Taming Tongue James 3:1-18

Introduction https://youtu.be/S5GIdsA_Aps

As we have discovered over the last few weeks, James is a hard hitter whose teaching about life, painful as it may be to digest, is unavoidably true to our experience. This is especially the case when he opens up about the power of the tongue[1]. Originally I was going to follow the set reading which finishes at the end of verse 12, but this approach would be too depressing, for the solution to the corruption of human speech expounded by James is set forth in the last part of the chapter. The power of the tongue is enduring, most likely your oldest memory of something said to you is a negative comment.[2] Today we live in an age where virtually anyone can access almost any information, from a personal opinion to the deliberation of a global panel of experts[3]. Since it is likely that this flood of “fake news” will only accelerate with time we need to take into our hearts the radical difference between a heavenly wisdom and its good fruits and a demonic wisdom and the disorder it brings. We are being called to a level of discernment which has been lacking in the Church for a very long time. James returns to the theme of speech he has raised earlier in his letter, where he has exhorted us to be “quick to hear, slow to speak” and to “bridle the tongue” (James 1:19, 26). What we say even more than what we do challenges us to seek the grace of God in Christ.

Exposition

The Untameable Tongue

As someone who from conversion believed he was called to be a “teacher” of the Bible, I have long found this scripture to be greatly challenging. 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 doesn’t say “teachers” will be judged more strictly because the Lord has higher standards for us, or that the damage done by we teachers is likely to be greater than by others or that our sins more numerous[4]. More likely he is applying the teaching of Jesus, “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.” (Luke 12:48). The greater the responsibility the greater the judgment[5]. Anyone who is called to teach the Bible, whether in Godly Play[6] or in a Bible study group etc. must take this call seriously and be, above all, a person of humility and prayer[7]. Since teachers always use words it’s natural that James passes on to talking about the tongue.

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.

Long before James the writers of Proverbs and the Psalms (Pss 34:13; 39:1; 141:3; Prov 10:8-9; 16:27-28; 18:7-8) singled out speech as an area of sin. We are all familiar with false, biting, slanderous, unkind, self-judgement judgemental language which we hear coming out of our own mouths! Horses and ships, large as they are, are mastered by tiny instruments, but no one has mastered their own tongue[8]. The tongue can determine the destiny of an individual. Countless times throughout our lives we will regret what we say.

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.

The tongue boasts of great things. This reminds me of an illustration that might at first sight seems applicable only to megalomaniacs; but which in truth applies to us all. In their glorious triumphant processions through the streets of Rome its conquering generals had a slave on their chariot whispering to them, ‘Remember you are mortal’. Humility, of which I will speak more later, is the only way in which the tongue can be tamed. It is otherwise like an unguarded campfire in a forest that at any moment might lead to an inferno[9].  When James says the tongue is set on fire by hell he uses the same term, Gehenna, that Jesus used in talking about the place of ultimate condemnation.

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.

Think about the wild creature you are most frightened of, a great white shark, crocodile, tiger snake[10]…according to James, these beasts can be tamed, but your tongue is destructive beyond redemption, it is by nature unstable, unpredictable and “always liable to break out” (J. B. Phillips).  Like the theological position called the doctrine of total depravity, whilst what it actually implies is a little different from how it sounds[11], James certainly has nothing positive to say about the tongue. It is a restless “world of unrighteousness” full of evil. James goes on to pile up inconsistencies about our speech which we know only too well[12].

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?[13] Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

The sins of the tongue are so deplorable to James that in saying, “these things ought not to be so”, he uses a form of Greek unique in the New Testament[14]. To relieve the stress, we should note that whilst James denies our ability to tame the tongue, he does not deny it can be healed by the grace of God! Our next section speaks of such a conversion.

Wisdom: demonic or heavenly

13 Who is wise and understanding[15] among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom[16].

Every one of us lives[17]on the assumption that we truly possess wisdom[18]. The gospel teaches us that ultimate wisdom is the descent of God into humanity in Christ, all the way to death and resurrection (Phil 2:5-11). The essence of wisdom is humility. Through many errors I have learned to try to suspend judgement in every situation[19]. For example, a couple with marriage difficulties have been referred to see me tomorrow. I am not a psychologist or professional counsellor[20], so before they arrive I will pray that in the course of our conversation the Spirit of the Lord will reveal to me his insights about both parties.

14 But if you have bitter jealousy[21] and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above[22], but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.

Jealousy and selfish ambition are the very antithesis of the life of God. In this context “earthly” means totally bound to this-worldy considerations[23]. Something sensible Christians can suffer from. Some years ago, I was convinced that I was called to move my family from Victoria to Queensland to study, even though I didn’t have any employment in Brisbane, and despite the rector of the parish offering to up my salary to his level and my Master’s thesis supervisor offered to do the same for my doctorate[24]. A committed member of the parish, a successful businessman, approached me and told me I was foolish and uncaring to my family this. Security was a high value for him, and Brisbane proved difficult in many ways, including financially and in terms of ministry, but it was a training ground for new dimensions of discipleship. I have never regretted that move, because Christian wisdom always embraces the folly of the cross (1 Cor 1:18)[25].

In my imagination about uncompetitive ultimate wisdom, I see the dialogue in the Trinity in eternity and can hear the Father saying to the Son in the Spirit, “you go first” and the Spirit-filled Jesus says to the Father “you first” so the result is that the Father, Son and Spirit perfectly lovingly glorify each other forever. The powerful move of God we see in revival[26] usually breaks down when leaders glory in their celebrity and start to compete with one another through a devilish wisdom sowing disorder and destruction. The most acute biblical illustration of debased wisdom belongs to Jonadab the friend of Amnon, David’s firstborn son (2 Sam 13:1-21). He alone in scripture is described as “a very crafty man” (13:3-5), and he came up with a plan that empowered Amnon to rape his sister Tamar without witnesses. This demonic cunning led to widespread killing amongst David’s family[27].

James climaxes this section with a positive description of godly wisdom, “17 the wisdom from above is first pure[28], then peaceable, gentle[29], open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” This description has to remind us of….his brother Jesus. Jesus is blameless, peace-creating, the fulness of reason itself[30], never miserly with mercy, and who has created a new level of righteousness which he gifts to those who by faith believe in him (1 Cor 1:30; 2 Cor 5:21; Phil 3:9)[31].

Conclusion

The genuine Christian never seeks strife or controversy, even if it will certainly come in following Jesus. The answer to an uncontrolled tongue can only come from a deeper abiding  in Jesus who alone is the perfection of wisdom.  I am reminded of a text in Habakkuk (2:4) beloved of the gospel writers in the New Testament (Rom 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38). ““Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by faith.” The revelation of the Fatherly heart of God, who in Jesus[32] always deals with us in the straightest and purest possible way, and who dwells in our hearts (Eph 3:17) is the sole means of the power which increasingly straightens our hearts and purify our words. This is an indispensable dimension of our salvation and witness. To him we must turn.