James: A Letter from Jesus’ Brother
Taming the Tongue – James 3:1-12
David Brainerd lived in the early 1700’s and was one of the first missionaries to the American Indians. When he was in his teens he felt deep in his heart that there was something more to life – that there was a God who could be known. But he also knew he had turned his back on God, and was separated from God. But as he read the Bible he discovered that Jesus’ death on the Cross could forgive him and restore him into relationship with God.
So he received Jesus Christ into His life as Savior, Lord, and all-satisfying Treasure. And as a result, he powerfully experienced God’s love and presence – not constantly – but frequently. Here’s some of what he experienced:
The Lord by His grace so shined into my heart that I enjoyed full assurance of His favor. In prayer I found unspeakable sweetness and delight in God. My soul dearly loved all mankind, and longed exceedingly that they should enjoy what I enjoyed.
But even though he had powerfully met God – he needed to be careful about his words. Two years later he was close to graduating from Yale College. But one day his heart was full of pride, and he slandered one of his professors so severely that the administration expelled him.
So even though David Brainerd knew and loved Jesus, he needed to be very careful about his words. And even though you know and love Jesus, you need to be very careful about your words.
And that’s the point James makes in James 3. Let’s turn there together. If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand and we’ll bring one to you. James 3 is on page 1012 in the Bibles we are passing out.
Now the first question we need to ask about this passage is -- What is James’ main point? We need to ask that question because it’s not obvious. Look at what he says in v.1 --
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
James writes this letter to a group of Christians who had to flee Jerusalem to escape persecution. And it sounds like some of them wanted to become teachers in the church gathering. So James warns them that not many of them should become teachers.
Now you could think this means James is only talking to those who wanted to teach. But when you keep reading in the passage, you can see that James broadens out his concerns to cover not just those who want to teach, but to all of us who are following Jesus.
You can see that in v.2, where he says that “we all stumble in many ways” – which includes all of us; and in v.8, where he says that “no human being can tame the tongue” – which applies to all of us.
So James is not just talking to those who want to be teachers. He’s talking to all of us. And his main point is that we all need to be careful about our words. Think about it like this. If this pitcher carried harmless water, I could walk around without being real careful about whether any spilled on me or on you. But if this pitcher carried toxic acid which burned through skin, I would need to be careful that it didn’t spill on me or you.
In the same way, James is calling us to be careful about our words. But why? Why should we be careful about our words? In vv.1-12 James gives us five reasons.
First, because we will all be judged by our words. You can see that in v.1 --
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
Now this is a sobering verse for me, because I do a lot of teaching. Because I teach, I will be judged with greater strictness – because God has entrusted me with the responsibility of explaining His words to His people. But that doesn’t mean the rest of you don’t get judged. It just means that, because you are not a teacher, you are not judged with the same strictness.
So one reason we should be careful about our words is because we will be evaluated by our words. Here’s what this means. At the end of history you will stand before Jesus, and one question will determine your eternal destiny: did you genuinely trust Jesus? That’s all that matters. And if you genuinely trusted Him, then your words will show that. Not that your words were perfect. But because you trusted Jesus, His love filled your heart so your words became more and more Christ-centered, kind, humble, bold – and less and less proud, slanderous, gossipy – and more and more repentant when your words did not live up to Jesus’ call. And because your words show you trust Jesus, that will show that you were completely forgiven by Jesus’ death, and you will be welcomed into God’s presence in the new heavens and earth.
But if your words do not show that you trusted Jesus, if your words did not breathe love for Jesus, if they did not become more and more kind, humble, bold – if they did not become less and less proud slanderous, gossipy – if there were no words of repentance when you stumbled in your words – then that will show you didn’t trust Jesus, and so you were not forgiven by Jesus’ death, and you will face God’s punishment forever.
So understand that your words show whether or not you trust Jesus. That’s one reason we should be careful about our words.
The second reason is because we are, by nature, evil in our words. You can see that in v.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.
We were made to trust God for everything. But apart from Jesus’ saving work, our hearts don’t want to trust God. So our hearts are left empty and frustrated and angry – and that often comes out in our words.
So we are, by nature, evil in our words. Did any of us need to discipline ourselves to lie? To gossip, or boast, or slander? No. We are, by nature evil in our words. That’s another reason we must be careful about our words.
The third reason is because words can bring terrible destruction. You can see that in vv.3-6 --
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.
Our words can bring terrible destruction to ourselves: our angry words enflame our anger; our gossipy words stir up our pride; our slanderous words stir up our self-righteousness. And our words can bring terrible destruction to others: they can ruin relationships, separate friends, wound marriages, devastate people.
So be careful about your words, because they can bring terrible destruction.
The fourth reason is because by ourselves we can’t tame our tongues. Look at vv.7-8 --
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.
I grew up with dogs. First we had Dachshunds, then Beagles. And it is amazing how you can train dogs – “sit!”; they sit. “Roll over!”; they roll over. “Shake!”; they shake. You can train dogs.
But what happens when you try to train your tongue? “Be nice!”; it’s rude. “Be truthful!”; it lies. “Be humble!”; it boasts. No human being can tame the tongue. So if no one can tame the tongue, what can we do? We’ll come to that in a moment. But before we get there – James has one more reason why we must be careful about our words.
The fifth reason is because our words quickly become destructive. You can see that in vv.9-12 –
9 With it [our tongue] 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.
We’ve got a case of bottled water in our garage. And whenever I go surfing I take a couple bottles with me. And when I finish surfing, I don’t even think about it – I open a water bottle, and drink it down. The reason I don’t think about it is because those bottles are consistent: every time I open one of those bottles, what comes out is cool, clean water.
But our tongues are different. If at 2:00 your words are full of love, encouragement, and grace – does that mean that at 3:00 your words will automatically be full of love, encouragement, and grace? Not at all. You can speak love and encouragement at one moment, and slander and gossip the next. That’s another reason we need to be careful about our words.
So James is urging us to be careful about our words – because we will be judged by our words, because we are, by nature, evil in our words, because our words can bring terrible destruction, because by ourselves we can’t tame our tongues, and because our words quickly become destructive.
But all of this raises another question – what can we do about our words? If all we had was vv.1-12, it sounds like there’s nothing we can do. Note especially v.8 – “no human being can tame the tongue.” That sounds hopeless. But James is not saying no one an change his words; he’s saying that apart from Jesus Christ no one can change his words.
The reason I say that is because of what James says in chapter 1, v.26 --
If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.
When James talks about “religion” he’s not talking about stuffy formalism – he’s talking about genuine faith in Jesus, about true Jesus-centered spirituality. So James is saying that true religion, genuine faith in Jesus, true Jesus-centered spirituality – will enable you to bridle your tongue.
You can’t tame your tongue on your own. But if you are trusting Jesus, then His love is being poured into your heart – and you will be able to bridle your tongue. Now we’ll talk about this more next week – but for now let me give you a couple suggestions.
First, look carefully at your words. Take stock of your words. Do they breathe love for Jesus? Is there growing love, kindness, humility, boldness? Is there lessening pride, slander, gossip? Are there words of confession for when you fail in your words?
Second, confess sinful words to Jesus and receive His forgiveness. Let sinful words bring you afresh to the Cross, and receive His love and forgiveness.
Third, ask Jesus to transform your words. Pray Psalm 19:14 – “may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord my rock and my redeemer.”
Fourth, notice when you stumble with your words, and intentionally set your heart on Jesus during those times. When our hearts are set on Jesus, and we are seeing Him and His promises and His love for us and His forgiveness of us – our hearts will be changed, and our words will be changed. Which means that when we are stumbling in our words, our hearts are not set on Jesus. So notice when you stumble with your words, and during those times intentionally set your heart on Jesus.
If you tend to gossip when you’re with friends, that shows that during those times your heart is not set on Jesus. So intentionally set your heart on Jesus during those times.
If you tend to get angry while at work, that shows that while you’re at work your heart is not set on Jesus, so intentionally set your heart on Jesus while you are at work.
You get the idea.
Questions?