JAMES
LIVING THE REAL LIFE:
CULTIVATING A FAITH THAT WORKS
TAMING THE TONGUE
JAMES 3:1-12
INTRODUCTION
Turn, if you would, in your Bible to James chapter 3. We now turn our attention to one of the most practical matters that James deals with in his letter to the Jewish Christians scattered abroad. It is the subject of the tongue, or speech. This issue is practical for many reasons, but chief among them is the sheer frequency with which we use our mouths. Did you know that it has been estimated that the average man speaks 25,000 words a day; and the average woman: 30,000. Ladies, you have the edge in that department by 5,000 words; so you can’t say that we men never listen. But the amount of time we spend talking is shocking when we add it all up. According to statisticians, the average person spends at least one-fifth of his or her life talking. In a single day, enough words are used to fill at least a fifty page book. And in one year’s time, the average person’s words would fill 105 books, each containing 500 pages. That really puts the scope of what Jesus said in Matthew 12:36 into perspective. He said:
36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak.
Billions upon billions of words will be accounted for when Christ comes back to end his universe. And we accumulate this massive total without even thinking about it, really. It’s been said, humorously, that it takes about two years for a baby to learn to talk, but it takes fifty years for a person to learn to keep his or her mouth shut. We’re constantly talking; constantly communicating. So it is no wonder that Scripture pays close attention to this topic; and our passage today is one of the classic texts that address this issue. So let’s see what James has to say…follow along as I read James 3:1-12:
1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
James addresses the issue of the tongue in a few different ways – three ways that stand out here. And the central, unifying statement is found in v.8:
8…no human being can tame the tongue…
So picking up on that statement, let’s describe what James writes here is this way: Because the tongue cannot be tamed, we should be cautious to use it in spiritual teaching, aware of its influence in daily living, and fervent in our pursuit to avoid hypocritical speech. Now the first thing in that statement and the first aspect addressed in James 3 is that because the tongue cannot be tamed, we should be cautious to use it in spiritual teaching.
BE CAUTIOUS TO USE IT IN SPIRITUAL TEACHING
Look at vv. 1-2:
1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.
There is a warning here to believers not to hastily pursue a teaching role in the local church. James is not talking about just any kind of teaching here. Although, there is wisdom in counting the cost before you do any kind of teaching because you are taking on a responsibility to educate others. But James here is making a reference to the office of a teacher in a local church. He indicates that he himself was a teacher when he says “we who teach”. James, of course, being an elder in the Jerusalem church would have been considered a teacher. The Jewish believers to whom James was writing would have been very familiar with the concept of an official teacher of the faith. In first century Judaism the rabbi, or teacher, was one of the most prominent religious leaders. Men like Nicodemus, who is described by Jesus in John chapter 3 as a teacher of Israel. These men captured the spotlight – and sometimes in very wrong ways. In Matthew 23 when Jesus is pronouncing the seven woes on the scribes and Pharisees he rebukes men who desired to be called “rabbi” simply for the honor and prestige. The role of a Jewish teacher was very important. That importance, of course, carried over to Christianity. In Ephesians chapter 4 Paul lists a few offices that are filled by gifted men for the purpose of building up the church; and one of those offices is the pastor-teacher. He also mentions teachers in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. The pastor-teacher position in a local church is intended to be filled by a gifted man called of God to shepherd and instruct the flock. And it is to this position that James is referring. Not many of you should pursue the role of teacher. Why? Look at the end of v.1:
…for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
There is a tremendous opportunity to sin with your tongue when you publicly teach God’s word. Every man standing behind a pulpit today, including myself, is being watched and measured with great strictness by God because he has assumed responsibility as a shepherd of God’s flock under the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ.
But there is a point of application here for everyone. Because not only are there official teachers in the local church, but there are also unofficial teachers, right? There are teachers who don’t necessarily bear the title. There are Sunday school teachers, Bible study teachers, Kid’s Klub teachers, etc. And even though those positions are not the same as the pastor-teacher role to which James is referring, they are still teaching roles; and so anyone who assumes those roles must be aware that they will be held accountable for what they teach – by the official pastor-teacher, yes; but more so by Christ the true Shepherd-Teacher.
So James reminds us that we all stumble in many ways, and one of the easiest ways to stumble is in what we say. No one is perfect all the time, so no one perfectly controls their tongue all the time. If someone could, then they would be able to control all the other aspects of their body and would be perfect. But it is not so, James says. So he warns us to be cautious to use our tongues in spiritual teaching.
Now this is not to discourage those who have the gift of teaching and are genuinely called to teach. If you have the gift of teaching, Christ expects you to use that gift in a manner that honors him and his Word. But the encouragement here is to make sure you understand the seriousness of such a responsibility and don’t rush in blind-folded. So, be cautious to use it in spiritual teaching.
Then James broadens his scope a bit; and he writes to be aware of the tongue’s influence in daily living.
BE AWARE OF ITS INFLUENCE IN DAILY LIVING
In vv.3-8 he writes:
3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
This is not a very favorable description of the tongue. First he illustrates the tongue’s influence by comparing it to a bit in the mouth of a horse, a rudder on a large ship, and a small fire that sets a large forest ablaze. The point is that even though the tongue is a tiny part of our body it has an enormous impact on our lives. Just like a small bit controls the movement of a large horse, a small rudder controls the movement of a large ship, and a small fire can destroy a large forest, the small tongue can influence our world in large ways.
James mentions three ways in which this is true. First he writes in v.6 that the tongue stains the whole body. Now is a good time to mention what we have already been assuming and that is that when James refers to the tongue he is not only referring to the actual organ that is small but to the speech that it produces. So James is not saying that your actual tongue stains your body so it would be best for you to get rid of it somehow. Take my advice and leave it right where it is. What he’s saying is that the words you speak corrupt your whole being. Now, why is that? How is it that the things that we say have so much power that they can corrupt every aspect of our being? The answer to that is found in the truth Jesus taught in Matthew 12:33-35:
33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.”
The tongue simply reveals what the heart already feels. What you say is a reflection of who you are on the inside at any given time. So the evil things that we say reveal that at that particular moment our heart is sinning; our mind is sinning. And we have the capability to say things that reveal that our hearts are not where they should be; instead they are corrupted and overcome with evil. That’s what Jesus said again in Matthew 15:18-20:
18 …what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person.
The heart is where sin is conceived and the mouth simply gives birth to what is already in the heart.
But not only can our tongue impact our whole body, our whole self; the tongue can impact the whole world around us. The second thing James says in v.6 is that the tongue sets the entire course of life on fire. The scope of this phrase is huge. The text literally says that the tongue burns the wheel or circle of birth or life. It sets the entire circle of life on fire. It causes chaos, corruption, destruction, and evil on a worldwide level. Think about all that has been done throughout the course of history with the simple use of speech. The world is the forest which the small fire, the tongue, sets ablaze. It is no wonder that the use of the tongue should be such a priority for the believer; it has the potential to affect the world around us – directly and indirectly.
And the great potential for evil is explained by the fact that the tongue is set on fire by hell – that again, is in v.6. This is a way of saying that the tongue is used as an instrument of the devil and his demons. The actual place is not all that is in view here, but rather also those who will one day inhabit the place. Our speech is used by our enemy to cause the chaos and evil that he delights in. Satan knows the power of the tongue and would be a fool not to use it to his advantage – and so he does. He is the original liar and the father of all subsequent lies. He used clever speech to deceive Eve in the garden. He tried to use clever speech to tempt Jesus to sin, but Christ of course would not bite the bait. He knows how to use speech for evil purposes and he delights when we follow his lead. And unfortunately, sometimes we do follow his lead. So James writes that even though mankind has tamed just about every animal of nature, he has failed to tame the tongue. We can tame beasts that are dangerous and have the power to kill us; birds that can fly where we cannot fly; reptiles that crawl where we cannot crawl, and sea creatures that can swim where we cannot swim – but we cannot tame our own tongues. That is how powerful speech is.
But, lest we be discouraged: the tongue also has the capacity for good. It can bless God and bless other people. So James instructs his readers to be fervent in their pursuit to avoid hypocritical speech.
BE FERVENT IN YOUR PURSUIT TO AVOID HYPOCRITICAL SPEECH
Vv. 9-12:
9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
The tongue has the power to do tremendous good as well as evil. Our speech enables us to praise the God of our salvation. With our mouths we bless our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But because the tongue also has the power to create great evil – a fact that he just described in vivid detail – he instructs us to do all we can to avoid hypocritical speech. He says that it should not be the case that the same mouth produces blessing and cursing; because a salt pond doesn’t yield fresh water, a fig tree doesn’t make olives, and a grapevine can’t produce figs. James is getting back to the same concern we saw in the previous chapters and will continue to see until the end of the book: what does real faith look like? True believers in Jesus Christ cannot be characterized by evil speech that curses people made in God’s image, stains their whole body, and corrupts the world around them. Believers should be known for wholesome speech. That’s what Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:29:
29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Corrupt talk should not come out of the mouths of believers because true believers are not corrupt. Again, in Colossians 3:8 Paul wrote:
8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
If we know Christ as Savior and Lord then we are not supposed to talk like we don’t know him. Remember what James wrote in 1:26:
26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.
Why? Because the good things he is trying to do on his own are nullified by the evil things he is saying – because his evil speech reveals an evil heart; and he is self-deceived, thinking he is doing good when in reality he is not. The theme of the book of James shines brightly here: true, genuine, saving faith reveals itself in some way. In this case, it reveals itself by how a person talks.
So the whole message of these verses is that because the tongue cannot be tamed, we should be cautious to use it in spiritual teaching, aware of its influence in daily living, and fervent in our pursuit to avoid hypocritical speech.
CONCLUSION
Now we have arrived at the halfway point of our study of the book of James. Up to where we are now we have seen James address how genuine faith responds to trials, temptations, the word of God, how it treats other people, and how it talks. And right at the end of chapter 2 we noticed the central passage in James instructing us that faith without works is dead. As we move forward we will continue to see James addressing the practical matters of the Christian life – teaching us how to live out our faith in a way that honors the Savior who bought us.
