[James 3:1-12]
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 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. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 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. 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! 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. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 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? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
{Rev. Dwight Yoo}
For the peace-making series we've been covering, Ken Sande largely covers practical ways to make peace. But today we are going to cover a very broad topic: the tongue and how it impacts our life.
Words are Powerful
Verse 3-5 reads: "If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 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. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things."
This generation might not consider words in this light because of things like twitter and blogger. Words are a dime a dozen. But consider all the upheaval around the world, all the revolutions and regime changes. These came from ideas, from words... They can inspire, give hope. They can also incredible negative and destructive effects. "Death and life are in the power of the tongue" - Proverbs 18:21
Controlling your tongue is difficult
Professional athletes train, eat properly, sleep properly... they live very, very disciplined lives to perform at that level. But how hard it is for them to control their tongue? Consider how these same athletes say such ridiculous things.
How do we change?
Verses 10-12: "With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 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? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water."
James refers to this duality in the Christian life. We have people who profess to be followers of Christ, yet have such hatred of others. How can someone who knows love still be so hateful?
"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." - Matthew 12:33-37
There are two different kinds of trees (people) and they treasure different things. If we would treasure Christ & God, then this will be reflected in our fruit and in our speech. If we would treasure other things (idols), then this too will be reflected. Those who trust and love God, then your speech will be loving and gracious. If your speech is hateful, bitter, spiteful, & hurtful, then we are trusting in something else. Our words reveal our heart. So the way to change our words is to change our heart. Humanly this is impossible. So what we must do is this, submit our hearts to God.
The purpose of our words
We are made in the image of God. He is a God who speaks. In Genesis 1, God spoke... and everything was created. Not only that, but He creates things for love. But in Genesis 3, another voice speaks. It is our primary enemy, Satan. He twists God's word and misleads man. Man is twisted and so is his words. Neither he nor his words reflect God. But there is hope... The WORD became flesh. Jesus came. And He came to redeem and restore. Jesus will restore everything, including our speech. God is drawing people back to Himself. That is the role of our speech.
"All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." - 2 Corinthians 5:18-21
We are here to give the message of Christ. That is what our words are for. For those who do not know Christ, our words are to represent Christ and to draw them to God. For those who do know Christ, our words are to draw them closer to God.
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." - Colossians 3:16
"Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16
The entire church has been given the ministry of the Word. It is not only for the pastoral staff and biblical counselors. We should be building and encouraging each other in Christ. How much of our speech really draws people to Christ?
David Powlison - Speaking the Truth in Love: 4 out of 22 scenes where Jesus is speaking contains sermons. The other 18 scenes show Him speaking, dialoging, eating with others.
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