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James 3:1-12
“The Merger”
“There should be no separation between speech and life.”
Sunday Morning Sermon
09/09/07
Intro:
Icaught.com – “your three words video” – posted on their website – it’s good and some of the words are very powerful.
(Start with Title and Text)
Our words are important. The words we say, how we say them and when we choose to express them – are all very important. When we were kids we’d repeat something – “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me…” Words are very powerful. It doesn’t take much effort to always say what you think. It takes a whole lot more effort to think about what you say.
Have you ever known someone to say one thing and do another? We generally have a word for them – Hypocrite. It’s not a very pretty word to put on someone – because it means so much. What happens so many times is what I call a great separation between what we believe or claim to believe and application in every day life. The exposure to that separation will get you labeled hypocrite, it’s not very pretty.
What I hope to do this morning is merge those two back together. When people look at our church I want them to see that merger between what we claim to believe and what show we believe with our actions, is the same. If we are a service oriented church – let’s back it up. If we want to reach people for Christ – regardless of the baggage or weirdness they might bring with them – let’s back it up.
Discussion:
The last part of Chapter two, in the book of James, deals with our actions, faith and deeds. Our text this morning – deals with the tongue. The church that James is writing to – was having a problem with the merger. What they were claiming to believe, was not the same as what they were showing. He wants what I want this morning for that merger to take place between the words we say and the belief we claim.
There should be no separation between speech and life. I don’t want to fill this up with cliché after cliché but – you’ve heard the old saying – actions speak louder than words – I want to suggest that if we make our words mean something, they will be the standard by which we are judged. You have to have action to follow it up. But we aren’t judged by our words because many times they don’t mean anything, and people want to see something real, they want something true – but they don’t see the words we speak as both of those things. That’s what we are dealing with this morning.
If you have your Bibles turn with me to James 3:1-12 (Read) (advance)
I see three things this morning – talking about the merger between our speech and our lives. He speaks specifically to the leadership, to everyone else, and then about the merger.
(advance)
I. Inside the Church – Leadership
a. “Teacher”
Was a place of honor, it was a position of authority – it carried weight. Jesus was called teacher by the scribes as well as the disciples – this is just one example: (advance)
Matthew 8:19 (NIV) – Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."
“Teacher” in the early church was overlapped with other types of leaders, like preachers, missionaries, elders and apostles.
b. We have to watch out for pride – we who teach
i. Thinking we are better than others – God uses us more, or that we have some connection with God that others don’t.
So this role of teacher is special – and not everyone qualifies. (advance) James 3:1 not many of you should presume to be teachers… Understand preacher/teacher was probably interchangeable. The problem was – not that good people, qualified people, educated people, gifted people standing up and explaining God’s word – The problem was just people standing up wanting to talk. Maybe use the pulpit or the teaching position to set people straight – preach politics, or do something other than what God had called them to do. I believe a heavy weight should be placed on the words preached, and the word of God that is preached.
Just like I’m not qualified to play QB in the NFL for the super bowl champs – these people were not qualified to preach and teach the word of God – I can throw a football, but I can’t take a hit – I’m shorter than most football players, I’ve got more of a belly than most football players – I would get killed. When it came down to judgment time I would lose.
Preaching and teaching also has a judgment with it. Church leadership and eldership has a judgment with it. The times in scripture where judgment is in various degrees – it’s always bad, it’s always a warning and it should always be approached with caution.
You shouldn’t gain a church leadership position because you missed a meeting – “I don’t know what happened, I was gone two Sundays and the next they tell me I’m a deacon.” (advance)
1 Timothy 3:1 (New Century Version) What I say is true: Anyone wanting to become an overseer desires a good work.
c. A person must truly desire the position
i. Because of the judgment and responsibility that comes with the work.
James is right, not everyone who can stand up here, should stand up here.
Teaching and Leadership does not demand sinless perfection. However, it does demand that one strive to control the tongue. A sign of maturity is the ability to hold the tongue – making your words count, and mean something. We are long past the days of “Do as I say and not as I do” when it comes to church and church leadership.
Leadership – there is a high responsibility and a high reward that comes with a job well done. There is also a higher sense of judgment, if you do your work without consideration or effort. Keep your tongue in check. Just like James I put myself in that group too – knowing the high responsibility that comes with this task of ministry.
He doesn’t leave his instructions for the teachers – but this middle section is for everyone – for the merger to take place, between our speech and our lives we must watch our tongue. (advance)
II. Inside the church – Everyone included
a. Everyone must fight for control over their tongue
Let me illustrated it for you
b. Take a horse as an example
i. You put a bit in its mouth and you control the whole animal. You can make them run, make them walk make them stop – just by that one bit.
c. Or Ships
i. They are HUGE – and driven by strong winds
1. But when it comes down to control it’s a small rudder
d. The tongue
i. Is a small part of the body (everyone stick you tongue out at me) – but it makes great boasts – and controls one’s life.
You will never be independent of your tongue. If you need to pat yourself on the back, or tell others how wonderful you think you are, or how much you’ve done – you can use it – it happens all the time in the church. The fire of the tongue affects every aspect of life.
e. Our words are very important
Paul tells the church in Ephesus: (advance)
Ephesians 4:29 (NIV) – Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
If we have brothers and sisters in Christ who are in need – we have the responsibility to build them up – according to their needs. We have the responsibility to encourage and lift up those around us.
f. It is however easier
i. To pick and offer criticism
ii. To be critical of things that don’t matter
iii. To lift ourselves up on the backs of those we partner with inside the church – this is done daily inside leadership teams and ministry teams in churches across the country.
iv. To offer hindsight when something fails or say nothing when something is good
v. To confirm a preconceived bad understanding
If I walked out of here this morning and Lance meets me at the door and says, “you didn’t have much time to study this week did you.” – Rob shakes my hand and says – “Not a well developed sermon, but a sermon”– I would be crushed. My calling from God is not about lance and rob – as nice as they are. I don’t preach to please either one of them. But it’s amazing how a few words can rip someone down instead of taking the time and building up. These instructions and the illustrations are for everyone – inside the church. Next he’s going to discuss the “Merger” – This involves everyone inside the church how we act towards those outside the church – all the time/every day.
(advance)
III. Outside the church – Everyday/Everybody
a. This is about our praising God
Isn’t it great that we can praise God? God is so powerful and so huge and the creator of everything that we see – it’s amazing to me that we could offer something to him. The Bible says that God inhabits the praises of his people. When we offer God our honest praise – he’s there. (advance)
1 Chronicles 16:9 (NIV) – Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.
i. It is good to praise God
1. To lift up your voice and sing
2. To give thanks for what he has done
3. To acknowledge his greatness
4. To humble yourself before him in adoration
It’s been awhile since we were just still and we just acknowledged that he is God. My life is so busy with phone calls and school and family – when do we have time to just be still and know that he is everything we need? I have a suggestion this morning – let’s take the time. We’re going to bow our heads this morning – clear our thoughts – focus on you and God. I’ll give you a minute or two and close with a prayer.
Lord we want to acknowledge you as all that we need. You are the maker of who we are. You are our great God, everlasting father. You have given us so much, we return to you praise and honor and glory. Lord, if we need forgiveness for something in our lives please show us – if something is preventing us from having a relationship with you – show us.
That wasn’t too bad, was it? We offered praise and glory back to God. We even used our tongue to do it. We did exactly what verse 9 says – “with the tongue we praise our Lord and father…” – that’s good stuff. That’s the most positive thing James has said about the tongue.
b. Here’s the problem
i. While we can use it to praise God and offer praise back to God
We also use it to curse men. Really this means to show hatred towards another – brother, sister, inside the church, outside the church doesn’t matter. We have the potential – even though we sat in worship this morning – even though you are hearing a sermon, to walk outside those doors and curse someone who was made just as much in the image of God as you are.
Maybe we’d all be pretty safe right out those doors, maybe it’s tomorrow morning when you get to work. Maybe it’s during lunch this afternoon at a restaurant – when the waitress doesn’t take your order as quickly as you want. Maybe it’s after you look at the balance of your bank account – and you are looking for someone to blame.
c. This is when we have to stop
i. Think about what we are going to say
ii. Pray about what we are going to say
iii. And Pray again about what we are going to say
Nothing good comes from tearing into someone over something they’ve done or haven’t done. You won’t even feel better – I promise. If you have been wronged – take the highroad. If you have been gossiped about or stabbed in the back – do better than those around you, by not returning the gossip and back stabbing. I’m not saying it’s easy – because it’s not.
If you will take God at his word, slowly the merger will take place between our speech and our lives, and the tongue – although it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison, even though it corrupts the whole person and is set on fire by hell – slowly this tongue will be used for what God intended it for. Slowly – we will keep ourselves in check, because we have our mouth in check.
Conclusion:
This is about the tongue. James clearly wants us to know and the people in the church to know about this bad thing. As much as it is about the tongue – it is also about the words we speak and the source of everything in our lives. Jesus said: (advance)
Luke 6:45 (New Century Version)
45 Good people bring good things out of the good they stored in their hearts. But evil people bring evil things out of the evil they stored in their hearts. People speak the things that are in their hearts.
What that means is – you are going to go with what comes natural.
The other day I found a turtle (advance)– it was a good size turtle – probably wouldn’t hurt anything. I tried talking to him, but he didn’t listen very well. I did something to this poor turtle – I thumped him on the shell. When I did that the turtle went back into his shell. I talked the turtle back out and said I was sorry, I sat him down and BAM – I did it again, oops. I completely apologized to the turtle; again he came out of his shell. Do you know why the turtle went back into his shell? Because from the time he was just a little bitty turtle if he could sense danger – his shell would provide safety. That’s what he knows.
Do you realize we do the same thing with our tongue? If you store up good things in your heart, prayers, scriptures, good memories, faith, and love, the joy and hope you have – that’s what you will go to in times of trouble, when life thumps you.
If you store up addictions, fear, harsh words, lack of love, lack of prayer, independence and self-righteousness – that’s what you will go to in times of trouble, when life thumps you.
This merger between our speech and our life can only take place if we prepare ourselves, if we ask for God’s wisdom, and we keep ourselves on his path of righteousness. It’s then and only then that the difference between what we say, what we do and what we claim to believe becomes less and less.
Let’s Pray.
