Pierced Tongue
Bible text: James 3:1-12
“Extreme Makeover: What Really Looks Good to God” Message Series
1. The need to PIERCE the tongue!
9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, THIS SHOULD NOT BE 11Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. Jas 3:9-12
a. It is a weapon of weapon of MASS DESTRUCTION!
“…no man can tame the tongue. It is a RESTLESS EVIL, full of deadly poison.” Jas.3:8
It is never God’s will for Christians to be involved in dirty talk, it looks really bad, and God is grieved whenever thoughtless, unloving words fly out of our mouths. The Bible goes on to say that the mouth or tongue or our language is a very dangerous weapon, a weapon of mass destruction like a small spark that can set a whole forest on fire, or like a little rudder that can steer a huge ship or like a bit on a horse’s mouth that turn a whole big animal this way or that. When the Bible uses these many illustrations to prove a point, we better sit up and take notice.
b. Consider the damage
“Words KILL, words give life;
they’re either poison or fruit--you choose.” Pro.18:21 (MSG)
Many live damaged lives.
See our sitcoms on TV – major on putdowns to bring out the laughter.
See our heroes in politics, in culture major on cutting others down.
See how terrorist incite others to hatred in their messages.
See how our culture now cannot stop swearing.
The damage is severe and invades and pollutes and kills lives!
One website catalogued the embarrassing results of bad language and the poison and evil it can spawn (source: www.cusscontrol.com)
Swearing Imposes a Personal Penalty (In other words, it’s just not cool!)
It gives a bad impression
It makes you unpleasant to be with
It endangers your relationships
It’s a tool for whiners and complainers
It reduces respect people have for you
It shows you don’t have control
It’s a sign of a bad attitude
It discloses a lack of character
It’s immature
It reflects ignorance
It sets a bad example
Swearing is Bad for Society (In other words, it shows how uncivilized we are)
It contributes to the decline of civility
It represents the dumbing down of America
It offends more people than you think
It makes others uncomfortable
It is disrespectful of others
It turns discussions into arguments
It can be a sign of hostility
It can lead to violence
Swearing corrupts the English language (In other words, it shows how unintelligent we are, it is never a smart thing to do)
It’s abrasive, lazy language
It doesn’t communicate clearly
It neglects more meaningful words
It lacks imagination
It has lost its effectiveness
What do you think now, want to change the way you speak to look really good to God and to others? Even the great talk show host Oprah Winfrey admits this - "I swear, and it’s the one thing that I really don’t like about myself. In a recent survey, 89 percent of the people said swearing is an issue with them... I agree that swearing is terrible, and I’m going to quit."
-- Oprah Winfrey, the Oprah Winfrey Show
89% say swearing is an issue, wow! I really believe 89% is a conservative figure. The truth is, according to God’s word, all of are guilty of using the wrong words. WE ALL STUMBLE! In so many ways!
2. All are GUILTY of using the wrong words.
1Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2We 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. Jas 3:1-2
Each one of us here have regretted words we have used.
Some of us diguise it with passive agrresion - using words design to hurt or putdown but yet sounds "unoffensive".
Many want to take back what was said.
How then can we change things?
3. How to get our tongues to look great
a. CLEANSING MAKEOVER by Jesus (Romans 3:22-25, NLT)
22We are made right in God’s sight when we TRUST IN JESUS CHRIST to take away our sins…23For all have sinned, ALL FALL SHORT of God’s glorious standard. 24Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins. 25For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s anger against us. WE ARE MADE RIGHT WITH GOD WHEN WE BELIEVE that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us.
We all stumble. Only one is perfect - the Messiah. Let us not take the place of the Master, only He is God, Christ the Lord. We are the messengers, we stumble, we are not perfect, we are not to be worshipped, God alone is Messiah, He has that job! We, as the messengers, point people to the One who can pierce our evil tongue, take away sin, cleansed by His blood when we believe.
As we place ourselves under the cleansing of Jesus by believing in Him, we can consider what He has left us in the Bible to curb the tongue’s unceasing bent to evil, let us use the Sword of His Spirit, His word to slay and pierce the evil our tongues tolerate:
b. Ten things you can do:
1. RECOGNIZE THE POWER of the tongue (Jas.3:3-6)
2. RESERVE PAYBACK for God alone. (Rom.12:14-21)
19Dear friends, don’t try to get even. Let God take revenge. In the Scriptures the Lord says, "I am the one to take revenge and pay them back."
3. REGARD THE NEEDS of others above yours (Eph.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.”
4. RESPOND patiently (Jas.1:19-20).
“let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”
5. REVERE the image of God in people (Jas.3:9; Eph.5:19)
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Jas3:9
6. REPLACE obscenity with gratitude (Eph.5:4, MSG)
4Though some tongues just love the taste of gossip, Christians have better uses for language than that. Don’t talk dirty or silly. That kind of talk doesn’t fit our style. Thanksgiving is our dialect.
7. RICHLY ENJOY_what God provided (1 Tim.6:17)
“but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”
8. RESPECTFULLY make your point (Pro.15:1).
“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
9. REFILL in the WORD (Col.3:16)
16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
10. REFRESH ANOTHER with the words of Christ (Col. 3:16)
Let’s commit ourselves to Christ in prayer to have our tongues pierced by the living word of God! James tells us it straight - Christians cannot curse and praise God at the same time. But we do stumble that is why we need a savior, Jesus! And by His Spirit, and His Word living in us, we will change from glory to glory! Let us not give up – “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people…” (Galatians 6:9-10). Keep us O God, let us do good in Your name, with our tongues, the words we choose to use, to give life and not to kill.
