning?
Q: What happened then?
A: He told me, he says, "I have to kill you because you can identify me."
Q: Did he kill you?
Q: Was it you or your brother that was killed in the war?
Q: The youngest son, the 20-year-old, how old is he?
Q: Were you alone or by yourself?
Q: How long have you been a French Canadian?
Q: Do you have any children or anything of that kind?
Q: I show you Exhibit 3 and ask you if you recognize that picture.
A: That’s me.
Q: Were you present when that picture was taken?
One of my favorites is a list of actual statements given on insurance forms by people involved in car accidents. "Coming home, I drove into the wrong house and collided with a tree I don’t have." "The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him." "I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law, and headed over the embankment." "In my attempt to kill a fly, I drove into a telephone pole." "I was on my way to the doctors with rear end trouble when my universal joint gave way, causing me to have an accident." "I had been driving my car for 40 years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had an accident." "The pedestrian had no idea which direction to go, so I ran over him."
Sometimes what out tongues say is funny — sometimes it is not. Our tongues can, at times, hurt us and others. As we have seen, sometimes the tongue in say things we don’t mean. The problem comes when the tongue says things we do mean, but things we ought not to say. Someone once said, "We should remember that the tongue is in a wet place, and can slip easily." God certainly knew what he was doing when he put our tongues in a cage behind our teeth, walled in by our mouths. The Bible has a lot to say about the negative things our tongues can cause. The Bible refers to a wicked tongue, a deceitful tongue, a lying tongue, a perverse tongue, a filthy tongue, a corrupt tongue, a bitter tongue, an angry tongue, a crafty tongue, a flattering tongue, a slanderous tongue, a gossiping tongue, a backbiting tongue, a blaspheming tongue, a foolish tongue, a boasting tongue, a murmuring tongue, a complaining tongue, a cursing tongue, a contentious tongue, a sensual tongue, a vile tongue, a tale-bearing tongue, a whispering tongue, and an exaggerating tongue. It should be apparent, with this much about the tongue, that the tongue is a very important member of the human body.
So, how can we avoid being hung by our tongues? In this passage from James, we can see three keys that will enable us to keep our tongue from becoming a noose around our neck.
Most people seriously underestimate the power of the tongue. That is a mistake. We must never underestimate its power. James tells us that the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. And there is good reason for that. It is powerful.
It has the power to control our lives. James gives us the examples of horses and ships. Look at verses 3-4:
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.
James is telling us that something small can steer something large. Compared to the size of a horse, a bit is relatively small. Likewise, compared to the size of a ship, a rudder is relatively small. But both steer and direct something much larger.
In much the same way our tongues direct our lives. They control the direction in which we are traveling. And so, in a very real way, they control our lives. That’s power! Our words have a tremendous impact both on ourselves and on the others. They can encourage or discourage, heal or hurt. Whoever said, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" must have been deaf.
The words of others have had a powerful impact upon our lives. Karen Carpenter died unexpectedly of heart failure at age 32 brought on by years of self-abuse from the eating disorder Anorexia Nervosa. Later CBS released a program called The Karen Carpenter Story. USA Today, commenting on an that release asked, "But what brought on Karen’s fatal obsession with weight control? It seems a reviewer once called her "Richard’s chubby sister." Could it be true that a single comment could so impact someone’s life?
Some people can tell you that the comments of a teacher, or friend, or significant individual changed the very course of their lives. The tongue has the power to control and direct our lives.
Another thing about the tongue — it has the power to corrupt our lives. Look at verses 5a-6:
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 person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
What a terrible picture of the tongue! James tells us that the tongue is like a fire that consumes everything in its path. Just as great forests are destroyed by the careless toss of a match, so our tongues can destroy our lives as well.
James tells us that the tongue is a world of evil. He tells us that it is a corrupting force. He says that it is itself set on fire by hell. These are strong statements. But James is trying to make an important point. Never underestimate the power of the tongue to hurt you. It can destroy what you have. It can destroy who you are. In verse 8, James calls the tongue a restless evil, full of deadly poison. Beware the power of the tongue. Never underestimate it.
We must not only never underestimate the power of the tongue but we must also never turn it loose. Something with this much destructive power must be carefully watched and consistently controlled. If we let our tongues run wild, we will be hung by our tongue.
I once lived with a family on a small ranch. They had some cattle and horses. And, of course, there was a bull. While I was there I had to do my part in taking care of the animals. Some of the horses were in the barn in stalls and I had to feed them. One day I was down at the barn getting some feed for the horses. As I came out of one of the stalls, I sensed that there was something standing behind me. I slowly turned and found that I was facing the bull. What I experienced next was a great adrenaline rush. I must have looked like the bionic man as I jumped over the door to the stall.
There is an old saying that applies to situations like the one I found myself in. "It is the unwatched bull that gores you." When you live on a farm or a ranch, make sure you know where the bull is at all times.
Our tongue is like that. It must be guarded at all times. If we do not guard our tongues, they will run wild. We must be on constant watch. We must be on guard.
Proverbs 21:23 says, He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.
James reminds us that we must treat the tongue like a wild animal that is incapable of being domesticated.
7
All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8 but no man can tame the tongue.
While we may not be able to tame the tongue, we must control the tongue. We control wild beasts by keeping them in cages and by putting them in harnesses. We must do the same with our tongues. One way we can cage our tongue is to close our mouth. Someone said that a closed mouth gathers no feet. Someone else said that if your mind should go blank, don’t forget to turn off the sound. We do that when we close our mouth.
Ask God to help you guard what you say. David prayed in Psalm 141:3, "Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips." The Lord has to give you the power to control your tongue.
The third key in dealing with our tongue is to always listen to what it says. You see, what we say says something about us. Unless we are listening, we will miss the message.
James is a careful observer of human nature. He gives us his observations in verses 9-12:
9
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
What is James saying here? What conclusions has he drawn concerning what the tongue is saying to us? It is clear that James is telling us that the tongue is saying something very important about who we are because it reveals what is in our hearts.
In fact, this is precisely what Jesus taught. Listen to what he said in Matthew 12:34: "For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." In other words, the condition of our heart determines the content of our words.
Doesn’t bother you that we can be praising God right now and in less than an hour we can be cursing the driver who just cut in front of us? It should. We should listen carefully to ourselves and then we should determine to do something about what we hear.
I love the story of the minister who was making a wooden trellis to support a climbing vine. As he was pounding away, he noticed that a little boy was watching him. The youngster didn’t say a word, so the preacher kept on working, thinking the lad would leave. But he didn’t. Pleased at the thought that his work was being admired, the pastor finally said, "Well, son, trying to pick up some pointers on gardening?" "No," he replied. "I’m just waiting to hear what a preacher says when he hits his thumb with a hammer."
If we don’t like what we hear then we must recognize that the problem is with the condition of our heart. And the only way to change our heart is to turn to God and humble ourselves. Perhaps we need to prayed prayer like David prayed in Psalm 51:10 when he said: "Create in me a pure heart, God, and make my spirit right again." I like the way the Living Bible translates this verse: "Create in me a new, clean heart, O God, filled with clean thoughts and right desires."
When our hearts are right before God, our tongues will more consistently speak those things that encourage, build up, and heal. And when we do this, we will feel better about ourselves and we will make a real difference in the lives of others.
Copyright © 2000 J. David Hoke. This data file is the sole property of the copyright holder and may be copied only in its entirety for circulation freely without charge. All copies of this data file must contain the above copyright notice.
This data file may not be copied in part (except for small quotations used with citation of source), edited, revised, copied for resale or incorporated in any commercial publications, recordings, broadcasts, performances, displays or other products offered for sale, without the written permission of the copyright holder. Requests for permission should be made in writing and e-mailed to J. David Hoke, at David@JDavidHoke.com.