Introduction
An old lady went to a tombstone-cutter’s office to order a stone for her husband’s grave. After explaining that all she wanted was a small one with no frills, she told him to put the words, “To My Husband,” in a suitable place. When the stone was delivered she saw, to her horror, this inscription:
“To My Husband—
In a Suitable Place.”
Words matter. How we say words matter. If we are to clearly communicate we must use clear and well enunciated speech.
That is just one aspect of our speech. Another is we need to bridle our speech sometimes. We need to check it before we release it. Just like when angry and you have written a scathing letter, email, Facebook post, tweet, or text message; you read it again before sending. Make sure what you have said is not petty and vile when you should respond with grace and compassion.
That is what James meant when he said in Jas. 1:19 “let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.” We are now in the section about speaking slowly. James begins this section saying that not all should be teachers for this very reason. Many will be rash and not listen to others and will speak in anger to get their point across, or they will speak in a manner that is not befitting the royal law. Which is why James also said to Jas. 2:12 “So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.”
Our speech matters because we can wreck or build up people with it. I do not believe words are violence, but I do believe words can cause much grief and devastation.
This is what James is saying. He is saying our tongue will reveal much about us and with it we can cause great harm or great good.
James 3:1–12 (ESV)
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.
The tongue is something that we can control through faith in Jesus, but James gives a strong warning in this section about what our tongue can do. He begins with the strong warning about not all should teach because of a strict judgment and this is because…
The Tongue Shows Our Maturity (1-2)
Many people want to be the star. They want to have the last word or “THE WORD” on something. They will try to get many people to follow what they say and do, even if what they are saying or doing is incorrect.
Many people want to be the leader without realizing that the leader has a stricter judgment for what happens. If someone was to get up and teach and did not know what they were teaching they could very well lead some astray.
This makes sense in this section because James wrote of the need to be quick to hear and slow to speak and to speak and act as one to be judged by the law of liberty. Also, one is to be a doer of the word and not a hearer only. If one is to teach and lead, they need to be mature in the word they have heard by taking the word to heart, it being implanted in them, and performing what they have learned.
When one does this they will be able to lead and teach well. Or as James said, not stumble in what he says, and be able to bridle his whole body. This is the person who has obtained a vibrant and vitalized spiritual life. This is the person who has grown and matured through all the Lord has placed before them. This person has sought God for wisdom in faith and without doubting.
This person has grown to maturity and is capable of seeing sin for sin and turning away from it and can teach why it is sin and why you should turn away from it.
Yet, being a teacher is a place that not all must try for. It is one of intense judgment for what was said. This is true because teachers have the influence to lead others astray if they teach wrong. This does not mean we should not strive to learn much and help reach others.
“Christian teachers need to be primarily models of integrity and secondarily instructors of content; therefore, they should submit both their lives and their words to God’s scrutiny. Their teaching must not be frivolous or selfish. Teachers should teach God’s truth, not merely their own opinions. If we teach others, we must make sure that our lives do not contradict what we teach.” (Bruce B. Barton, David Veerman, and Neil S. Wilson, James, Life Application Bible Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1992), 75.)
We do so because…
The Tongue Will Guide Others (3-6)
James here uses three different small objects that control much larger objects.
The first is a bit in a horses mouth. I know for a fact that this is important, even in gentle horses. I had a horse that was gentle and one day a man acted like he was going to slip the bridle off. I said go ahead this horse is gentle. He did and another guy squalled and whipped him, causing him to runoff. I had no bridle and it was a bit sketchy. A bit is a good thing to have.
The next is a rudder on a ship. It is tiny, like the bit, but it controls the large ship.
The third is a small flame. We all know it only takes a tiny spark to set a massive blaze off. A blaze that will burn thousands or more acres. Small but dangerous.
He says that this is our tongue. It is full of fire and it stains the whole body. Why? Because it is tiny but can control many people.
Think of men like David Koresh, Jim Jones, and many other cult leaders. They convinced people to follow them with the talented use of the tongue. They deceived many people with the small instrument.
If we play loosely with our tongue, it can be very dangerous. Like the spark from the fire, it can cause massive devastation to many. It can cause death to many just like a fire. It can lead people correctly, or wrong, it all depends on our maturity level with the word of God.
We can use our tongue for God’s glory and lead many to Him. We can do this through seeking Him for wisdom and strength. We can also do it by not only hearing the word but diving into it and implanting it in our hearts so much so that when we speak we speak Bible. We become a Bible fountain that just flows out naturally without force.
This does not mean we brow beat people, but that we are so filled with the Lord, that we exude Him at all times.
Peter preached at Pentecost and three thousand believed. “On April 21, 1855, Edward Kimball went into a Boston shoe store and led young Dwight L. Moody to Christ. The result: one of history’s greatest evangelists, a man whose ministry still continues. The tongue has the power to direct others to the right choices.” (Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 359.)
Never underestimate the power of the tongue. It can be a great tool for us and help others, or it can be a menacing, vile, destructive force that causes great harm.
This is true because…
The Tongue is Naturally Untamable (7-8)
When we give ourselves over to God fully through the power of the Holy Spirit given to us through our faith in Jesus Christ, we can get around the evil and deadly enemy within.
The tongue is evil and full of poison, but we can use it in a God glorifying manner.
Every animal is able to be tamed. Everything can be used for good once tamed. Yet, the tongue is not tamable by us. It is vile and evil and we cannot tame it with our power.
Our tongue is much like the horse in Monte Walsh. The movie portrays the horse one way, as started and rode by one at the ranch but never broke then sold to a rodeo where Monte then rides him. But the book gives the best description of the horse.
This horse was called Hellfire. He was a dirty mean animal. Monte tried him and after eighteen minutes thirteen jumps was the best he could get, but could not ride him. Then each man at the Slash Y swung a leg over him and “had been thrown as many times as he would take it, and Hellfire stood in the corral a very tired horse, dripping sweat and blowing a bloody froth from nostrils, but more than ready for any further action required. “Jeeeeeesus!” said Hat Henderson, rubbing a sprained ankle. “He ain’t exactly what you might call wear-downable.” (Schaefer, Jack; Schaefer, Jack. Monte Walsh . University of New Mexico Press. Kindle Edition.)
The horse was not able to be rode. Monte told Cal Brennan that starving him down would be the only way but even then the horse would not be a usable horse.
That horse was untamable. He was not able to be broke and was therefore, sold to the rodeo circuit. No man could ride him and make him into anything.
That is the same with us and our tongues. We cannot tame it. We cannot control it. But there is one who can: Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit He gave us when we believed.
We can control our tongue and become a mature believer by going to God in faith seeking wisdom. That person insulted you, ask God for wisdom before replying.
That person spread rumors about you, ask God for wisdom before responding. Also, when we have the word of God so implanted upon our hearts, our actions will speak loudly and clearly for all to see. But it is God working in us and through us that makes us able to control the untamable tongue.
Even then, we still falter because the tongue is evil and full of poison. No man, except Jesus, has been able to control their tongue. As one commentator said, “while we are in our earthly bodies, the tongue remains an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. The Christian needs to remember at all times that he carries in his mouth what could be compared to a poisonous viper, and that serpentine instrument can affect others in a way that even results in their death.” (Zane C. Hodges, Arthur L. Farstad, and Robert N. Wilkin, The Epistle of James: Proven Character through Testing (Irving, TX: Grace Evangelical Society, 1994), 82.)
But even though this is true, we can contain it with the power of the Lord working in and through us by filling our souls with His word so much that that is what comes out of us at all times. “Contemporary wisdom says that people should assert themselves and say what they really feel; speak out, rather than stifle. There are many rationalizations for the unrestrained use of the tongue. We say:
• “Somebody had to tell him off.”
• “It was good to get it off my chest.”
• “I sure gave her a piece of my mind.”
• “Maybe what I said will do him some good.”
• “I felt better for saying it.”
Instead of making excuses for sounding off, we can exercise restraint and allow God’s peace and wisdom to guide what we say.” (Bruce B. Barton, David Veerman, and Neil S. Wilson, James, Life Application Bible Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1992), 80–81.)
That is a good way to live because…
The Tongue Shows What is in the Heart (9-12)
We sing praises to the Lord but at lunch cuss the wait staff.
We praise God for protecting us from that wreck, but then cuss the driver who nearly caused it.
We love the Lord in one breath but condemn to hell people we do not agree with in the next.
This may be acceptable methods in the world we live in but before God they are not. James clearly makes this point when he wrote that we “curse people who are made in the likeness of God…these things ought not to be so” in verses 9 and 10.
He continues this rebuke in 11-12 when he makes these comparisons. Can a fig tree produce olives? Can a grapevine produce figs? Can spring produce both fresh and salt water?
Clearly the answers are no this is not what happens. So, James by asking these rhetorical questions makes it clear that as believers we are not to speak blessings and cursings. He says this is against who we are. We are people who are filled with the Spirit of the Lord and have Him to guide us and allow us to speak as such.
As believers we can speak blessings, that are genuine, you all know what I mean “Bless your heart” is slang for “you are stupid.” We all know this. So, we can make good words come from the untamable poison pit called our tongue when our hearts are focused upon the Lord.
We can leave the cursings behind when we have our hearts so full of the word of God and what He has desired for us.
We can be a spring of fresh water for people who are missing that in their lives. By being such, we can draw others to the Lord and maybe even help others who are struggling with their tongue controlling them.
Let me ask you this, what motivates you more, words that encourage or words that insult?
When we are challenged by the world, we can respond as they would or as our Lord would.
We can be strong and stand above our evil tongue when we have learned to Bridle the Enemy Within through the constant diet of the word of God passing over it. Once we do this, then our hearts will pour forth the good water only and not salt water.
Conclusion
“If someone paid you ten cents for every kind word you said about people, and collected five cents for every unkind word, would you be rich or poor?” (Henry N. Ferguson, http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/s/speech.htm.)
This is something to think on everyday as we go about our lives. We need to focus on the Lord and what He has said and allow that to guide our speech. When we do, we can be faithful leaders amongst a wicked and evil world.
We must use caution because when we take the initiative to share, we need to be strong in the word because when we teach, we can lead people in many ways and we want to always lead them the right way. Proverbs 18:21 “expressed the thought well: Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it [the tongue] will eat its fruit [death and life].” (Zane C. Hodges, Arthur L. Farstad, and Robert N. Wilkin, The Epistle of James: Proven Character through Testing (Irving, TX: Grace Evangelical Society, 1994), 84.)
This is why we must be quick to hear but slow to speak. Death can come through our speech and that is not what we want. We want to express truth but with love always. That is what James is pushing and that is what it means to be a doer of the word rather than a hearer only. When we only hear and never do we will have an abundance of words that may very well cause more grief than good. Trust the Lord to guide you but always ask Him for wisdom and strength and He is faithful to deliver and will deliver. But always seek Him before you speak because if you do, you can help reach many people who are wandering.
