Foolproof – A Study of James January 21, 2007
TALKING Faith – James 3:1-12
Video: One Word – from www.sermonspice.com
Recap: A few weeks ago we started a series in James about having a foolproof faith. That is, possessing a faith that can’t be fooled into thinking we have real faith when we’re religious and can’t be fooled into embracing anything not of God if we’re saved. Throughout our series we’ve looked at the qualities of authentic faith that enable us to live God-honoring lives. Today we’re going to talk about the tongue.
Idea: The tongue is a fascinating muscle. W/ it, our taste-buds offer pleasure by telling our minds if something is sweet or sour, spicy or bitter. It allows us to shape thoughts into sounds to share words that express our ideas and emotions.
Idea: Our tongues aren’t all good. W/ it we can sabotage relationships and inflict pain. Someone once mistakenly said, "Stick and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me." Truth is, sticks and stones can break bones, but words can crush a spirit, assassinate a character, and destroy a relationship.
Note: Here is the thing about words. They reflect what is in our hearts. The tongue is the bucket that dips into the well of our heart. (stick out your tongue)
I The NATURE of the Tongue
Note: What is the tongue? How does it work? Why does it have such great control in our lives? Why is it necessary to gain control over this muscle?
Note: Every tongue is capable of the most grotesque and hideous of sins. The Bible describes the tongue as wicked, perverse, corrupt, vile, complaining, slanderous, cursing, foolish, filthy, blasphemous, sensual and gossiping. It’s no wonder God put the tongue in a cage behind the teeth. The tongue discloses the inner you and it is a tattletale revealing the contents of your heart.
Trans: The tongue is of great concern to God. In James alone, the tongue is cited in every chapter (1:19; 2:12; 3:1-12; 4:11; 5:12) – ch. 3 provides the most insight. But in the context of having a foolproof faith, James says the tongue is the best device to measure the depth of our commitment. He says the genuineness of a person’s faith will invariably be demonstrated by his speech.
Note: Jesus said – You can be sure that on the Judgment Day you will have to give account of every useless word you have ever spoken. Your words will be used to judge you – to declare you either innocent or guilty. Mt.12:36-37.
Note: This means that your spiritual temperature can be measured by the thermometer of your words. If your nature has been transformed then your speech/behavior will be transformed revealing that your nature has been redeemed.
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A The Tongue is DEFINING
Text: Not many of you should presume to be teachers, b/c you know we who teach will be judged more strictly. 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.
Note: While no one’s perfect, words confirm the validity and maturity of a one’s faith.
Word: stumble – to trip or to fall. The idea is feet that stumble bring the body crashing to the ground just as ungodly words reveal a faltering faith.
Story: When I was 6, I played 55 lb. football (thigh pads hit your knees and knee pads hit you ankles – and you look like a human bobblehead). We were in the super bowl down 6 w/ a minute to play and I had the opportunity for Hall of Fame stardom. I received a kick-off and was running up the field when a hole opened up and there was nothing b/w me and the goal line. As my little legs motored toward the goal line and certain stardom, I tripped over a blade of grass and came crashing to the ground on my opponent’s 4 yard line. Instantly I went from hero to goat. The thrill of victory gave way to the agony of the feet. In my immaturity, I tripped over my own two feet and my team lost the game.
Word: perfect – mature and complete. The idea is that maturity in Christ is directly related to the words we speak. If we’re able to control our tongues then it reveals that we’re mature and wise. Adversely, if we can’t hold our tongues, then we reveal the immaturity and possible lostness of our faith.
Word: bridle – refers to the horsemanship of an expert horseman. An expert horseman knows how to rein in his horse and control his movements. In the same way, a mature believer knows how to control his conversations. He knows when to listen, when to speak, and what to say – always measuring his words.
B The Tongue is DIRECTING
Text: 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’re large and driven by strong winds, they’re steered by a small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.
Note: James offers two analogies to show the tongue’s ability – a ship’s rudder and a horse’s bit – both possessing the ability to control one’s direction.
Note: The tongue is like a horse’s bit controlling the direction of our lives. Just as a bit controls a horse our words force our bodies to back up what we say.
Story: Once in Montana, I was riding horses when I lost hold of the reins while galloping along. The horse immediately took advantage of the situation and instead of turning left w/ the others, my horse continued ahead w/ no regard for the danger before him. Fortunately, I was able to regain control of the reins and pull the horse to a stop.
Note: Similarly, the tongue if left unbridled will runaway out of control leading to destruction. A few ill-spoken/misplaced words can implode a relationship, a marriage, and even a friendship.
Insert: A young man who went to a monk and confessed he’d shared a slanderous tale about someone. The monk told the man to put a feather on the door step of every house in town – which he did. Believing he’d have to do more to receive forgiveness, he returned to the monk asking what to do next. The monk told him to go back and pick up all of the feathers. The man responded, “That’s impossible! By now the wind has blown them all over the town!” To which the monk replied, “So have your slanderous words become impossible to retrieve.”
C The Tongue is DESTRUCTIVE
Text: 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 person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
Note: James says our tongue is like a fire that can quickly get out of control and destroy anything in its path. It’s highly combustible. Meaning our words are but a sulfur match awaiting a strike.
Note: In Jackson, a house was set on fire b/c a child accidentally tipped over a gas can and the fuel rushed to a nearby hot water tank. Combustion was immediate and w/in seconds the room was a blaze. Fortunately, the older sister rescued her brother, but the house was lost in minutes. We too play w/ our words in places where a simple spark can ignite a raging fire that destroys anything in its path.
Truth: We tolerate a bit of “fire” in our speech, thinking it can do no harm. But fire spreads quickly; often before we realize it. Here’s the point, it doesn’t matter if the fire is intentional or not, it is a raging fire that leaves devastation in its path.
1 GOSSIP and SLANDER
Define: GOSSIP is spreading rumor and untruth w/ the potential to injure or defame.
Note: The OT word for gossip means whispering that’s damaging. The NT word conveys a secret attack on a person’s character.
Verse: W/out wood a fire goes out; w/out a gossip a quarrel dies down. As charcoal to embers and as wool to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife. The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts. Pr. 26:20f
Note: Notice the gossip’s destruction. It stirs up dissension, separates relationships, betrays confidence and keeps trouble ablaze. It begins in the heart.
Define: SLANDER is sharing truth w/ in intention of injury or defamation. It is taking an unfortunate situation and making it worse by spreading it around.
2 LYING and EXAGGERATION
Insert: I read an article about lying, Is it a Sin to Tell a Lie. The author said it isn’t only social acceptable but necessary we lie. She wrote, “Truthfulness might not always be the highest virtue, but often some deception is necessary for humans to live together.” I guess God didn’t know what He was saying when He instructed Moses, “Thou shall not bear false witness.” According to Bella DePaulo, everyone lies at least once or twice per day w/ 20-33% of our social interactions including some untruths about our actions, feelings, or opinions. She says we lie out of self interest, to avoid punishment, to manipulate others or to gain an advantage over someone. Truth has fallen upon hard times.
Quote: Our culture has shifted to the ethics of expediency and self-advancement, so falsehood is not only tolerated but even encouraged in many cases. Stowell This means that what once used to be a vice is now viewed as a virtue.
Note: Truth aligns us w/ God b/c God himself is truth, Jesus is the embodiment of truth, and the H.S. bears witness w/ it. Thus, when we receive the truth into our lives we are called out to reflect the truth in our words and in our actions.
3 CRITICISM and MURMURRING
Note: CRITICISM is unjustly passing negative judgment on someone to tear them down instead of build them up. It is a personal one-on-one attack. It’s sharing negative and discouraging words meant to crush a person’s spirit.
Note: MURMURRING is criticizing someone behind their back to others w/ the intent of gathering support to initiate a coo.
D The Tongue is DEADLY
Note: All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It’s restless evil full of deadly poison.
Note: Not only is the tongue a fire but it’s a dangerous animal. It’s truly amazing all that man has tamed. We stick our heads in the mouths of lions. We have dogs that can bark out jingle bells, elephants that play soccer, and chimps that sign. Man has conquered nearly every mountain in the world, yet he has yet to conquer his own tongue. The tongue is rogue dangerous w/ a license to kill.
Note: James says the tongue is full of deadly poison. James is borrowing from an O.T. passage that says “The poison of asps is under their lips.”
Note: The poison in the lips can be secret and slow or fast like the poison of the “Two Step” snake. If biten, you seldom take more than two steps before you die. The venom instantaneously paralyzes the nervous system stopping the heart. Words can have a similar effect. They have the ability to kill a relationship, paralyze a love, poison a mind, stain a person’s purity and deface a person’s reputation.
D The Tongue is DISLOYAL
Text: W/ the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and w/ it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
Quote: I try to watch the words I speak and keep them soft and sweet, for I do not know from day to day which ones I’ll have to eat.
V The TAMING of the Tongue
Trans: What can we do to tame tongue? Let’s be honest. Trying to tame the tongue is like handling nitroglycerin during a panic attack – it’s highly volatile.
Story: Meg challenges me on this issue. This might be hard to believe, but like many of you, I’ve on more than one occasion said something before thinking about the impact of my words. I just believe that if you have room, why not try to get both feet in your mouth instead of just one of them. Anyhow, much to Meg’s credit and more to my dismay, she had me memorize a verse from Proverbs.
Verse: He who guards his lips guards his life, but a man who speaks rashly will come to ruin. Pr. 13:3 I’ve gleaned three important truths from this verse.
A RESPECT the Tongue
Note: Never forget what the tongue is capable of doing.
Quote: If your mind should ever go blank, don’t forget to turn off the sound. unknown
B MEASURE Your Words.
Insert: Choose your words wisely sizing them up before you release them. Remember, your words are a direct reflection upon God. THINK before you speak.
1 T – Is it TRUE see Eph. 4:25-32
Insert: Many people view truth like Twinkies – they know those gooey little goodies aren’t good for them, but if eaten in moderation, they think they won’t hurt.
Verse: Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. Eph. 4:25
Insert: THINK – Is it honest and have I expressed the truth w/out being brutal?
2 H – Is it HELPFUL
Verse: Don’t use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you. Eph. 4:29
Note: THINK – Are my words encouraging and helpful to the situation?
3 I – Is it INSPIRING
Verse: If you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin, and do not stay angry all day. Eph 4:26
Note: THINK – Am I being motivated by Christ w/in or my frustration w/in?
Quote: If you speak when angry you’ll make the greatest speech you’ll ever regret.
4 N – It is NECESSARY
Verse: Get rid of all bitterness, passion, and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feelings of any sort. Eph 4:31
Note: THINK – Can I express myself w/out saying hurtful things in frustration? Remember, you catch more bees w/ honey.
5 K – Is it KIND
Verse: Instead, be kind and tender-hearted to one another, and forgive one another, as God has forgiven you through Christ. Eph 4:32
Note: THINK – Am I speaking to others the way I would want to be spoken to?
Note: Kindness involves showing compassion and grace to those who don’t deserve it and not holding someone’s mistakes against them.
C DIFFUSE Your tongue.
Note: If the tongue is the bucket that dips into the well of the heart, then the best way to diffuse the tongue is to keep the contents of the well pure. No matter how many times you change the bucket, if the contents don’t change, then the buckets will only deliver dirty water.
Note: The best way to diffuse the tongue is to change the water in the well. We’re born w/ dirty water, but through Christ and salvation, God will clean us and give us living water. (Jn 4; Rm. 10:9-13). If we’re saved and have polluted our wells w/ the sin of the world, then we need only to confess our sin and He is faith and just to forgive us (1 Jn. 1:9).
RESOURCES
Sermons: Joey Rodgers – The Power of the Spoken Word – 6.22.01
Websites: www.sermonspice.com for video clip – One Word
Books: John MacArthur – Commentary on James
John MacArthur – Bible Study – Guidelines for a Happy Christian Life
Clayton Harrop – The Letter of James
Harold Fickett – Faith that Works
