Taming our tongues

[This was shared during worship with the people and friends of Living Water Lutheran Church in Springboro, Ohio, this past Sunday.]

James 3:1-12
The book of James, from which our second lesson for today comes, is a practical handbook for Christian living. Some might wonder why we need such a thing. We know that all who repent and believe in Jesus Christ are saved from sin and death and have life with God that begins now and will be lived in perfection in eternity. Saved by grace, people might wonder, who needs a handbook?

Thank God, salvation, life with God, and the comfort and power of the Holy Spirit’s presence are all free gifts given to all with surrendering trust in Jesus Christ! 

But, according to the Bible, even after we’ve been baptized, affirmed our belief in Christ, and become part of God’s kingdom, we still live in this world until either Christ returns or we die and rise into eternity with God. 

And as long as we live here, the old Adam or the old Eve in us must, as Martin Luther writes in The Small Catechism, “be drowned by daily sorrow for sin and repentance and be put to death.” 

It’s only then, Luther says, “that the new person [can] come forth every day and rise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.” 

Unless we stay open to God’s grace and guidance and remain submitted to the God we know in Jesus Christ as the final authority over our lives, the temptations to take God’s grace for granted and to take up any sin that pleases us can overrun us and steer us, bit by bit, away from an eternity with God to an eternity in hell.

James’ guidebook for Christians isn’t a “how to get salvation” book. It’s more like a mirror that we can hold up to our lives and, first, see our need of Christ’s forgiveness and, second, see our need of the Holy Spirit’s help us to live our lives in response to God's grace. 

The issue addressed by James in today’s second lesson, the issue of controlling our tongues, the words that we speak, may not seem like a big deal to us. But it is to God. 

Take a look our lesson, James 3:1-12, please. In verses 2 and 3, James says that little things--like small bits in the mouths of horses or tiny rudders on the backs of giant ships--can exercise great control over and have a huge impact on big things. Even the words we speak. 

Then, he says, starting in verse 5: “...the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell....” 

James goes on to say that we know how to tame wild animals, but no human being can tame the tongue or the damage it can do. 

In verses 9 and 10, he hands out his most severe indictment of the damage done by our mouths: “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.”

Our words are powerful; even the ones we toss off casually. 

I think the reason for this is simple. We are the only ones of God’s creatures “made in the image” of the God Who spoke and brought the whole universe into being. 

It’s no coincidence then, that one of the first ways in which the Old Testament book of Genesis says that Adam, the first human being, expressed human dominion over creation was to give names--to speak descriptive words--over every other creature. 

This power--the power to give names or labels to people or things--reflects the image of God within every human being. 

But after the fall into sin, we sinners naturally began misusing this gift of speech. In fact, James says, because sin has filled us, our tongues have taken control of us to the point that sometimes we speak without thinking or speak on the basis of malicious thinking, bringing harm to others and to ourselves.

This is serious business! In Matthew 24:36-37, Jesus says:

“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.” 

I don’t know about you, but those words of Jesus make me more than a wee bit uncomfortable.

The failure to control our mouths, then, is a sin issue. Careless words, whether spoken in judgment of others, to criticize others without loving them, or to pass along the latest gossip, are not harmless. Unrepented, careless words put our eternal relationship with God at risk. 

God has not rescinded the Eighth Commandment: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” 

We “bear false witness” not just when we tell outright lies about others. 

Martin Luther writes of this commandment: “We are to fear and love God so that we do not betray, slander, lie, or gossip about our neighbors, but speak well of them, and put the most charitable construction on all that they do.”

But, there is good news. 

Our intemperate tongues (and all our other sins) don’t need to control us or our eternal destinies. 

We can live differently. 

We can move closer to God and stop driving a wedge between God and ourselves through our careless words.

In Mark 8:34, Jesus tells those who would follow Him into eternity: ““If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” 

The indispensable step in getting free of the sins of our mouths, along with all our other sins, is to own them, to own God’s rightful condemnation of them, then bring those sins to Jesus, confess them to God, admit that we have used our words to curse others, gossip about others and tear them down. 

Drawing on the covenant God has made with us in our baptism, we need to drown our old sinful selves and allow, through the grace God bears for all who believe in the crucified and risen Jesus, our new selves to “rise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.” 

Like God’s Old Testament people in Psalm 130:4, we can sing to our God: “...with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, fear you.” 

If, as you’ve listened to James’ word to us today, God has brought to mind ways in which you have misused the gift of speech, you can pray, “God, for the sake of Jesus, forgive me for using my words to bring pain to others or dishonor to You.” 

Whenever we confess our sins to God in the Name of Jesus, there is forgiveness in God! We can count on that. 

But what then? What do we do next? How do we let God’s Holy Spirit guide us so that we don’t engage in careless or harmful talk? 

Here are few suggestions.

First: We surrender our brains and our mouths to God, along with the rest of our lives. A good prayer to offer each day might be the one in Psalm 19:14: “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

Second: Before we open our mouths to share something critical of another human being, we should ask ourselves, “Does this help anything?” Ephesians 4:29 says: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Note: Some critical words are helpful and are loving. If they are offered in that way, God has our backs! Elsewhere in Ephesians, we're told to "speak the truth in love" and "in your anger do not sin."

Third: We ask ourselves another question, "Would we say these words if we were in the physical presence of Jesus Christ?" The fact is that everything we say is said in the presence of Christ, whether we realize it or not. Jesus says in Luke 12:2: “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.” Do we really think that Jesus wants to hear every word we decide to say?

Fourth: If our words have harmed another person, it can be appropriate to apologize to them. They may not forgive you. But at least, you will have the satisfaction of making an effort.

Finally: Whether in conversation with others or in conversation with God, try silence. Proverbs 17:28 says: “Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.”

But it isn’t just to impress others that we should keep silence, of course. James 1:19 says that we Christians should be “should be quick to listen, slow to speak...” God, as someone has said, gave us two ears and one mouth and our communication probably ought to be in that proportion. When we remain silent and truly listen to others, we come to understand them more and judge them less.

As some of you know, one of my most frequent prayer requests to God is: “Give me the right words and the right silences.” That's a prayer I offer particularly urgently any time I'm called to an emergency situation. I want to honor the God Who gave His only Son so that all who believe in Him may have life forever. I don’t want my mouth to get in the way of God’s grace. 

When, in challenging situations, I remember to pray that prayer, it’s been amazing to me to see how God has answered it. 

There are times, of course, when we must raise our voices in witness to what Christ has done for us and can do for others. There are times to use our mouths to praise God. There are times when we must use words to work out our difference with others or express our love for them. 

But sometimes our greatest witness for Christ comes when we curb our tongues, refrain from the judgment or gossip or the unnecessary gibberish we’re tempted to impart, and just keep silence. 

May we all seek God’s help in guiding and guarding the things we say and so, be able to honor Him with our whole lives. Amen

Who's in Charge: God or Your Tongue?

[This was shared during the 10:15 worship service at Saint Matthew Lutheran Church in Logan, Ohio, this morning.]

James 3:1-12
The book of James, from which our second lesson for today comes, is a practical handbook for Christian living.

We might wonder why we need such a thing. After all, we’re Lutherans: We know that all who repent and believe in Jesus Christ are saved from sin and death and have life with God that begins now and will be lived in perfection in eternity. “‘Nuff said, preacher, the Browns/Bengals game is on at 1.” Who needs a handbook?

Thank God, salvation, life with God, and the comfort and power of the Holy Spirit’s presence are all free gifts given to all with surrendering trust in Jesus Christ!

But, according to the Bible, even after we’ve been baptized, affirmed our belief in Christ, and become part of God’s kingdom, we still live in this world until either Christ returns or we die and rise into eternity with God.

And as long as we draw breath here, the old Adam (or the old Eve) in us must, as Martin Luther writes in The Small Catechism, “be drowned by daily sorrow for sin and repentance and be put to death.”

It’s only then, Luther says, “that the new person [can] come forth every day and rise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.”

As was true of Jesus in the wilderness, even after we're baptized, the devil works on us everyday to push us away from God. So does the sin within us and around us.

So, unless we stay open to God’s grace and guidance and remain submitted to the God we know in Jesus Christ as the final authority over our lives, the temptations to take God’s grace for granted and to take up any sin that pleases us can overrun us and steer us, bit by bit, away from an eternity with God to an eternity in hell.

James’ guidebook for Christians isn’t a “how to get salvation” book. It’s more like a mirror that we can hold up to our lives and, first, see our need of Christ’s forgiveness and, second, see our need of the Holy Spirit’s help in living a life in response to God's gracious love.

In the Bible lesson from James we looked at last week, we were encouraged to turn from the sin of partiality to some people over others. In today's lesson, the issue is controlling our tongues, the words that we speak.

This may not seem like a big deal to us. But it is to God.

Turn to our lesson, James 3:1-12, please.

In verses 2 and 3, James anticipates our dismissal of our words as being “no big deal,” as something that could possibly stand in the way between God and us. He says that little things--like small bits in the mouths of horses or tiny rudders on the backs of giant ships--can exercise great control over and have a huge impact on big things.

Then, look at what we’re told next, starting in verse 5: “...the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest it kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity [that means immoral or grossly unfair living]. The tongue...defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell...”

James goes on to say that we know how to tame wild animals, but no human being, no human effort can tame the tongue or the damage it can do.

In verses 9 and 10, he hands out his most severe indictment of the damage done by our mouths, in effect, repeating it twice in different ways just to make sure we get the message:

“With [the tongue] we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the [likeness] of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.”

Our words are powerful. I think the reason for this is simple. We are the only ones of God’s creatures “made in the image” of the God Who spoke and brought the whole universe into being.

It’s no coincidence then, that one of the first ways in which the Old Testament book of Genesis says that Adam, the first human being, expressed human dominion over creation was to give names--to speak descriptive words--over every other creature. This power--the power to give names or labels to people or things--reflects the image of God within every human being.

But after the fall into sin, we sinners naturally began misusing this gift of speech. In fact, James says, because sin has filled us, our tongues have taken control of us to the point that sometimes we speak without thinking or speak on the basis of malicious thinking, bringing harm to others and to ourselves.

And this is very serious business! Turn to Matthew 24:36-37. Jesus says:

“I say to you that for every idle word [every thoughtless meaningless word] [people] may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned.” 

If those words of Jesus, God in the flesh, don’t make you squirm a little, you probably weren’t listening!

The failure to control our mouths is a sin issue.

Careless words, whether spoken in judgment of others, to criticize others without loving them, or to pass along the latest gossip, are not harmless things.

Unrepented, careless words put our eternal relationship with God at risk.

It turns out that God has not rescinded the Eighth Commandment: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

We “bear false witness” not just when we tell outright lies about others. Martin Luther writes of this commandment: “We are to fear and love God so that we do not betray, slander, lie, or gossip about our neighbors, but speak well of them, and put the most charitable construction on all that they do.”

But, there is good news.

Our intemperate tongues (and all our other sins) don’t need to control us or our eternal destinies.

We can live differently.

We can move closer to God and not continually drive a wedge between God and us through our careless words.

In our gospel lesson for today, Jesus tells those who would follow Him into eternity: “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him [or her] deny [themselves] and take up [their] cross and follow Me.”

The indispensable step in getting free of the sins of our mouths is to bring those sins to Jesus, to confess them to God, to admit that we have used our words to curse others, gossip about others and tear them down.

Drawing on the covenant God has made with us in our baptism, we need to drown our old sinful selves and allow, through the grace God bears for all who believe in the crucified and risen Jesus, our new selves to “rise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.”

Back in Old Testament times, God’s people sang to God, “There is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered” (Psalm 130:4). That’s no less true today for us when we take up our crosses, confess our sins, follow Jesus, and receive God’s grace!

If, as you’ve been listening to this sermon, God has brought to mind ways in which you have misused the gift of speech, you can take this step right now. “God,” you can pray, “for the sake of Jesus, forgive me for using my words to bring pain to others or dishonor to You.”

Whenever we confess our sins to God in the Name of Jesus, there is forgiveness in God! As long as we are living on this earth, we can take advantage of the Bible’s promise that all who call on the Name of Jesus Christ will be saved!

But what then? What do we do next? How do we let God’s Holy Spirit guide us so that we don’t engage in careless or harmful talk?

Here are few suggestions.

First: We surrender our brains and our mouths to God, along with the rest of our lives. A good prayer to offer each day might be the one in Psalm 119:14: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”

Second: Before we open our mouths to share something critical of another human being, we should ask ourselves, “Does this help anything?” In Ephesians 4:29, we read these words: “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.”

Third: We ask ourselves another question: Would we say these words to Jesus Christ? In a very real way, whether our words build others up or tear them down, Christ hears every one of them. As Jesus once said, “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known” (Luke 12:2). Jesus also say that when we encounter others, we really meet Him (Matthew 25:31-46). Do we think that Jesus wants to hear what we have to say?

Fourth: If our words have harmed another person, it can be appropriate to apologize to them. They may not forgive you. But at least, you will have the satisfaction of making an effort.

Finally: Whether in conversation with others or in conversation with God, try silence. (This is really hard for me!) Proverbs 17:28 says that, “Even fools who keep silence are considered wise.”

But isn’t just to impress others that we should keep silence. James 1:19 says that we Christians should be “swift to hear, slow to speak.” God, after all, gave us two ears and one mouth and our communication probably ought to be in that proportion. When we remain silent and truly listen to others, we come to understand them more and judge them less.

Silence also can be a great way to build up our relationship with God. Through the prophet Isaiah, God said, “Listen to me in silence, O coastlands” (Isaiah 41:1). Sometimes, in our praying, we can get so busy speaking, often even telling God how to do His job, that we forget to let God be God. Silence before God can be a conduit by which God brings us comfort, hope, and guidance. In Psalm 46:10, we're told: “Be still and know that I am God.” Practicing silence is a good way to love God and love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

Before closing, let me add that controlling my mouth is a huge issue in my life. I like to talk.

So, each day, I ask God to crucify the old Adam in me, so inclined to fill the air with useless, self-referential words and instead, help me to honor Christ with my words and my life.

As some of you know, one of my most frequent prayer requests to God is: “Give me the right words and the right silences.” I want to honor the God Who gave His only Son so that all who believe in Him may have life forever. I don’t want my mouth to get in the way of God’s grace.

Even if you’re only a fraction as mouthy as I can be, you may be able to say the same thing. May we all seek God’s help in guiding and guarding the things we say and so, honoring Him with our whole lives. Amen

Silence is More Than Golden

"Discretion of speech is better than eloquence with words." Today's post from Our Daily Bread is particularly powerful.

One of the toughest passages of Scripture to live is (at least it is for me): "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the Name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him" (Colossians 3:17).

Silence may be more than golden; it may be the very word God wants us to speak.

Father, give the Holy Spirit total access to my mind, body, and tongue, so that everything I do, say, and am glorifies You and expresses my thanks for the gift of new life that comes from Jesus Christ alone. Amen

How to Keep Our Mouths Under Control (Or, Getting Free of Being a Gossip)

[This was shared during worship with the people of Saint Matthew Lutheran Church in Logan, Ohio, earlier today.]

James 3:1-12
A true story, one told by a pastor, Rick Eshbaugh. One evening, he was alone with his kids, while his wife was out crafting porcelain dolls at a doll-making class. While he chatted with a neighbor on his front porch, the telephone rang. Eshbaugh’s son, Craig, then five years old, answered. “I was proud to hear Craig answer the phone promptly and politely,” he says. “[But] My pride [turned into embarrassment] as I heard my son’s response to the caller’s request to speak to my wife: ‘No [Craig said], my mom’s not here. She’s out making a baby. But my dad is here if you want to talk to him.’”

Over the past several weeks, our second Bible lessons have been drawn from the New Testament book of James. James is a book that challenges us to consider how we live out our faith in Jesus Christ, particularly within God’s only eternal family, the Church.

In today’s second lesson, James addresses a very practical issue for Christians and the Church: How we use the gift of communication and speech. Or, how we use our tongues, as James would put it.

James was appalled at how Christians could use their mouths to praise God in worship one moment, pray to God for blessings the next, and then use those same mouths to run down other people who, just like us, are made in the image of God and for whom, also just like us, Jesus died and rose.

James isn’t concerned with the innocent mistakes made by people like little Craig Eshbaugh when he told a caller that his mom was making babies nor was he talking about the things we say that emanate from innocent ignorance.

Instead, James is talking about the deliberate use we make of speech that rips people down, that passes on gossip, that lifts us up at the expense of others, or that hurts the fellowship of the Church in which Jesus commands us to love one another as He has loved us. In short, James addresses speech that dishonors God.

He minces no words about the destruction wrought by our words or where their destructive power comes from.

And he says that without personal surrender to Jesus Christ, the use of our speech will always be more reflective of hell than of heaven. Listen to some of what James says, as his words are rendered in the translation of the Bible known as, The Message:

We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. [I certainly can identify with that!] If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you'd have a perfect person, in perfect control of life.

A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!

It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.

This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can't tame a tongue—it's never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! My friends, this can't go on.

In Medieval times, a woman visited a monk. He was a man admired for giving holy, sensible advice. The woman realized, she said, that she had become a terrible gossip, the purveyor of hurtful words. She wondered what she should do.

The monk told her to go through the village and bag all the goose feathers she could find. Then, she should lay a feather at the doorstep of every person about whom she had gossiped. After that, she should return to the monk.

The woman dutifully did what the monk directed her to do and returned to him. The monk said, "That's great. Now go back to each of those doorsteps and collect the goose feathers you left behind. Then, come back here." When the woman returned for yet another visit to the monk, she reported that all the feathers had been blown away by the wind.

"That’s the point, of course," the monk told her. "We can be forgiven the sin of gossiping about others. If you repent for it, God surely will forgive you. Those you have violated may do the same. But no matter whether you are forgiven or not, the damage will have been done. Gossip spreads as though carried aloft by the wind and you can't bring it back. So, be careful about what you say."

When I look at my life, I find that almost every problem I’ve ever experienced has been caused by my unwise speech, words used that denigrated or damaged others, words that told half-truths, words that conveyed hurtful speculation about the character or motives of others. I’ve repented for those things. But I realize that the damage done, like a bell that can’t be unrung, can never be reversed.

In his explanation of God’s Eighth Commandment, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor,” Martin Luther writes in The Small Catechism, “We are to fear and love God so that we do not betray, slander, or lie about our neighbor, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain his actions in the kindest way.” Not only are we not to lie about others, we’re to put the most positive spin on their actions and motives that we can. (And that includes what we say about politicians in Washington you and I will never meet!) If we love the God Who loved us all the way to the cross, we’ll take the call to the right use of our words seriously.

But how do we do that? Here are a few thoughts from one recovering mis-user of speech to another.

First: We surrender our brains and our mouths to God, along with the rest of us. A good prayer to offer each day might be the one in Psalm 119:14: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”

Second: Before we open our mouths to share something critical of another, we should ask ourselves, “Does this help anything?” In the book of Ephesians, we read these words: “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.” (Ephesians 4:29)

Third: We ask ourselves another question: Would we say these words to Jesus Christ? In a very real way, whether our words build others up or tear them down, Christ hears every one of them. As Jesus once said, “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.” Jesus has said that when we encounter others, we really meet Him. Do we think that Jesus wants to hear our gossip?

Finally, I want to say a word to all of you who, like me, have already scattered too many goose feathers to the wind. It can be appropriate for you to apologize to the people who have been hurt by your intemperate words. Although I must say, I don't feel fanatical about this. In my former parish, a woman told me that just the week before, she'd gotten a call from a man she'd dated forty years earlier. He wanted to apologize for something she had long forgotten from that period. But what’s most appropriate when we misuse the gift of speech to run others down is to ask God for His forgiveness and for the power to keep our tongues under His control in the future.

Proverbs 22:1 says, “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.” Those of us who are saved in the Name of Jesus Christ choose each day whether we will honor Christ’s Name or not by deciding whether we’ll care about the names and the reputations of others as though they bore our own names and reputations.

May we live in such dependence on Christ that we choose Christ’s way by letting Him control our mouths along with the rest of our lives.


[During this morning's adult Sunday School class, as we looked at the text from James, I mentioned the George Harrison song, Devil's Radio. Below is a video of a live performance of the song by Harrison, played during his 1991-1992 tour of Japan with Eric Clapton and band. The video image is slightly out of sync with the sound, but it's a good performance. You can find the lyrics here.]

A Look at This Coming Sunday's Bible Lessons

[Each week, I try to present a bit of background on one or all of the appointed Bible lessons for the succeeding Sunday. I hope that you find it helpful.]

The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 13, 2009

The Bible Lessons:
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 116:1-9
James 3:1-12
Mark 8:27-38

The Prayer of the Day:
O God, through suffering and rejection you bring forth our salvation, and by the glory of the cross you transform our lives. Grant that for the sake of the gospel we may turn from the lure of evil, take up our cross, and follow your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

[I'll be preaching on the James text and only discussing it here this week.]

General Comments:
1. For some general information on the New Testament book of James, go here.

2. Most scholars agree that James 3:1-12 is a tightly constructed essay.

The book of James is an example of what Biblical scholars call wisdom literature. But unlike most examples of this genre, James weaves the aphorisms and forms of argument associated with this literature into cohesive statements, essays.

The overall theme of James is that Christians should authenticate the faith they believe and confess in the way they live; that living requires wisdom, which can only be acquired through faithful reliance on Jesus Christ through the everyday moments of life.

But more than delivering a series of should statements, James seems to be saying that we can act our way into deep faith. If we take the risk of living the way faithful people live, we'll find Christ at work, creating genuine trust in God within us.

This weekend's lesson is bookended, forming what the scholars call an inclusio (or inclusion), by addressing believers as brothers and sisters at both the beginning and the end of the essay.

3. It would be inappropriate, I think, to believe that this chapter is addressed only to teachers of the faith. Given the general tenor of the book of James and the fact that it was addressed to Jewish Christians dispersed throughout the Mediterranean region, James is here discussing the corrosive effects of gossip and other intemperate speech on the fellowship of the Church and its witness before the world. All Christians are called to put their speech under the authority of Jesus Christ, though James acknowledges "that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness" (3:1, the only place in the book where James uses the first person plural).

4. Concern over the devastating effect of uncontrolled speech was commonly expressed not only in the Old Testament and other Jewish literature, it also was a frequent theme in the writings of ancient philosophy. But there are some very specifically Biblical and Christian elements to James' discussion of this problem that aren't found in other ancient literature. Among these unique elements, which I hope to delve into in the verse-by-verse comments, are:

• Seeing gossip and other unseemly talk as an outbreak of hell.
• A pessimistic view of our capacity for exercising human-directed self-control over our speech.
• An acknowledgement that because none of us is perfect, we cannot control our speech.
• The doublemindedness that James speaks of earlier in the book (1:8) is reflected in the doubletongued ways of those under the influence of hell. Such people dare to praise God and curse the person made in the image of God with the same tongue.
• The passage is filled with allusions to the creation imagery of Genesis and the ideas of being made part of a new creation through Jesus Christ which we've already seen several times in the book of James.
• At the end of this passage, one is led to the inescapable conclusion that the only way to be self-controlled in speech is to rely on the power of God. (Paul says that self-control is a "fruit of the Spirit," the result of faithful reliance on Jesus Christ, in Galatians 5:22-23.)

5. This passage has more than speech in mind, of course. All our communication is included.

Verse-by-Verse Comments:
1Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
(1) Jesus, like James, speaks of the stringent standards to which teachers are held by God in Matthew 5:19. Jesus also upbraids those teachers who love their role for the honor it accords them, rather than doing it to be servants.

(2) But verse 2 will make clear, the speech of all Christians has eternal significance, either reflecting the presence of Christ in our lives or the disruption, discord, hate, greed, and envy of hell.

2For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle.
(1) James is not about to commend religious perfectionism. None of us is perfect, he says. In order for our speech to accord with God's will for human beings, we need wisdom. Wisdom is ours when we ask God to give it to us, James has already said. Wisdom, in short, is a gift God grants to those who live in what Martin Luther called "daily repentance and renewal."

(2) The image of the bridle as a check on one's mouth is a commonplace in Hebrew, Greek, religious, and secular discussions of uncontrolled speech. But James will discuss this issue in decidedly Christian terms.

3If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. 4Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire!
(1) In the world around us, we see how large things can be controlled by small measures. The tongue is a small thing, the strongest muscle in the human body, that controls our body and mind. Yet when our words aren't under God's control, they're under demonic control, as James will soon make plain. The damage thus inflicted by our words--our tongues--is incalculable!

(2) Chris Haslam notes that one of the books of the Apocrypha, Sirach, has some passages that relate to these verses. (The Apocrypha is a set of writings which neither Jews or Protestant Christians accept as being part of the Bible, but is accepted as canonical by the Roman Catholic and Episcopal fellowships.) I found the following passages, beyond even those specifically cited by Haslam, to be of particular interest in connection with our verses from James:

Curse the whisperer and doubletongued: for such have destroyed many that were at peace. A backbiting tongue hath disquieted many, and driven them from nation to nation: strong cities hath it pulled down, and overthrown the houses of great men. A backbiting tongue hath cast out virtuous women, and deprived them of their labours. Whoso hearkeneth unto it shall never find rest, and never dwell quietly. The stroke of the whip maketh marks in the flesh: but the stroke of the tongue breaketh the bones. Many have fallen by the edge of the sword: but not so many as have fallen by the tongue. Well is he that is defended through the venom thereof; who hath not drawn the yoke thereof, nor hath been bound in her bands. For the yoke thereof is a yoke of iron, and the bands thereof are bands of brass. The death thereof is an evil death, the grave were better than it. It shall not have rule over them that fear God, neither shall they be burned with the flame thereof. Such as forsake the Lord shall fall into it; and it shall burn in them, and not be quenched; it shall be sent upon them as a lion, and devour them as a leopard. (Sirach 28:13-23)

While I don't accept the books of the Apocrypha as being part of the Bible, they do give us some insight into the thinking of the early Jewish-Christian community of which James was, according to Acts, a prime leader. Sirach, like James, is an example of wisdom literature, albeit one not as sophisticated as James. Unlike Sirach, James also explicitly links wisdom and right-living to the maintenance of a strong relationship with Christ, a relationship initiated in Baptism, when God's Name is invoked over Christians.

6And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell.
(1) The New Interpreter's Bible says that the image of the tongue inflamed by hell means more than that "speech is a problem to be solved." In it, James "points to the cosmic dualism that underlies the two ways of directing human freedom"; it can be directed by God or by the devil. James more fully explores this theme in his discussion of human arrogance and its horrible effects on the Church in 3:13-4:10.

7For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, 8but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
(1) Obviously, James is engaging in a little hyperbole in v. 7. Not every species of beast and bird has been tamed by human beings. But many species have been so tamed. And, at the least, human beings exercise dominion over the created order. (Sometimes not to good effect.)

James' argument here is derived from a typical Jewish form of argumentation, employed often in the Old Testament as well as by Jesus and by Paul. The formula is: If this little thing, then how much more this big thing.

James' argument will be: If this little thing, how astounding this smaller thing, which it turns out, is really a much bigger thing.

James is saying, "We're able to tame or subdue the animals of the earth, yet we can't tame a smaller thing, our words. But, in fact, our tiny words are much bigger and far deadlier than the greatest physical predator we will ever encounter! They have the ability to destroy others and ourselves."

(2) The tongue is merely a symbol for our human capacity for communication, often used in intemperate, egotistical, boastful, unkind, or hurtful ways.

(3) The description of the tongue as "a restless evil, full of deadly poison" is an apparent allusion to the serpent whose lying words tempted Eve and Adam into rebellion against God. (A mark of the subtlety of the serpent is that he told the truth in a lying way. It was true that Adam and Eve were not immediately killed by eating the forbidden fruit. But decay and death had become part of the human experience through this chasm created between humanity and the Author of life.)

(4) Chris Haslam points out that the order in which "beast...bird...reptile...and sea creature" are listed here is the same in which they appear in Genesis 9:2 (in which God speaks to Noah); Deuteronomy 4:17-18 (in which God's people are told not to make idols); and I Kings 4:33 (which speaks of Solomon).

(5) Haslam also points out that the reference to the "deadly poison" emitted by those who misuse the gift of speech echoes Psalm 140:3, which says of evildoers:

They make their tongue sharp as a snake’s, and under their lips is the venom of vipers.

As you can see, these two verses are rife with allusions to Genesis, the Old Testament book which the ancient rabbis insisted was key to understanding God and the faith.

(6) In the description of the tongue as "a restless evil" is mirrored Biblical descriptions of the devil (or Satan). In Job 1:7, for example, Satan tells God that he has been going "to and fro on the earth...walking up and down on it." And First Peter exhorts Christians to stay connected to God, alert to temptations, by saying, "Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour" (First Peter 5:8).

Jesus, in telling people to remain connected to God and alert to temptations after they've been delivered from evil, says that the demons of hell evidence the same restless energy seen in the devil himself, a desire to indwell people and so rob them of life. He also says that we need to fill the vacancies left by old sins and addictions with Him, His life, and His love, otherwise sinful dependencies may take up residence in us again:

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but it finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ When it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So will it be also with this evil generation.” (Matthew 12:43-45)

9With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. 10From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so.
(1) We dare to praise God and then curse, put down, belittle, or marginalize human beings made in God's image. That doesn't work in the Kingdom of God! John writes in the New Testament:

Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. (First John 4:20-21)

(2) Yet again, this passage alludes to Genesis, reminding us that in one of its creation accounts, Genesis says that we human beings, unlike all the other living things God created, were made "in the image of God."

11Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? 12Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.
(1) In the last few verses of his essay, James explains why this ought not to be so (v. 10).

(2) Fruit was an accessible image to an ancient agricultural society like the one from which the Bible emerged. The idea in much of the Bible's use of fruit imagery is that the way we live will reflect what's going on inside of us.

Are we connected to the God we meet in Jesus Christ, surrendered to Him?

Or, is someone else calling the shots in our lives, such as the devil, the world, or our sinful selves, to paraphrase Martin Luther?

John the Baptist, as he prepared the people of Judea for Jesus' ministry, called the people to repent and is quoted in Luke's Gospel as saying:

“You brood of vipers! [venomous snakes again!] Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Luke 3:7-9)

Jesus tells His disciples that those who remain faithful to Him will display that faith in their living:

My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. (John 15:8)

Paul says that those who are in relationship with Christ, in whom the Holy Spirit thus lives, will evidence that presence in their living:

Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. (Galatians 5:19-23)

Jesus also says that we'll be able to pick out false prophets from those speaking on His behalf "by their fruits." (He also says that He will allow these false prophets to continue to operate because if he were to destroy them, he would also destroy the righteous among whom they live.):

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? (Matthew 7:15-16)