THE PETITE, POWERFUL AND PERVERSE TONGUE
James 3:1-12
I would like everyone to do something I’ve never asked you to do again. Stick out your tongue. And keep it out. Not very pretty is it? A small part of your body. But just think of what you could not do if you didn’t have a tongue. For example, I could not yell “NOBORU!” when he comes on Tuesday night for English class. I could not give this message. I could only pray to myself. I could not share with you my excitement at seeing a 777 or Fuji San. I could not tell a special person how special she is to me and how thankful I am God has brought her into my life. I could not taste the lovely KFC, Dr Pepper, or Emiko’s curry. I guess I could eat bananas because I wouldn’t be able to taste them.
These are all good things we can do with our tongues. But did you ever stop to think about the bad things we can do with our tongues? For example I can say some pretty bad words about how I feel about someone or something. Words that can really hurt. Have you ever heard phrases like, “I take that back,” “I was only joking.” Don’t you wish you could take it back? Gomennasai, it’s not possible. Think back to something you said to someone you wish you had never said before.
Did you know how powerful words can destroy? When people ask me about the scar over my right eye, I could always say Noboru got mad at me for always yelling “Noboru” and he let me have it. Just kidding. But let’s say Noboru did let me have it. He hit me really good. He hit me so hard I needed to go to the hospital and get 6 stitches. OK, after a week, the doctor takes the stitches out, and the cut heals. Pretty soon it is all healed and all you have left is the scar.
It’s not like that with words. You can cause irreparable damage with your tongues. Don’t believe me? How many of you have ever been told, “You’re no good,” or “You’ll never amount to anything?” How many marriages have been destroyed by one or both partners saying in a fit of anger, “Why did I ever marry you? That was the biggest mistake I ever made.” OK, maybe you didn’t mean it or you just said it in a fit of anger, but remember, you can’t take it back. You can’t repair the damage.
This has all been convicting, hasn’t it. And there’s more. But we need to see exactly how destructive we can be with our tongues. Because remember James is talking about maturity here. And if you want to grow as a Christian, you’re at the right place. If you don’t want to grow, gomennasai, I’m going to preach it anyway. Let’s look at the problem in verses 1 and 2.
James 3:1 ¶ Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
James 3:2 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.
There was a little problem here. Remember James is writing to a group of Jewish Christians. When they meet for worship, they still do many of the things they did in the Jewish synagogue. And one of them was that any man could speak if he wanted to. He could stand up and address the assembly. Many men aspired to doing this for the prestige it brought. The title Rabbi was a prestigious title. Much like Sensei or Doctor. And so a lot of men were anxious to stand up, speak up and show off. But there was a problem. They were not qualified to do this. James gives a very strong warning in verse 1. He says very few of you should become teachers because of the greater responsibility and stricter judgment.
You see many men in those days were only too eager to stand up, speak up and show off, only because of the prestige it gave them. One of the things I’ve learned is if you have a true estimation of yourself and wanting to handle God’s word, it would make you run, because you don’t feel able or worthy to teach God’s word. You know of the responsibility it entails. And you know God will hold you accountable. People might find it surprising when I tell them how much time I spend preparing a message from the Bible. As much time as I need, because if I give a message that is contrary to God’s word and lead people astray, God will hold me accountable for that. And gomennasai will not be a good answer for me.
See the reason James gives this warning is in verse 2. All of us, and he includes himself stumble in many ways. We make mistakes. Not just in one way but many ways. And we’ll see this later, but none of us are perfect in what we say. Only one man was perfect in everything He said? Any idea of who I’m talking about? I’ll give you a hint, He was perfect.
Remember James is talking about maturity here. And one of the ways we measure if someone is mature is by his or her speech. As a matter of fact one’s words will often give away whether he or she believes in Jesus or not. I don’t want to play God, but the speech of some Christians is appalling. I’ll even include myself in that category because I’m not perfect.
Someone wrote saying, “don’t go into the ministry, it has a high standard of righteousness that few hope to approach and none can hope to reach.”
So we see the problem with the tongue is that none of us are perfect in what we say. If we were, it indicates we are perfect and able to control our whole body. None of us can do this.
Gomennasai, it’s not going to get prettier. Because we’re going to see next that the tongue is petite. Let’s look at verses 3 and 4.
James 3:3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.
James 3:4 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.
Can any of you ride a horse? I’m talking about a horse that has been broken in and trained. You put a bit into it’s mouth and you turn the reins left or right to tell the horse which way you want it to go. It’s a small bit, but it does the job.
I’m going to give you my translation for this next verse. Guess what I’m going to substitute for a ship? You’re right, a 777. But it’s the same principle. A 777 is driven by a strong wind, but with the rudder the pilot can make it go whichever way he wants it to go.
What do these have in common? They have a very small part directing it’s course. And there is the human element, of making it do which way we want it to go.
The tongue is petite. That’s not the problem. It is powerful. We’ll see that in verses 5-8.
James 3:5 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.
James 3:6 ¶ 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.
James 3:7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man,
James 3:8 but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
I have a book of matches. If I just light one match, it will not do any damage except maybe set off the smoke alarm. But if I light this match and put it here, with all these papers, guess what will happen? Paper catches fire easily. It could result in the whole church burning down. Don’t believe it can happen? When I lived in Dallas I went to Scofield Memorial Church. In 1975 it was located in a part of Dallas that wasn’t very safe. As a matter of fact I read that several members remember having their car batteries stolen during the Sunday evening service. Most of the church members drove in from better parts of the city. Yet the church also felt it had the obligation to minister to those in their neighborhood but did not have the resources or expertise to do so. That problem was settled Christmas Eve 1975 when the church burned down, because of an electrical fire. It just took a short circuit sending sparks that set fire to everything around it and destroyed the whole church.
I remember reading an article when I was a boy in the World Book Encyclopedia about fire. The article had in big print, “FIRE, OUR FRIEND AND ENEMY.” If you are outside and it’s cold it’s nice being around a fire to warm you. But if that fire gets out of control and spreads it can cause damage. Have you ever read about some of the fires in California that get so big, nobody can control them and thousands of homes are damaged.
This is how powerful the tongue is. It has the power to destroy. Look at verse 6. This verse is difficult to translate but it puts the tongue as a fire in our body; a fire that is lit by evil, destroying the whole body and it is set on fire itself by the very fires of hell. The Greek word for hell is “gehenna.” Hell comes from the Hebrew “ge hinnom” which is for the Hinnom Valley. It is a valley just south of Jerusalem. Jeremiah tells us something about the Hinnom Valley.
Jeremiah 7:31 They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire-- something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind.
It was a place where human sacrifices were made, human remains and wastes were burned there. Between the testaments it was referred to as the place of divine judgment.
This is the only place in the NT, outside the 4 gospels where hell is mentioned. We often equate hell with fire and heat. Don’t believe me. How many of you have heard someone say, “it’s hotter than hell.” I’ve actually been told, “Go to hell.” Or maybe in a fit of anger, you’ve heard someone say, or you’ve said it yourself, “I hope you burn in hell.” I told you this was convicting, didn’t I? I wouldn’t go that far, in saying how hot hell really is. I’ll just stick with the way my friend describes the 3 seasons in Bangkok; hot, hotter and hottest.
Do you see the destructive power of the tongue? There’s more to the problem, no one can control it. Look at verses 7 and 8.
If you’ve been to my place and seen Simone you would say she is a tame cat. Well not really. She really runs the place. She is in charge. I just live there. Mrs. Takagi would say her cat, Keita is tame. But I know better. He hisses at me.
Let’s look at the creation account in Genesis
Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
God made man and gave him power to rule over every living thing on the earth. This was before the fall and since the fall it has been corrupted. But for the most part, most animals have been tamed.
But not the tongue. Look at how James describes it in verse 8. Someone said the tongue has all the characteristics of a fallen world; covetousness, idolatry, blasphemy, lust, greed and many more. All of these are expressed with the tongue. Don’t believe me? Have any of you seen something that belongs to someone else and said “I want that?” That’s covetousness. How about a Rolex of a first class seat on a 777?
It’s deadly poison. I remember when I was little, we had to give our cat to our neighbor because we had allergies. The cat was allowed to go outside. One day he ate some rat poison or something and he died. I remember seeing him lying dead in the garage.
I remember around 1964 reading about food poisoning. There was some canned tuna that had some kind of poison and I read about 2 women dying after eating some of that tuna. Poison kills.
Do you see how powerful and destructive the tongue is? Especially when it is out of control? Let’s finish this message and see how perverse it is in the last few verses.
James 3:9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.
James 3:10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.
James 3:11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?
James 3:12 My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
Let’s go back to the creation account in Genesis. God made man in His image. That is a whole topic in itself, but I think to be created in the image of God is to be made like Him, and to imitate Him in all that we do. We reflect God in all that we do. We relate to Him and we serve Him.
At this English service and at the Japanese service, we pray and we bless God. It is right for us to do this as His people. But look what else we do in verse 9. We curse men, made in His likeness. I’ve seen illustrations of a family praying for dinner and the father is praying, followed by telling his wife “why don’t you shut your fat mouth when I’m praying?” Think of a person you really hate. And you want to tell him or her so. That person is made in God’s image. In my country we recently elected a new president. A lot of people don’t like Barack Obama because he’s black. Gomennasai, he was made in God’s image. So was President Bush. So was Osama bin Laden. In my Thursday night English class, Sho was saying he doesn’t like the crowds. I love going to Shinjuku and watching them. They number in the millions. Every single one of them was made in God’s image.
So you see what we do with our tongues? We bless God but curse men who were made in His image.
We can do more damage with our tongues than any other parts of our body. Unlike the cut above my right eye in which I had to get 6 stitches when Noboru slugged me (just kidding!) and they heal, the wounds we do with our tongues never heal. I can still remember harsh words spoken to me by my parents. And unfortunately I can still remember harsh words I spoke to them. I’ve done a lot of damage with my tongue. You can say gomennasai for saying something bad. But you can never repair the damage you’ve done. I’ve asked several of my English classes about spouse abuse. Because it is a problem in my country. Often we refer to it as something physical abuse. But there is also spouse abuse as a result of words. In my opinion it does far more abuse than physical abuse. I’ve seen marriages in where both partners really blossom and others where one or both partners wilt up and die. In other words, they become all that God wants them to be or they become emotionally crippled people. What’s the difference? The words they say to each other. With our tongues we have the power to build up or to destroy. We can encourage a person and because of our encouragement they become mature Christians. We can tear down a person to where he or she never does grow. Or they become so emotionally wounded they stay in a protective shell all their lives. This is what the tongue can do. Do you think this is OK? Neither does James. It is inconsistent for us to bless God and to curse men made in His likeness. And to show us how inconsistent it is, he uses 3 examples; a spring, a fig tree and a grape vine. I’ll use a better example, Simone. She will never have puppies. She was not made to have puppies. If she did, I’d be rich and I wouldn’t need to be a missionary. She was designed to have kittens. She won’t do that either because she’s been fixed. What if you went outside and saw a fig tree producing olives? What would you do? Do like me, sell tickets to see it and get rich that way. But James uses this inconsistency to show how it is wrong. To use our tongues to bless God but curse men made in His likeness is inconsistent.
The only thing is, a spring doesn’t produce fresh water and salt water, a fig tree doesn’t produce olives and a grapevine doesn’t bear figs. And a salt spring doesn’t make fresh water. What is the difference between these and the tongue? The tongue still does what it shouldn’t do, bless God and curse man made in His image.
This passage does not end on a good note. You’re probably feeling pretty gloomy now after reading these words and hearing this message. So I want to leave you on a more positive note. Remember that the only one who had perfect control over His tongue was Jesus. Everyone, including yours truly has said something we regret saying later. And you probably wish you could take it back, and like you never even said it. Let’s look back to something we saw earlier in James.
James 1:19 ¶ My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,
James 1:20 For human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.
Do you remember quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger? This is what the mature Christian looks like. This is not something we can do on our own. As a matter of fact without the help of the Holy Spirit we could not do anything James or anyone else in the Bible says. But God gives us that power. We’ve had it since the day we believed in Jesus. And He gives us the desire and power to live a life pleasing to God. It doesn’t mean we will always be perfect and not stumble in what we say. But our desire will be more and more to please God. And remember God’s forgiveness is always there when we sin. We can tell God gomennasai and He promises to forgive us and cleanse us from all sin. Remember what John said?
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
The key to living the Christian life is being obedient to God and living by the power of the Holy Spirit. When we do this we will become the mature Christians He wants us to be.
James doesn’t answer the question on how to control the tongue in this passage. But next time we will see the key to becoming mature is wisdom. And we’ll see what that kind of wisdom looks like. Let’s pray.
