James 3:1-5

God is taking us to perfection. His clear purpose is that we become His fully mature children, fully able to participate in a relationship of love in and with Him. All that we go through, all of our struggles here in our broken world are to lead to a future so much more glorious than our present. James wants to encourage his struggling readers in the midst of a variety of trials. One of the ways he does this throughout his letter is to flesh out some of what this perfection God is working in us looks like.

James says in 1:4 that the full effect of a steadfast faith is to be "perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." So while we may feel or know that we are incomplete now in so many ways, and we may at times sense our deep lack, this is not where we are going to remain. God is taking us to a perfection that is full and complete, where we will have a deep sense of satisfaction in all of our life, we will have no sense of lack, loose ends, incompleteness.

Perfection is to know, in every way, our generous, loving, giving Father. We are coming to draw closer with confidence to one who gives without reproaching. In 1:12 James says we will receive "the crown of life"--life, life, and more life--real life from the only source of life!

A perfect relationship with God overflows into perfection in our relationships with one another and with ourselves. Trusting in God for our life and identity frees us from trusting in wealth or in those who are wealthy. We are freed to care for and receive from others, to allow ourselves to be blessed by and be a blessing to those that God brings into our lives.

To trust in God, to participate in our own perfection, we need to recognize and turn from all those things that encumber us, all those idols that we have, and hand more and more of our lives over to Him. It is so easy to be deceived. We can be deceived about God's character and thus wonder if He is the one who tempts us to evil or be slow to turn to Him because we are unsure of His good purposes and presence. We can be deceived into believing that others do not go through trials, or that being wealthy will protect us from pain and struggles. We can be deceived as to the nature of true faith and how our actions, our works, flow from our faith rather than having no connection.

Now James turns to the subject of how we can be deceived about our tongues. From what he writes, it seems that there was a lot of loose talk going on. I would think that because they were under the stress of trials, they were venting some of their feelings and thoughts through their talk. They may have been gossiping about others, complaining, being critical, etc. It seems clear that they were tempted to believe that this loose talk was "no big deal" because it was not significant, it was "just talk." There was some envy of teachers, I guess because they seemed to have either more freedom to talk or more power because they had some influence over others. When we are feeling that we are going through a period of distress, we may look to teachers as having an enviable position because they are noticed and listened to. If we feel powerless, we are tempted to believe that those who have some power, either from wealth or position are better off, more blessed, than we are.

James deals with their envy of teachers by reminding them that "we who teach shall be judged with greater strictness." To teach others is not to have the freedom to say whatever you want or to enjoy using your influence over others. Being a teacher has a price with it. It is precisely because their words have the capacity to have so much influence over others that teachers are more strictly judged by God.

James goes on to give them another picture of this perfection to which God is leading us. A perfect person is the one who makes no mistakes in what he says. And in making no mistakes with his words, he is "able to bridle the whole body also." James wants his readers to understand the true relationship between what we say and the rest of our lives. The words we speak are "a big deal." How we use our tongues has an effect on how we live. We are fooling ourselves if we believe we can say whatever we want and that it doesn't make any real difference. They are never "just words!" James says that it is true that we all make mistakes, but as we grow toward perfection, one of the first places we need to begin to trust God whole heartedly is with our tongues.

To underline his point about the close relationship of our tongues and our behavior James gives two illustrations. The first one is about the bit in a horse's mouth which enables the rider to guide the whole animal where she/he wants it to go. In the second illustration, James emphasizes the contrast between the largeness of the ship and the smallness of the rudder that is needed to steer it. The rudder could seem so insignificant when considered merely by its size. It is "no big deal." But actually it is essential to getting this huge ship to go where you want.

The tongue, James goes on to say, like the bit and the rudder, is a little member. But "it boasts of great things." This can be both positive and negative. The tongue is capable of being involved in great things. The teacher is judged more strictly because his/her words have such influence. Bridling our tongue does help us to better control our lives. The tongue can also be prideful. We can truly "boast" of the great things we do or hope to do to others. However, James warns that the great things our tongues often do are things that are greatly destructive. It only takes a small blaze to set a whole forest on fire.

So James indicates here that we should not discriminate between those who teach and those who don't. We all have tongues, whether we teach or not, and so we all have a great responsibility for this little organ. We all can use it to bless others or to bring damage and destruction. There is great potential either way. The word of God and our words are powerful no matter who we are. If we want to have a great effect upon the world, we all can--when we use our tongues and speak only in a way that flows out of trusting and loving God--even and especially in times of testing. What we say is the simplest and yet the most powerful way to live our lives in line with God's own Word. According to James, this is the place to begin our lives of following Jesus, for that discipline will have a huge impact on the rest of our lives--and those of others as well!

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