James 3:1-12 | Tame The Tongue

James 3:1-12
Tame the Tongue

I. Introduction

1. As we move into chapter 3, James begins by offering a sober warning to any who would teach.
2. While addressing the concern with teachers, he then launches into a broader application to the entire body.

II. vv. 1-2 Teachers are warned of stricter judgment.

¹ My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. ² For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.

1. The first thing James says is that few should be teachers, knowing the stricter judgment.
   1. Many were seeking to be teachers in this church.
   2. While it is good to seek to walk in a gift of teaching, the Lord has given all must be sober-minded about that role.
2. There is high accountability to the Lord for the teacher.
   1. A teacher speaks on the most important topics that can be considered.
   2. If a person gives wrong information about these issues, it can lead to heavy consequences for the listeners.
   3. I try to be biblical and never state my opinion as fact.
   4. If I feel it may be helpful to state it, my opinion should always be considered as such and weighed out in the balance of Scripture by you.
   5. The front of my Bible has the reference 2 Tim 2:15.
      
      2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
3. The writer of Hebrews declares that an overseer of the church is accountable for the souls that are under his ministry.
   1. I better be saying the right things.
   2. There are many things I do as a pastor.
   3. Weddings, funerals, baby dedications, baptisms, missions, support of other churches, raising up other leaders, etc.
   4. The two most important things I do as your pastor are to pray and disciple the congregation with sound teaching.

III. vv. 3-6 The power of speech.

1. James now shifts his focus to the broader body of Christ and the importance of having speech that is fitting for believers.
2. vv. 3-4 The tongue controls.
   1. v. 3 The bit controls a horse.
      
      ³ Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body.
      
      1. A little piece of metal wields power over a very strong and willful animal.
   2. vv. 4-5a A rudder controls a large ship.
      
      ⁴ Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. ⁵ Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things…
      1. One of the smallest parts of a ship sets the course for where all on board will go.
      2. Both the bit and the rudder must overcome contrary forces, and so our tongue must overcome the contrary force of our old nature.
3. vv. 5b-6 The tongue is dangerous.
   
   ⁵ … See how great a forest a little fire kindles! ⁶ And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.
   
   1. v. 5b A simple spark can create incredible damage.
   2. v. 6 The tongue can bring the same kind of controlling and damaging influence as the spark, bit, or rudder.
   3. When the tongue is restrained, much of the strife and division we experience will die out like a fire starved of fuel.
      
      Proverbs 26:20-21 ²⁰ Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; And where there is no talebearer, strife ceases. ²¹ As charcoal is to burning coals, and wood to fire, So is a contentious man to kindle strife.
      
      1. Sadly, there are times of strife and division in the Church, and most of the time an unrestrained tongue makes its impact.
   4. Note that our unrestrained speech finds its origin in hell.
      1. This is no surprise, for Satan desires to destroy.
      2. Be on the alert. The enemy never tells us beforehand what he will do with your words.

IV. vv. 7-8 Unruly and deadly.

⁷ For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. ⁸ But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

1. vv. 7-8a The point here is to emphasize the power and unruliness of our words.
2. vv. 8b The deadly effects of our words.
   1. Poison brings death to the physical body, and our words have the power to bring death to unity and fellowship.
   2. What kind of damage takes place when we lend our tongue to Satan to use?
      1. Defile a person’s mind.
      2. Damage the person who is being talked about.
      3. It becomes an opportunity for the world to bring reproach upon God.
      4. Creates division. Jesus died to unite.
   3. Types of Unrestrained speech that kill.
      1. Lying
         1. It kills the trust we have with others.
   4. Gossip
      1. It kills the love of the Church.
      2. “ψι-θυ-ρισ-μός psi-thu-ris-mos Gossip- providing harmful information about a person, often spoken in whispers or in a low voice, with the implication that such information is not widely known and therefore should presumably be kept secret.”^[1]
      3. “Ψιθυρισμός psi-thu-ris-mos, … derogatory information about someone that is offered in a tone of confidentiality, (secret) gossip,”^[2]
      4. Sharing news about people that will lower or damage the person talked about.
      5. To which many respond, but it is not true.
      6. I guess that is a pretty good excuse when you are not a follower of Jesus Christ.
      7. Remember, we have been commanded to cover sin.
         
         Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all sins.
         
         Proverbs 17:9 He who covers a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates friends.
         
         
      8. There are times to bring sinful things to light, but how?
         
         Matthew 18:15 Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.
         
         Luke 17:3 Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.
         
         Leviticus 19:17 (NLT) Do not nurse hatred in your heart for any of your relatives. Confront people directly so you will not be held guilty for their sin.
         
         Proverbs 25:9 Debate your case with your neighbor, And do not disclose the secret to another;
         
         
      9. You go to that person or to those who are authorized to oversee the problem.
      10. If your conversation does not go to help the one discussed, then what was the purpose of the conversation?
      11. These conversations should bring things to light, not remain whispers in the back room.
      12. In other words, if the discussion does not correct or counsel the situation, you most likely have engaged in gossip.
   5. Slander
      1. It kills a good reputation.
      2. A false statement spoken with evil intent to harm a person’s reputation.
   6. Filthy talk
      1. It kills the purity of the hearers.
   7. Critical speech, complaining, and murmuring.
      1. It kills the praise that God is due.
   8. Bragging and exaggerating.
      1. It kills the attention that should go to God.
   9. False teaching.
      1. It kills the life that comes from sound teaching.

V. vv. 9-12 The inconsistency of corrupt communication

1. vv. 9-10 Blessing God and cursing man.
   1. The idea that we can be living a life of worship yet speak evil against the people that are made in His image is hypocrisy.
      
      ⁹ With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.
      
   2. “The word of the curse, which is the opposite of blessing (cf. Deut. 30:19), was seen to have great power in the ancient world. For to curse someone is not just to swear at them; it is to desire that they be cut off from God and experience eternal punishment.”^[3]
      1. One may defend oneself and say, “I desire no eternal harm in the way I have spoken of them.”
      2. But can we say I am concerned for their spiritual well-being?
      3. Can we say that we desire that a good spiritual outcome comes for them?
   3. To show how egregious unsanctified speech is, he appeals to the person being made in the image of God.
      1. This is a powerful line of truth.
      2. It is because people are made in the image of God that we don’t murder.
      3. It is because people are made in the image of God that we don’t abort the unborn.
      4. It is because male and female were made in the image of God that we believe that a person should remain and identify as they were created.
      5. It is because a woman is made in the image of God that we condemn the ill-treatment of women.
      6. It is because all of mankind is made in the image of God, adorned with all the beauty of the different colors of our skin, that we condemn all racism.
   4. “We look around at our brothers and sisters, whether in the human family or in the family of God, and think nothing of defaming, denigrating, criticizing, making the sly innuendo; yet they bear the image of God. We think of Jesus and count it a shame if his glory is despised or his name used dishonourably; we write to the papers to complain of blasphemy on radio or television. But the same glorious image of God in other people we hardly think of and rarely hesitate to speak ill of.”^[4]
2. vv. 11-12 Lessons from springs and trees.
   
   ¹¹ Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?  ¹² Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh. ¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.
   
   1. Springs and trees can bear only one type of fruit.
   2. v. 11 Springs and trees are not capable of the inconsistency of vv. 9-10 (praise and curse).
      1. Fresh water is encouraging to the thirsty, weary traveler, and we should be speaking words of refreshment to our brothers and sisters.
      2. Bitter water can cause sickness and even death to those who drink it.
      3. When we use harsh words against someone, we are spewing bitterness. It results in harm.
   3. Nature, of course, cannot produce such a spring.
      1. So how can it be that one who has the Spirit of God living in them should in one moment give glory to His name and in the next speak evil to or against another?
3. Occasions when evil speech is a temptation.
   1. In disagreements over choice, opinion, etc.
   2. When we have been wronged.
   3. When a person does not live up to ours or God’s expectations.
   4. When you have privileged information about a person’s life.
   5. When we don’t follow God’s advice in seeking to reconcile or rebuke someone in their sin.

VI. Conclusion

Eph 4:29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

1. Speak only those things which are for the necessary edification and building up of the body of Christ.
2. Some people would suddenly become very quiet if they applied this standard; they wouldn’t have much to say.
3. Let us use our tongue to:
   1. Pray
   2. Praise
   3. Preach
   4. Promote/edify each other

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^[1] Johannes Louw and Eugene Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 434.

^[2] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 1098.

^[3] Douglas Moo, James: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 16, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 133.

^[4] J. A. Motyer, The Message of James: The Tests of Faith, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1985), 126.