I’m going to describe a particular part of our bodies in the first person, as if I’m that part of our bodies. Here goes:
I may be the strongest muscle in your body. I am considered to be the strongest muscle for my size. I have been known to lift over 80 times my weight, but don’t put me to the test! I am busy during the day and all through the night, and I never get tired. I may be kind of rough on the surface, but I’m smooth underneath. I’m about 4 inches long and I am the only muscle in your body that is only connected to your body at one end. I can heal myself faster than any other part of your body. Thanks to your nose and my buds, I’m learning to develop a taste for things. I used to come out of my den more often for people to see me, but now I only come out when you need help eating an ice cream cone, or when the doctor says, “open your mouth, stick out your ‘tongue’ and say ahhhh”! As you’ve probably guessed, I’m the muscle that would be speaking this message aloud to you right now.
As strong as our tongues are physically, they boast of even greater power for good and for evil both emotionally, socially, and spiritually. I think it’s significant that, right after the apostle James writes about evidences of genuine, saving faith, he talks about the tongue.
James has already explained two characteristics of the true, maturing Christian. First, in chapter 1, James says that the true Christian is patient in times of trouble. Secondly, in chapter two, James says that the true Christian practices the truth. Here in chapter 3, James says that the third characteristic of a true believer is that he has power over his tongue.
James now goes for the jugular vein of the Christian life – the problem of the tongue. No other section of the Bible speaks with greater authority and impact on this subject than does James.
The words of the Lord Jesus Christ put this problem of the tongue into perspective. The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 15:11, 18-19: “Not what enters into the mouth defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man. . . . the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man”. We need to realize that the heart and the tongue are directly associated with each other. Through its every word, the tongue broadcasts the condition of the heart.
In order to impress on us the importance of controlled speech, and the great consequences of our words, James gives us six pictures of the tongue: the bit, the rudder, fire, a dangerous animal, a fountain and a fig tree. You can put these six pictures into three categories that reveal the three powers of the tongue.
I. THE POWER TO DIRECT: THE BIT AND THE RUDDER (3:1-4)
James begins chapter 3 by saying, “Let not many of you become teachers.” The Greek word “didaskaloi” is used in the New Testament epistles to refer to teachers of God’s Word, rather than the alternate meaning of “masters” or “rulers” when referring to the Jewish rabbi’s. James is not discouraging Christians from using their gifts and abilities to benefit the local congregations. He is warning against the misuse of that privilege to gain power and prestige. Those motives and desires are not the marks of a true teacher of God’s Word. A teacher’s words are not to be used to exalt himself but to accurately explain the Word of God and exalt the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In verses 3-5 James uses the examples of the bit and rudder because each of them, like the tongue, is small yet powerful. The bit is a very small item that goes into the horse’s mouth in order to overcome the power and the wild nature of the horse. However, it is not the bit that controls the entire horse. It is the experienced rider, using the bit and bridle in the proper ways, that controls the horse. In the same way, the rudder on a ship is a very small item in comparison to the ship, and it has to overcome the forces of the wind and the waves and currents. However, it is not the rudder that controls the entire ship. It is the experienced pilot or helmsman, who operates the rudder in the correct ways, that controls the ship.
Unless the Lord Jesus Christ is the Savior and Lord of our lives, we are not going to be able to keep our tongues from evil, nor will we always be able to say the right thing at the right time. There are evil forces inside us and in the world around us that are fighting for control of our hearts and our speech. King David had a temper, as we all do, and he prays in Psalm 141, “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth, keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not incline my heart to do any evil thing.”
II. THE POWER TO DESTROY: THE FIRE AND THE DANGEROUS ANIMAL (3:5-8)
In verses 5-8, James compares the tongue to a fire and to a dangerous animal. A fire spreads very quickly and is very destructive, causing damage that can’t be easily repaired, if it can be repaired at all. In one town where I pastored, a neighbor came to the door yelling, “Help, my kitchen is on fire!” I grabbed the portable fire extinguisher out of my car and ran to her house, where I saw smoke coming out of the back door. As I entered, I had to duck down because of the smoke. I could see the fire on the wall above the stove and sprayed it with fire-retardent powder until the extinguisher was empty. When I went outside to get some fresh air I could hear the fire truck coming. The firemen went inside, sprayed the wall area and checked the ceiling and attic. Afterward, they asked us to come inside to see the damage. The wooden spice rack above the stove had caught on fire and the fire chief pointed to a couple of places where the flames had burned through the drywall and had charred the wood. He said that if I hadn’t been there and put the fire out when I did, it would have gone up the two-by-fours and into the attic and roof by the time they arrived just moments later. It would have become a house fire rather than just a kitchen fire, and the house would probably have been damaged beyond repair. That was a scary lesson about the swiftness and destructiveness of fire!
James tells us that the tongue can have a similar effect when we use it to gossip about or slander others. Evangelist Billy Graham used the following illustration to point out the destructive and lasting effect that our words can have: There is a story of a woman in England who came to her vicar with a troubled conscience. The vicar knew her to be an habitual gossip – she had maligned nearly everyone in the village. “How can I make amends?” she pleaded. The vicar said “If you want to make peace with your conscience, take a bag of goose feathers and drop one on the porch of each one you have slandered.” When she had done so, she came back to the vicar and said, “Is that all?” “No,” said the wise old minister, “you must go now and gather up every feather and bring them all back to me.” After a long time, the woman returned without a single feather. “The wind has blown them all away,” she said. “My good woman,” said the vicar, “so it is with gossip. Unkind words are easily dropped, but we can never take them back again.” (Day-By-Day with Billy Graham, Sept. 17)
Fire spreads, and the more fuel you add to that fire, the faster it will spread and the farther it will spread. Time does not erase or correct the effects of the sins of the tongue. God wants us to confess these sins and let Him take control of our speech, but the fires we have already kindled and fueled will continue to spread, just like the goose feathers being blown away by the wind. Realize also that those fires we kindle will also burn us. People who have been hurt by us will no longer trust us, and the word gets around, and our credibility is gone. There are many lonely people today who are suffering the consequences of their false and malicious words, and yet refuse to change or admit their guilt.
A dangerous animal also has the power to destroy. Some are dangerous because of their strong, swift and powerful bodies, many of them equipped with claws and sharp teeth or tusks. If you’ve ever been to Lion Country or to a Wildlife Safari, you know what I am saying. Yet James states that man has been able to tame some of these animals from every species. But, he adds in verse 8: “No one can tame the tongue”. Sounds discouraging, doesn’t it? Don’t lose hope! I believe that what the Lord Jesus said about riches and salvation in Matthew 19:26 is also true about the tongue: “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Other animals are dangerous because they are poisonous. My first overseas duty in the Air Force was at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base in northern Thailand. A group of us new arrivals were in an orientation briefing. One of the warnings we were given was to beware of a particular snake called the krait snake. The bite of a krait snake has little or no pain, and can cause a false reassurance to the victim. It feels like the bite of an ant or a mosquito. The person may not even realize that he’s been bitten. There is very minimum evidence of local swelling. Symptoms include a tightening of the facial muscles within one to two hours, inability of the person to see or talk, and death from respiratory failure (or suffocation) within 4-5 hours. The krait was called the “two-step snake” because its venom was so powerful and acted so quickly.
Our tongues can also have a poisoning effect on others, and on ourselves as well. Have you ever injected a malicious remark or comment into a conversation in the hope that it might spread to the person you wanted to hurt? Have you ever yelled at someone in a moment of anger, or shouted profanity? Maybe you were on the receiving end of those kinds of outbursts, How did it make you feel? A.T. Robinson, in his book, “Studies in the Epistle of James”, makes this observation about the defiling effect of our words: “It is now known that angry words cause the glands of the body to discharge a dangerous poison that affects the stomach, the heart, the brain.” King David, in Psalm 140:3, had these words to say about evil and wicked men: “They sharpen their tongues as a serpent; poison of a viper is under their lips.”
III. THE POWER TO DELIGHT: THE FOUNTAIN AND THE FIG TREE (James 3:9-12)
In verse 9 James recognizes that the tongue is good at times. It is not altogether evil. But it is inconsistent. He uses the illustrations of the fountain, the fig tree, and salt water to get his point across.
Have you ever had your mouth washed out with soap? It isn’t a pleasant experience! An older kid in our neighborhood was accustomed to using filthy language, and whenever my younger brother and I were around him we tried to imitate him. One day my mother overheard our conversation. Since I was the older son, and should have been a good example to my brother, I received the cleansing treatment first. I could hear my younger brother snickering as I was going through the ordeal. Then it was his turn! He didn’t think it was funny anymore! The soap she used had a pleasant smell to it but it did not taste good! As you probably aready know, it wasn’t my mouth and tongue that were the real source of the problem. It was my heart. But having my mouth washed out with soap gave me a change of heart!
My mother got the point across and the lesson was learned. As I think of my mother, I cannot remember her ever cursing, swearing or using filthy language. I’m thankful to God and to her that the use of such language has never become a habit for me. However, there are other kinds of language that we all have been guilty of and struggle with. Evangelist Billy Graham says, “You can use your tongue to slander, to gripe, to scold, to nag, and to quarrel, or you can bring it under the control of God’s Spirit and make it an instrument of blessing and praise.”
In verses 10-12, James uses three illustrations: the fountain, the fig and olive trees, and salt water, to show the nature of things. Water is not sweet and bitter at the same time from the same fountain, is it? A fig tree cannot produce olives, can it? Nor can an olive tree produce figs. And salt water cannot, of itself, produce fresh water, can it? Nature is consistent because God made it that way.
Man was also created to reflect the image of God (Genesis 1:27). James says earlier in his letter: “No one can tame the tongue”; no one, that is, except God. You may remember in Exodus 15:23-26 that the people of Israel came to Marah on their journey to the Promised Land. The word “Marah” means “bitter”, and the waters there were bitter. They couldn’t drink the waters, and they couldn’t change the condition of the waters, but God did. When God told them to cast a particular tree into the water, the waters became sweet and drinkable.
If your speech is not reflecting the character of God, and other areas of your life are contrary to God’s will, you may want to make sure that your relationship to God is genuine, and that the Lord Jesus Christ is truly the Lord of your life. The theme of the book of James is: “genuine faith produces genuine works”. If there is any question in your mind, God wants to enter your life if you will turn from your sinful ways and let Him come in and take control of your mind, emotions and will. Then your words will become words of praise and thanksgiving to God and to others; words that heal, comfort and encourage; words that are beautiful to hear; words that give glory to God.