For many years I thought I was a Christian when, in fact, I was not. What I needed was preaching that would convict me of sin and make me see my need. The preaching we had was always based on the assumption that we were all Christians. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
In the next section of the letter James continues to build on the idea that genuine faith will express itself in concrete actions. He begins by showing three reasons that Christians must learn to control their tongues: i.e. speech.
James 3:1 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.
Here, James first addresses the teachers who have fled Jerusalem with the scattered congregation. Just as Paul had warned Timothy about teachers who do not understand what they are saying, making confident but false assertions, 1 Timothy 1:7, James issues a warning to teachers in the church.
James 3:1 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.
James, in speaking to the teachers in the church, includes himself in his warning, because he says, we who teach. What is his warning? He says that not many of you should become teachers. Let’s face it, if judged by the standards of the world, the culture we live in, teaching is a position of prestige. Because it is a position of prestige many covet the position for the accolades, respect, and the financial rewards that come with the position, regardless of whether they are qualified by natural ability or by education. As Peter warned, “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them — not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve;” 1 Peter 5:2
James warns Christians not to follow this worldly thinking in the church. We are not to pursue dishonest gain. Why? Because in God’s kingdom, we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. Those who speak for God are judged by a higher standard. They must be very careful with their words. Words have meaning because the ideas that those words communicate have both temporal and eternal consequences. Words can both lead us in the ways of truth or destroy trust. Words can bring disunity, alienate friends and families, and lead us straight to the gates of hell. Paul warns of discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder brought on by our speech. 2 Corinthians 12:20
The tongue, that is speech, is very difficult to control. In fact, the tongue is the most difficult part of the body to control. If we could control the tongue we could control the whole body. But sin is universal, for we all stumble in many ways. It is an awesome responsibility to speak for the Creator of the universe. Teachers must take that responsibility seriously.
Second, James illustrates the powerful influence that our words can have by using three examples.
1 – We put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.
As a child I had a pony. By age 12 I had saved up enough money to buy my first horse. The horse weighed over 1,000 pounds. I rode it almost every day, mostly bareback, in and around Patapsco State Park, which was down the street from my house. I no longer have horses but I kept my original saddle and bridle, and for the sake of illustration, I can tell you, my bit weighs one and a half pounds.
If a scrawny 12 year old kid, riding alone, mostly bareback, miles from home, can control a thousand pound horse with a tiny bit, just imagine the control and influence a tiny tongue can have over people and events.
2 – 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.
About 35 years ago I owned a sailboat that I kept in a marina on the Chesapeake Bay. Once sailing back from Rock Hall, maybe ten miles from the marina, the boat was caught in a violent summer storm and the fiberglass rudder broke into pieces. Without a working rudder it was an adventure trying to control the boat. At home I made a new rudder out of a slab of maple that I had. It was small enough to put in the back seat of my car; just 18 inches wide, but for years it controlled the 21 foot long boat.
Similarly, warns James, the tongue is small but it exerts great influence. There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts. Proverbs 12:18
3 – 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.
Just like we see thousands and thousands of acres of timber, homes, and businesses burned to the ground every year by a fire started by a small spark, the tongue can bring great destruction. The tongue can sway the behavior and beliefs of millions of people. The tongue can destroy friendships, alienate families, divide churches, sow suspicion among the “races”, and alter the destiny of nations.
To list just a few of the more egregious examples of false teachers; The deceptive words of Allah and his prophet, Muhammad are responsible for the enslavement and murder of over 500 million, and the ruin of over a billion lives in the past 1,400 years. The lies of Marx and his disciples such as Stalin and Mao, were responsible for the deaths of over 200 million people in the past century. Margaret Sanger and her teaching about eugenics, particularly as she wanted those ideas applied to people of African descent, and the continuing lies of her disciples in Planned Parenthood, are responsible for the murder of over 62 million children in the United States alone since 1973.
Prior to the upcoming 2020 presidential election I read the following from a member of the executive committee of one of the two major political parties… “I am going to do everything morally acceptable to win. I will lie. I will cheat. I will steal. Because that is morally acceptable in this political environment. We are pirates on a pirate ship. I want to make this point very loudly and very clearly… 2020 is a political revolution.” – Kris Jacks
Whether this political party follows through on these threats to use the power of the tongue to lie, cheat, and steal their way to victory remains to be seen, but in any case, James is certainly correct, the corrupting influence of the tongue leads to a world of unrighteousness… staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and leading directly to hell.
Third, James shifts from describing the power of the tongue, to the utter difficulty that we all have in keeping the tongue, in its natural state, under control; keeping our words from doing great damage in the world.
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.
Going back to one of the examples above, a scrawny 12 year old kid could control a thousand pound horse. In fact, James says, that is not unusual because, every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind. You can tame any beast to some degree, birds, lions, elephants, dogs, dolphins, but you can’t totally tame the tongue. Beasts, yes, but the tongue, well that’s another story… no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
Your speech can be sweet, encouraging, uplifting, and truthful or your speech can be a deadly poison bringing pain and death, because Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Proverbs 18:21
How can it be that the same tongue that praises and blesses our Lord and Father can curse people made in the image of God? How can the tongue that blesses also be the tongue that curses? We don’t find such inconsistencies in nature. How can the tongue act so incongruently?
James asks two questions to make his point.
- Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?
- Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs?
The obvious answer to both questions is, no. A salt pond cannot yield fresh water. Trees and vines yield fruit according to their nature.
So the question for Christians is this; What is your nature?
Paul asks the Galatians the same question. As a Christian are you continuing to cling to and pursue your old nature; habits, sins, and rationalizations? The flesh, (your old nature) desires… sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, discord, hatred, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunk ness, orgies and the like… Those who live like that will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:17-21 Did you catch that; will not inherit the kingdom?
On the other hand, Paul urges Christians to cling to the Holy Spirit because, The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23
For the Christian, there is hope in controlling the tongue. The fruit of the Spirit is self-control. Remember, put off the old self; habits, excuses, twisted thinking, and put on the new nature, being renewed by the Word of God, through the in dwelling of the Holy Spirit. Ezekiel 36:27
This generation has forgotten that the Gospel does not clean up and shine the outside of a person, rather it bores into the very heart and soul of a person and radically changes that person from the inside forever. A.W. Tozer
In Nepal a widow has no status. When Tavesa’s husband died, her 24 year old son took over the family home and forced her out and into a run-down house. For the first year after her husband’s death a widow must wear white to identify her as having bad luck. Widows are avoided so that their bad luck cannot to transferred to others. Alone and destitute, Avesta was supported by Christians. Two years after her husband’s death, Tavesa became a Christian. This infuriated her son and daughters, ages 18 and 22.
Her son now tries to force her to worship his snake idols and keeps posters of snakes hanging on her door. “I have decided to follow Jesus and I will not turn back, no matter what my children say. Jesus gave me a new life, so my life is for him. My major prayer request now is for my children, that they may also come to know the saving relationship with Jesus Christ. I have lost my husband without him knowing Christ. I don’t want that to happen to my children.”
Recently Tavesa’s son has allowed her to attend church services, although he won’t pay the bus fare. Also, he has allowed her Christian friends to come to her home for a monthly prayer meeting. Also, her pastor gave her a Bible and church members are teaching her to read. Her favorite verse is Matthew 5:44 where Christ tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. “From the time I first read that, I am praying for them also because they are not persecuting me, but they are persecuting Jesus. I realize whatever people tell me, they are not telling it to me but to Jesus. From that time I am praying for the people around me and my children… I am alone nowhere. Jesus is with me and there are so many people praying for me, so I am not alone.”
Return to The Letter of James.