James 3:6-12

In the previous section, James indicates that one aspect of the perfection or completeness that God is leading us to is the ability to never err in what we say. God intends to transform us so that what comes out of our mouths is always a reflection of the goodness, the peace, the presence of our living heavenly Father. He tells his readers that how they use their tongues has a huge impact on how they live their lives. One can guide a horse by the bit in its mouth and steer a whole ship by the use of the rudder. James does not want them to be deceived by the power and influence of such a seemingly small thing like the tongue. In verse 5 James states "So the tongue is a little member and boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire!" In the examples of the horse and the ship, James is pointing out the positive influence the bit and the rudder have over things much larger than they are. In verse 5 however, he speaks more of the tongue's destructive capabilities.

He continues to describe the evil that the tongue is capable of in the beginning of this section. In verse 6 James continues to speak of the tongue in terms of fire. In fact he calls the tongue itself "a fire," giving us a picture of something that is spreading destruction and is out of control. Later he says the tongue sets "on fire the cycle of nature." I looked at various commentaries for help on this term. The point is that this fire spreads through all the cycles of life, it has continuing destructive influence in the circle of our lives. You can couple this picture with the one right before it, that the tongue stains "the whole body." Our speech is like a poison that spreads throughout our lives, and the lives of others. He calls it an "unrighteous world." Righteousness is right relationship, having everything straightened out that was bent, living according to what you were created to be. The tongue though, James says, is often the member of our lives and our relationships that is unrighteous, spreading distrust in God, bending and twisting things to be less in line with their created purpose.

As I said in the previous study, I think that when we are under pressure, when we find ourselves in trials that test our trust in the goodness and presence of God, we are tempted to use our tongue to vent our doubt and frustration through unkind comments, a rash angry word, gossip, grumbling, coldness, manipulation, etc. We try to justify all of this by telling ourselves that words are "no big deal" and that we are under strain and so we need this outlet. Sometimes we try to hide behind the idea that "I was just kidding." I remember being teased for being chubby and then when I was hurt by the comments I was upbraided for taking the person's words so seriously. It seems we want to indulge our tongues but not to carry responsibility for what we say, so we try to convince ourselves that "they were just words" or "I didn't mean anything" so that makes it okay.

James' words are very sobering, aren't they? And we know the truth of them. We have all been deeply hurt or affected by a thoughtless word tossed our way. And we have seen the long-term results of some of our own comments towards others. When we look around, we see a tremendous outpouring of thoughtless, unhelpful, critical, and undermining words. We have had to toughen ourselves up against the deluge and maybe this is partly why we tell ourselves it is no big deal--we're tough so we can take it. But James says it has deep scarring effects and is easily passed on, spread like poison or fire.

So James wants to be clear first of all, that the tongue, small and insignificant as it might seem, is capable of tremendous destruction, the worst of which is the misrepresentation of God as the One who "gives to all men generously and without reproaching." We don't misrepresent God just when we speak directly against Him. We misrepresent Him in our grumbling because that does not reflect our counting on or trusting Him to be our source of real life in the midst of whatever we are dealing with. We misrepresent Him whenever we tear down each other for we are all made in His image and beloved by Him, our Father in heaven. Our words reflect (betray!) our relationship with God.

Secondly, James wants to point out to his readers that the tongue is very hard to tame. James describes the tongue as being "an unrighteous world among our members" and "set on fire by hell." We are very easily tempted to sin with our words to one another. Our lack of trust in God, our frustration with Him over our present circumstances, our jealousy or anger at others, are easily expressed by our tongue. It is so easy to speak without thinking first. Our mouths, it would seem, often bypass our brains! We are usually far quicker to speak than to act so the potential for sinning with our mouths is that much greater. As James said earlier in this chapter, "we all make many mistakes."

James goes on to make the comparison of our ability to tame the animals of the earth, both great and small, and yet "no human being can tame the tongue." It is "a restless evil, full of deadly poison." We are so quickly ready to unleash with our tongues. Is it possible that James is being too harsh? After all, aren't these just words, without substance? Apparently not. Apparently we are not as impervious to the comments we receive as we might hope. Words do have an effect, change the picture, affect the behavior and future of others, for good or ill.

With our mouths we can both bless and curse. It is interesting to note that we can bless. With these little tongues of ours we can be a blessing to another. Our little words can offer praise, comfort, life to another. That is amazing if you stop and think about it. Our words can make a wonderful, real difference in another's life. I have thought of this often when I consider appreciation. It is wondrous to me how much difference it makes when someone stops to appreciate something I have said or done. I am humbled and amazed that God let me have a good impact in the life of another. What a gift that is! I am so glad when I consider this--that they aren't "just words." To claim that what we say "is no big deal" is to rob ourselves of the great good news that we can participate in giving God's life to others by simple things we say.

James last point in this section is that we are double-minded with our mouths. We allow blessing and cursing to come from the same tongue. "My brethren, this ought not to be so." Why? James goes on to give several illustrations. Can a spring, he asks, give forth two kinds of water? Can a fig tree produce olives? A grapevine, figs? Can salt water yield fresh? No, all these things were created with a particular nature and purpose. They cannot go against their created nature. When we use our tongues to curse, we are going against our created nature. We were created to be a blessing, imaging God.

Our double minded tongues reflect our double minded minds. We are not yet fully mature, complete, perfect. We still find ourselves at times in two minds about God and about ourselves and this finds expression through our communication. To mature is to participate with God in His slowly healing and perfecting us so that we are all one thing, one way, one person with one nature--His complete beloved child. We see our need for Him as we consider our battles with our tongues.

The great good news is that God's word to us is all one thing. God is not double minded about us and His word to us is always life, peace, love in Him. It is always Jesus Christ. We never need worry that God will change His loving words to us, that He speaks of us to others differently than He speaks to us. His word truly can be counted on for it is at one with His nature. He can and will make us more and more like Himself. Trusting Him to do this, we can happily and daily hand over our tongues to Him and rejoice when we see our ability to be a blessing grow. Thank goodness it is not His intention to leave us in our double-mindedness or under the poison of twisted words spoken to and heard by us.