A. If your TONGUE has ever gotten you into TROUBLE . . . will you please raise your hand?
1. Now turn to each other and say, “I’M NOT SURPRISED!”
2. We are not SURPRISED, because it happens to all of us.
COMMENT:
There is not a single person here who has not had the experience of saying something, and then wishing you had never SAID it.
ILLUSTRATION:
There’s a story of a man who worked at a PRODUCE DEPARTMENT of a grocery store. A woman came up and asked if she could buy HALF-A-HEAD of LETTUCE. It had been one of those days, and before he could think he replied, “Half-a-head!? Are you serious? Look lady, God grows these in WHOLE HEADS and that’s how we SELL them!”
The lady responded, “You mean that after all the years I have shopped here, you won’t sell me half-a-head of lettuce?”
“Look,” he said, “If you like I’ll ask the manager.” She indicated that would be appreciated.
So, the man marched away to find the MANAGER and when he found him said, “You won’t believe this, but there’s a LAME-BRAINED lady back there who wants to know if she can buy HALF-A-HEAD of LETTUCE.”
As he was saying that, he noticed that the MANAGER was trying to subtly stop his OUTBURST. The CRAZED WORKER turned around to see the LADY standing BEHIND him. Unbeknownst to him, she had FOLLOWED him as he SEARCHED for the MANAGER.
But without skipping a beat, the WORKER said to the MANAGER, “And this NICE lady was wondering if she could BUY the OTHER HALF of the HEAD of LETTUCE.”
COMMENT:
Oh, how our TONGUES get us into TROUBLE! If we heard it once we’ve heard it a thousand times, “THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK!” Every day, you and I speak THOUSANDS of words, and that leaves a lot of OPPORTUNITY for us to SAY the WRONG THING!
B. As we begin chapter three of James, we notice that he devotes most of this chapter to the TONGUE and
its IMPLICATION for Christians.
1. Back in chapter 1 is when James first introduced the topic of the TONGUE—how we should speak.
a. James 1:19- “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry…”
b. James 1:26- “If anyone considers himself to be religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his
tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.”
2. James wants us to understand just how DESTRUCTIVE and NULLIFYING the tongue can be.
a. The NEGATIVE INFLUENCE of the TONGUE can OVERRIDE an otherwise GODLY LIFE.
b. So, what POINTS does James make about the TONGUE and our responsibility in MANAGING our MOUTHS?
3. James 3:1-12 (READ)
MESSAGE:
I. OUR TONGUE IS A MARK OF OUR SPIRITUAL MATURITY- James 3:1-2
A. He begins this chapter by addressing TEACHERS in the church—Bible class teachers.
1. James wants teachers to understand that they have a grave responsibility in what they SAY to
others as they TEACH.
COMMENT:
In the Early Church, TEACHERS were held in very high esteem. And because of that, many insincere people were seeking to be TEACHERS. So, James says to them, “Although being a TEACHER may appear, at times, to be a position of HIGH STATUS, remember being a TEACHER is a grave responsibility who will face a stricter judgment. They will be held accountable to God for what they have said to others in his Name.”
2. James is not trying to discourage people from TEACHING, but he wants teachers, THEN and NOW, to understand that when we stand up before people and teach God’s word, we are to do so HUMBLY and PRAYERFULLY—weighing carefully WHAT we SAY and HOW we SAY
IT when presenting God’s Truth.
B. But James goes on in verse 2 to make the point that ALL PEOPLE will be held accountable before
God for the use of their TONGUES—TEACHERS and NON-TEACHERS alike.
1. Here he writes, “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.”
COMMENT:
James is saying here that although teachers will be JUDGED more strictly for the use of their WORDS, everyone else will still FACE JUDGMENT for the WORDS they speak as well.
Yet, James understands that MANAGING our MOUTH is a difficult process. In fact, he says if we can “completely CONTROL our tongue, then we would be PERFECT in every way.” But then James writes in v. 8 that “no one can tame the tongue”.
Our WORDS get us into TROUBLE more than anything else—we SIN more with our TONGUES than with any other part of our body. If we could control the most DIFFICULT part of our body, then we can control the rest.
2. That’s why it is IMPERATIVE that we “keep a tight reign on our tongues”- James 1:26.
COMMENT:
Our FAITH in and RELATIONSHIP with God will always show itself in SPEECH. If you and I want to know how healthy we are SPIRITUALLY, then we need to pay attention to the things WE SAY and the things WE DON’T SAY, for our TONGUE is a mark of our SPIRITUAL MATURITY.
II. OUR TONGUE IS SMALL, BUT POWERFUL- James 3:3-5a
A. James makes this point by using two interesting ILLUSTRATIONS.
1. He compares the tongue to a “small bit in the mouth of a large horse.”
ILLUSTRATION:
When my family and I lived in Headrick, Oklahoma many years ago when my girls were small and a few years before I became a minister, I owned a quarter horse that I named Sunshine
after the John Denver song.
ILLUSTRATION (cont):
He was a big animal about 17 hands high (68 inches) and weighed around 1100 pounds. I had trouble keeping him FENCED in. On at least 3 occasions he would BREAK down the fence in the middle of the night and wind up at a horse and cattle ranch about 2 miles away. What he did when he got there was break down their FENCE so he could go MINGLE with the other horses.
The first time he did this I had trouble getting him back home. I put a ROPE around his neck and tried to LEAD him out of the PASTURE, but he wouldn’t BUDGE no matter how hard I PULLED. I then JUMPED on his back and YANKED his MAIN and gently KICKED him in the SIDE to get him to MOVE, but that HORSE wasn’t going anywhere.
So, I went back home and got the BRIDLE and put it on him. And once that BIT was in his MOUTH, I was able to RIDE SUNSHINE into the SUNSET. That little four-ounce piece of STEAL was able to CONTROL that 1100-pound horse. (After the third time Sunshine got out I finally SOLD him to that RANCHER.)
2. James also compared the TONGUE to a “small rudder on a large ship.”
COMMENT:
Our brother Don Baker served time in the Navy, so I imagine he’s been on a few ships. Some of you have been on CRUISE SHIPS. These BOATS are FLOATING CITIES, hundreds of feet long, thousands of tons, yet they are STEERED by a SMALL RUDDER in proportion to their SIZE.
B. James- “Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boast”- v. 5a.
1. Even as a small BIT can change the DIRECTION of a HORSE and a small RUDDER can change the DIRECTION of a SHIP, our TONGUES, although SMALL, can CHANGE the COURSE of an ENTIRE LIFE either for GOOD or for EVIL.
2. Our TONGUE is a SMALL part of our BODY, but it is POWERFUL—let’s use it WISELY.
III. OUR TONGUE HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE VERY DESTRUCTIVE- James 3:5b-8
A. I believe there is not a single person here this morning who has not been HURT in one way or another
by the WORDS of another PERSON.
ILLUSTRATION:
When I was a kid in Elementary School some of my classmates would make fun of me and call me names: “Fatty Freddie! Fatty Freddie!”
I guess I was DESTINED to be a PREACHER, because after hearing this DAY after DAY after DAY, I finally got so SICK of it that I stood up and PREACHED to those guys, “Remember the words of Jesus! ‘Sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me.’” I heard that PHRASE so much I thought it had to be found in the Bible.
That old saying is not TRUE. Oh . . . WORDS can’t BREAK my BONES, but they can be DEVASTATING. When people sling VERBAL ROCKS at you—CALLING YOU NAMES . . . BELITTLING, DEMEANING, and HUMILIATING you, it HURTS—it CUTS DEEPLY.
COMMENT:
I have seen FAMILIES torn apart because of the TONGUE. I have seen FRIENDSHIPS destroyed because of the TONGUE. I have seen Christians leave the CHURCH because of the TONGUE. I have seen CHURCHES split because of the TONGUE.
B. James uses two ILLUSTRATIONS to describe how DESTRUCTIVE the TONGUE can be.
1. He said it’s like a “FIRE that BURNS out of CONTROL.”
ILLUSTRATION:
November of last year the state of Tennessee was hit with the worst WILD-FIRE and, really, DISASTER in that state’s history (PHOTO). The FIRED roared through the Great Smokey Mountains National Park before spreading into Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. The raging flames ultimately covered over 17,000 acres, killing 14 people and injuring 150 more. Over 14,000 residents had to EVACUATE their homes, and by the time the FIRE was finally EXTINGUISHED, approximately 2,400 properties were destroyed.
How did the FIRE start? Two teenage boys admittedly started the FIRE while they were HIKING through the FOREST. They said they tried to PUT IT OUT, but it quickly got out of
CONTROL. This massive FIRE started with a LITTLE SPARK—a little FLAME—and quickly SET-ABLAZE acre after acre of FOREST LAND leaving nothing but DEATH and DESTRUCTION in its PATH.
COMMENT:
So, it is with WORDS! One word of GOSSIP, one LIE, one INSINUATION, one harsh CRITICISM and the FIRE can begin. Human hearts, dry from a lack of GENUINE LOVE, catch fire and it spreads uncontrollably from heart to heart across a community and then leaves behind it CHARRED and BURNED REPUTATIONS, BROKEN HEARTS and BROKEN HOMES. And the damage can be so SEVERE and EXTENSIVE that it can never be REPAIRED.
2. James also said that “the TONGUE is a RESTLESS EVIL, full of DEADLY POISON.”
COMMENT:
In the Greek, the word “POISON” actually refers to the deadly VENOM of a VIPER. Our Words can be like a SNAKE in the GRASS that sinks its FANGS in and then CRAWLS off. And yet its POISON remains in the body to HURT, MAIM, and possibly even KILL. Once the POISON is injected, it begins to spread and is very hard to extract. That is true of our WORDS.
ILLUSTRATION:
Megan Meier was a 13-year-old girl that had some emotional issues, but things were turning around for her. That was until she got a friend request on MySpace (the forerunner to Facebook) from someone claiming to be, in Megan’s words, “a hot 16-year-old boy by the name of Josh Evans.”
The two remained friends on MySpace for a while with Josh writing very ENCOURAGING and FLATTERING words to Meagan. Then, all of a sudden, Josh started sending DISPARAGING MESSAGES to the 13-year-old girl. Comments like “I don’t know if I want to be friends with you anymore because I’ve heard that you are not very nice to your
friends.” Another time he wrote, “The world would be a better place with you.”
Then MySpace posts started circulating about her that said things like “Megan Meier is a
slut. Megan Meier is fat.”
These CAUSTIC, HATEFUL remarks DEVASTATED her so much that Megan Meier
took her own life on October 17, 2006.
Soon after Megan’s death it was discovered that Josh Evans didn’t exist. The person writing these VENOMOUS remarks was a 48-year-old woman who LIVED down the STREET. Her daughter and Megan were once friends, and she was WRITING these things to and about Megan because Megan had broken-off the friendship with her daughter. (WORDS CAN KILL!!!)
IV. OUR TONGUE CAN BE A GREAT POWER FOR GOOD- James 3:9-12
A. James reminds us that he is writing to fellow-Christians who “Praise our Lord and Father.”
1. These aren’t people of the WORLD whose WORDS are often CAUSTIC and DESTRUCTIVE, but children of God who should use their WORDS for GOOD and not for EVIL.
2. James says “true Christians are now to use their TONGUES in such a way that they become like fountains of fresh water and trees that bear much good fruit”- vv. 11-12.
a. Proverbs 10:11a- “The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life...”
b. Proverbs 10:21a- “The lips of the righteous nourish many…”
c. Proverbs 12:18b- “…the tongue of the wise brings healing.”
COMMENT:
Our ability to COMMUNICATE is a great GIFT from God that is to be used to bring LIFE, and NOURISHMENT, and HEALING to desperate SOULS.
B. James wants us to CHOOSE our WORDS carefully.
1. He’s already told us that “we can’t be religious—we can’t be true men and women of faith—if we don’t keep a tight reign on our tongue”- James 1:26.
2. Ephesians 4:29- “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
COMMENT:
If your words DESTROY others instead of BUILD them up, then don’t say them.
If your words don’t BENEFIT those who LISTEN, then don’t say them.
3. Proverbs 18:21a- “The tongue has the power of life and death…”
COMMENT:
DEATH WORDS destroy, hurt, and create hateful and humiliating feelings. LIFE WORDS build and increase STRENGTH of CHARACTER. They lift SPIRITS! They bring HEALING!
CONCLUSION:
A. We have all MISUSED our TONGUES at one time or another.
1. We have seen first-hand the HURT that our WORDS have CAUSED.
COMMENT:
We wished to God that we can take back those WORDS, but we can’t! All we can do is sincerely say “I AM SORRY. Will you please FORGIVE ME?” and pray that God can bring about HEALING.
2. May God help each of us to learn to use our tongues for GOOD and not for EVIL, to bring LIFE not DEATH, to BUILD not DESTROY, to PRAISE GOD and not CURSE others who are made in the LIKENESS of God.
