The Tongue is Still the Tongue
Warning About the Tongue
Ok, everybody do this (stick out your tongue). Now look at the person next to you. Nasty, ain’t it! That’s really, really gross!
But, for all the grossness you see on a physical tongue, none of that compares to the nastiness that can be voiced by the tongue. James 3:6 “The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one's life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” What a statement! The tongue is set on fire by hell itself!
But not mine. Surely my tongue is under control. Listen again to what James says. James 3:1-8 “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check. 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 are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 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. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one's life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” No one can control the tongue. When we set ourselves to conquer the tongue by ourselves, we lose every time.
Gossip and Slander
But, we know what is taught about gossip, right? Proverbs 11:13 “A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret.” Proverbs 16:28 “ A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.”
We know what Scripture teaches regarding slander, right? 1 Corinthians 6:10 “…slanderers will not inherit the kingdom of God…” 2 Timothy 3:2-5 “People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--- having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.”
But, sometimes knowledge and practice can be two different things.
WWJT (What Would Jesus Tweet/Text)
Double the Speak
Going back to James, he tells us in 1:19 “Let everyone be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.” Yet despite this admonition to let hearing be far greater than speaking, look at all the inventions man has created for his voice to be heard as opposed to the inventions made to hear the voice of another.
For speaking:
Microphones
Speakers
Megaphones
Radio
Television
Online Videos
Various Voice Amplifiers
Architectural designs in buildings for one persons voice to be heard
above all the others
For hearing:
Hearing aids
Oh, maybe there’s been a few more things for hearing, but you get the picture. Even our phones are designed more for speaking than listening. Ask a person how to turn down the volume to lower the voice of the person who’s speaking, and they can immediately show you. However, ask that same person where the button is that can mute their own voice, and they’d be hard-pressed to find it. But, it is there.
Thousands have fought and died for the “freedom of speech”, but no one is clamoring for laws that protect our “freedom to listen”.
Use of Social Media
Alas, we come to the pinnacle of having our voices heard: Social Media.
“Hold on”, you say, “That’s not speech. That’s typing. That makes it different.” An argument like that is an argument of ignorance.
It’s amazing to me how many people think they can post something on social media, without it in any way being a reflection of themselves. When you post a nasty joke, a provocative or even bordering pornographic picture of yourself or someone else, or something containing filthy language, you are announcing to everyone the type of morals that guide your life. When someone sees you, who are supposed to be a Christian, post these kinds of things, you become the stumbling block that Jesus said in Luke 17 that it would be better for you to have a large stone hung around your neck and you drown in the sea.
Let’s try something for a moment. Try posting something with filthy language, then immediately post Isaiah 53. Try posting a nasty joke, then immediately post the kind words of Jesus’ sermon on the mount. Try posting a near pornographic picture of yourself or someone else, then immediately post a photo of our crucified Lord.
“But I can’t do that!”, you say. Why not? “That would make me a hypocrite if I did that right away!” Oh, ok. So you can post these disgusting things, wait a certain amount of time- during which time you show no fruits of repentance and make no effort to reconcile either with the Lord or with the ones you have caused to stumble- but after that certain amount of time passes you can post something “spiritual”, and that doesn’t make you a hypocrite?!
Or how about posting a “spiritual” quote and follow that with how you’d prefer to run over people, can’t stand this or that person, or make a rude comment about someone with such description about them that everyone knows who your talking about even if you omit their name- then turning around and come to worship tonight? Not a hypocrite? Really?!
Doesn’t James address that very thing? James 3:9-12 “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.” When James says “this should not be”, he is not saying “it shouldn’t be this way, but that’s just the way it is”. No, he’s saying “DON’T DO IT!” It doesn’t matter if it’s on social media, texting, over the phone, or in person. DON’T DO IT! Some of us ought to be ashamed of what has spewed from our mouths.
Rights vs. Right
“But”, you say, “It’s my right. My freedom of speech.” If you are a Christian, then you ought to know that God’s law always trumps any government law.
And what did God say? Colossians 4:6 “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Ephesians 4:29 “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.” Ephesians 5:4 “Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.” Proverbs 15:4 “The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.” Proverbs 16:24 “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”
The Scriptures are quite clear.
Overcoming the Tongue
Out of the Heart
So, why do we so quickly turn away from God’s law to our own desires? Going back to James, he begins to reveal the answer. James 3:13-16 “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.” Envy and selfish ambition. Sounds pretty well like the old saying, “We tear others down to build ourselves up.”
But, even deeper than this saying, James is pointing to things of this world, things he says are “earthly, unspiritual, and demonic”. We allow the world to fill us with these things.
Jesus put it this way in Matthew 15:11, 18-19 “What goes into someone's mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them”...But the things that come out of a person's mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts---murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.” If this is what spews from your mouth, the question becomes with what are you filling your heart?
The world has direct access into our homes and our hearts through the use of television and the internet. Neither of these things are evil of themselves, and can be used for good. But, they can also quickly change us and draw us away from God.
Don’t think that because you are in the privacy of your own home that you can fill yourself and your family with whatever garbage you desire and no one will know. For one, God knows and sees all things. Two, what you fill your heart with will always find its way out in what you say to, about, and around others. If you fill yourself with filth in private, you will spew the filth in public.
Be Filled with Christ
So, the answer then to overcoming the tongue’s wickedness should be obvious. If the tongue spews what the heart is filled with, then to control the tongue our hearts must be filled with Christ.
James 3:17-18 “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.” James said earlier about this wisdom that if we ask God, He will grant it to us generously. Paul phrased it this way in Colossians 3:1-2 “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Jesus said it perhaps most clearly in Luke 6:45 “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”
James says the tongue is uncontrollable by ourselves. The only way to bring it to subjection is to subject ourselves to the only One who can subject the tongue- Jesus Christ. We must be filled with Christ.
In Ephesians 5:15-20 Paul says “Be very careful, then, how you live---not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:19 is not just admonition for our weekly worship. Paul is saying every day we should be filled with the Spirit, and every day we should speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
Conclusion
We know we are not to judge each other. But, ask yourself: What would someone else see in my heart if they scrolled down my Facebook page, saw my Tweets, re-read my texts, or considered conversations we’ve had? Would they see Christ? Or something else?
