"The forked tongue" by Rod Bayley, 27 June 2010, James 3:1-12

[Danny]

The Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria on the 7th February 2009,
resulted in Australia's highest ever loss of life from a bushfire -
173 people died. In addition, 414 were injured, and a total of
450,000 hectares were burnt. Over 7,500 people were displaced, with
over 2,000 homes destroyed. And all that despite over 3,500
firefighters being deployed across the state on the morning of
February 7 in anticipation of the extreme conditions. By mid-morning,
hot northwesterly winds in excess of 100 kilometres per hour hit the
state, accompanied by extremely high temperatures and extremely low
humidity. As the day progressed, all-time record temperatures were
being reached, 46.4 °C (115.5 °F) in Melbourne, the hottest
temperature ever recorded in an Australian capital city and humidity
levels dropped to as low as 6%.

As many as 400 individual fires were recorded on February 7. The
majority of the fires were ignited by fallen or clashing power lines
or were deliberately lit. A man from Churchill was arrested by police
on 12 February, in relation to the Churchill fires, and was charged on
13 February with one count each of arson causing death, and
intentionally lighting a bushfire. With such weather conditions, it
only took a spark. A single flame, for example on a candle, can be
snuffed out by our fingers with little concern. But that same flame,
a single spark, can become a raging inferno. It was estimated that
the temperature at the peak of the inferno on Black Saturday was 1200
degrees celsius, which is why they were struggling to identify some
bodies. It seems amazing doesn’t it, that something so small, a
single spark, can have such an impact, can produced such devastating,
uncontrolled results.

But small things can have enormous impacts. Just like a single spark,
a single word can seem so insignificant, but have devastating
consequences. Notice what James states in verses 5 and 6 of James 3:
“Likewise, 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. 6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of
the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his
life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.”

James here offers the last, and most graphic, of three examples of how
small things can have big affects, big impacts. Just as a small bit
in the mouth of a horse can control the whole animal, just as a rudder
can control a large ship driven by strong winds, so also our tongue
can set the whole course of our life. Our words can seem
inconsequential, as if they will have no impact, let alone devastate
our life, but like a bit, a rudder or a spark, they have the potential
to direct and even destroy our lives. We protest so often that our
words are harmless, that we didn’t mean anything by what we said, but
James says we’re playing with fire. We don’t have enough appreciation
of how our words can engulf us and turn our lives upside down. Taming
the tongue is often seen as unnecessary in our society today, with the
acceptable standard being set so low that almost ‘anything goes.’
However, sometimes people do make a comment which to their surprise
‘back-fires’ dramatically.

Australian rugby league great, Andrew Johns, made a racial slur
against star QLD player Greg Inglis two weeks ago at the NSW State of
Origin camp, and Timana Tahu who also has a non-Anglo background left
his team in protest. Soon after, Andrew Johns relinquished his
assistant coach role with the team, but the ‘fallout’ is continuing.
He has lost one coaching job with Parramatta, with the possibility of
others being lost, and has been publicly maligned. There are now
calls for his removal from any role in rugby league by Greg Inglis,
including his TV deal with Channel Nine. Words are powerful – the
smallest comment made ‘in private’, in Johns case behind the closed
doors of a team meeting, can be repeated and have devastating
consequences on our life. Johns admitted himself that the growing
media fallout has had a big impact on him as well as his family.

The first part of verse 6 literally says that ‘the tongue is a fire,
which is appointed among our members as a world of unrighteousness,
staining the whole body, setting on fire the course of our
existence.’ That is, the tongue becomes the channel by which all the
evil of the world around us comes to expression in us. Jesus made
similar claims about the tongue, as he taught in Matthew 15 that “what
comes out of our mouth” makes a person “unclean”, because the mouth
expresses the heart. In our hearts are found “evil thoughts, murder,
adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander” (v11,
18-19). And so these things find their way out of our mouths - it’s
as if they must bubble to the surface. Arguably, no other part of our
body wreaks so much havoc on the godly life.

By corrupting or staining the whole person (v6b), the tongue destroys
the ‘true religion’ which James spoke about in 1:27, which requires
that we keep ourselves from being “polluted” or ‘stained’ by the
world. The tongue wreaks havoc throughout a person’s life. But where
does this enormously destructive potential come from? From
“hell” (gehenna) says James at the end of verse 6. It seems that
James is inferring that Satan himself, the Father of all liars, is the
one who tempts us to express the evil desires that live in our corrupt
hearts (1:13-15), and uses our sinful speech to create a destructive
trail. James doesn’t elaborate on the ways in which our tongues can
unleash such destructive potential, but with his constant echoes of
the O.T., he probably has in mind the various types of sinful speech
listed in Proverbs, like lying (12:19) and gossiping (10:18), or the
boasting (18:12) which he has already mentioned in verse 5.

Just think about gossiping or rumours for a moment, which are often
harder to stop than a forest fire. Think about what enormous and
irreversible harm can be done by unsubstantiated or false rumours.
And technology today means that such slander can be spread quickly.
In 1998 and for several years following, the internet was used to
spread a false rumour about fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger. It came
to people in the form of a forwarded email message. He was said to
have gone on an Oprah Winfrey show and said he wouldn’t have made his
clothes so nice if he knew black people and Asians would wear them.
Many people believed it and forwarded the email, with each person
becoming a link in a growing chain of lies. Scurrilous, hurtful lies.
Oprah Winfrey addressed the rumor personally during a show broadcast
in 1999, when she said: “The rumour claims that clothing designer
Tommy Hilfiger came on this show and made racist remarks, and that I
then kicked him out. I just want to say that is not true because it
just never happened. Tommy Hilfiger has never appeared on this show.
And all of the people who claim that they saw it, they heard it - it
never happened. I've never even met Tommy Hilfiger. “ We probably all
know from bitter experience, that the childhood taunt ‘Sticks and
stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me’ actually
reverses the truth of the matter. Far easier to heal are the wounds
caused by sticks and stones than the damage caused by words.

Not only does such a small part of our body have such a big impact on
others and on the course of our own life, but we’re actually powerless
to fully tame our tongues. Notice again what James says in verses 7
and 8:
“All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are
being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the
tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”
The word ‘animal’ in verse 7 can refer to virtually any animal, but
given the fourfold division of animals it applies to land mammals
here. The allusion to creation (1:26) shows that James is making a
universal assertion about the nature of the world. And of course he
is making his point by way of a contrast. Humanity is able to tame
every type of animal in verse 7, everything under the sun, in line
with God’s command to subdue or rule His creation in Genesis 1. But
in verse 8 we are strangely unable to tame our own tongues - literally
‘no one among people’ can do it. The two characteristics of our
tongue that James gives at the end of verse 8 makes it clear why it’s
so hard - ‘restless’ and ‘full of poison.’ The word ‘restless’
translates the same word that James used back in 1:8 to describe the
“double-minded man, unstable in all he does.” The word ‘unstable’ is
here translated ‘restless.’ This restless evil is always liable to
break out, and the instability and lack of single-mindedness is what
James will go on to in verses 9 to 12. And the phrase ‘full of deadly
poison’ reinforces this forked tongue approach. There are a number of
O.T. verses where such phrases are used, and again James seems to be
drawing on these (eg. Ps.140:3). The viper or the snake from Genesis
3 onward has an immediately negative overtone, and is perhaps alluded
to here with the mention of deadly poison. The point is not that the
tongue never speaks good, but rather James is highlighting the sad
fact that the tongue speaks evil often.

In this life the complete taming of our tongue is impossible, just as
sinless perfection this side of heaven is impossible And so if it is
tamed in any way, it is clearly with God’s help and His grace to us,
through the work of His Spirit. This doesn’t mean that we give up or
abandon all efforts to bring our speech under control. No, we are to
persevere in seeking to please God - we can certainly advance a long
way in using our speech to glorify God.

This brings us to the second point on your outline: ‘Hypocrisy and the
tongue.’ Notice again what verses 9 and 10 state:
“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse
men, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10Out of the same mouth
come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.”

James points to the inconsistency, the hypocrisy, of praises and
curses coming from the same mouth. And like verses 7 and 8, he will
provide a contrast, as he outlines how there is NO such mixed fruit in
nature - such inconsistency is impossible. Here is the instability,
the restlessness of verse 8, and of the double-minded man in chapter
one. It’s the inconsistency of a person who is trying to please both
God and the world at the same time, or who is heavily influenced by
the world’s way, the world’s culture, while saying that Jesus is
Lord. Such a person is trying to combine their faith and obedience to
Jesus with denigrating people made in God’s image. The praising or
blessing of God is one of the most important and positive forms of
human speech, while cursing people is one of the lowest. Under the
old covenant, the curse was far more than abusive language - it called
on God to cut a person off from any possible blessing, and so consign
that person to hell. Jesus actually prohibited his disciples from
cursing others - instead, they were told to “bless those who curse
you” (Lk.6:28).

So in verse 10, James offers the obvious summary - “this should not
be.” As we saw 3 weeks ago, Jesus pointed to the seriousness of what
comes out of the mouth by making it a standard of judgment: “by your
words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be
condemned” (Matt.12:37). And so James also views our speech as a
barometer of our Christian walk. Christians who are being transformed
by the Spirit of God should demonstrate a purity of heart and a purity
of speech. This point is then hammered home by three examples from
nature in verses 11 and 12, where there is no such inconsistency. And
so James is saying, ‘it’s inconceivable that our mouths can pour forth
praise to God one moment, and then curses against other people the
next.’ We need to take stock.

This brings us to the third point on your outline: ‘Our tongue, our
holiness and our service.’ I’ve left what is first until last,
because like much of James, the key principle and application of all
that he is saying is given up front. And so notice again what v. 1-2
state:

“Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because
you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2We all
stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he
is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.”Notice that
the principle is given in verse 2: we all sin in many ways. The word
‘stumble’ always has a metaphorical sense in the bible, meaning ‘to
make a mistake’ or ‘sin.’ Our speech is the most difficult area of
our battle for godliness. If a person could avoid sin in their
speech, they would be able to keep their whole body in check - they
would have reached sinless perfection. Our tongue is our archillies
heal, if I can confuse our anatomy for a moment - it is our weakest
point and we need to acknowledge this, or else we underestimate our
problem. So difficult is the mouth to control, so given to lying, to
the slanderous word, so prone to stay open when it was better closed
that it’s impossible to fully keep in check.

I believe this principle in verse 2 can be turned into an
application. That is, if our tongue is the weak link, than a good
litmus test for the genuineness of our faith, or our progress in the
faith, is our words. We must examine our words - we need a weekly
stock-take, a daily assessment. To help this we could meet with
another mature Christian or in a prayer triplet and hold each other
accountable for our lives, but especially our speech. We cannot
afford not to, as the stakes are so high for our Christian walk, our
godliness.

Of course verse 1 provides us with a second, explicit application.
James points out the scary truth that those who hold teaching roles
will be judged more strictly. In fact, not many people should presume
to be teachers as a result, and therefore a lack of godliness on
display in our speech would render us unfit to be teaching the bible.
Bible teachers were prominent in the life of the early church from the
outset, and had the task of expounding God’s word centered on the
gospel. But teaching goes beyond the office of pastor-teachers (Eph.
4:11) or elders (1 Tim.3:2), and so any of you teaching Scripture or
Sunday School or youth group need to take this instruction to heart.
It seems that among those whom James was writing to, too many were
seeking the role of teacher without the necessary moral qualifications
or Christian character. Perhaps unfit teachers were a cause of the
quarreling he goes on to talk about at the end of chapter 3, and in
chapter 4. Character is so important for the teacher, and the
descriptions of elders in Titus 1 and 1 Timothy 3 make it clear that
without the right character, including godliness in our speech, we
should be disqualified from the role. Their constant use of the
tongue means they can sin very easily, leading others astray as well.
The inference appears to be that consistent failure in speech as a
teacher would also require removal from that role. Our words can
disqualify us.

One of the greatest political removals of all time was based on a few
brief conversations. Maybe you saw the 2008 movie Frost-Nixon.
Richard Nixon famously stated in the Watergate investigations: ‘I am
not a crook.’ Unfortunately he was, as he had ordered the wire
tapping of the opposing Democratic Party’s campaign headquarters in
the Watergate Hotel. He was convinced that he could cover up any
tracks leading back to him, and he did a very good job of stonewalling
for over 12 months until it was discovered that every conversation in
the oval office was recorded. Eventually the courts ruled that he
must hand over the tapes, which recorded a (June 23 1972) conversation
where he gave ‘cover-up’ instructions to his key advisor. His advisor
was told to tell the CIA and FBI to back-off - ‘they just have to drop
it’ Nixon told him. On August 9 1974, he became the first and only
American President to resign, forced to on the basis of his own
words. His words had disqualified him from his position of President
- he had dishonored his office.

How much more can our words disqualify us from the honour of teaching
God’s word in whatever context that might be? Have you underestimated
the difficulty of taming your tongue, and dismissed the need to work
hard on your godliness in this area? Don’t put yourself in such
danger - our words can shape the very course of our life. We need to
constantly examine our words which are a barometer of our Christian
walk. As we are told in Ephesians 4 & 5, rather than unwholesome
talk, we should only speak what is helpful for the building up of
others (4:29); we should speak and sing to the Lord, always giving
thanks to God (5:19-20). But it all comes back to our heart. Jesus
says in Luke 6:45: “The good man brings good things out of the good
stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the
evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his
mouth speaks.”