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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
“Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.”
“When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 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. 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.”
“All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
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. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”
James 1:26, 3:3-12
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
More than a few people in the course of history have been taken down by something they said.
A famous reporter claimed thought embellishing his war coverage would elevate his image and paint him as heroic. But his stories were found to be untrue and his reputation was ruined as he was removed as news anchor and suspended by his news network for six months.
A celebrity on a food network was found to have used a derogatory term for African-Americans, even confessing to planning weddings where blacks were portrayed in racist fashion. Her words and actions cost her a career but even despite apologies for what happened, the damage was done, all because she couldn’t control her tongue.
And more than a few politicians have opened their mouths and said things that cost them their office during reelection, too many actually to name here.
Add to this all the people who have lost jobs or permanently damaged relationships by saying the wrong things and you get why the Bible speaks very strongly about the matter of the tongue, especially in the Epistle of James, the half brother of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
As we look at our verses for today, we see where a troublesome tongue impacts everyone, Christians or otherwise. Note that a person who doesn’t keep a tight rein on themselves, perhaps thinking they get a pass because of their religious association, end up only deceiving themselves and proving their religion is worthless because their words don’t marry up with the identity they profess. They might consider themselves “religious” but their actions don’t match up with their beliefs.
Perhaps the reason people have so many problems with controlling what words come out of their mouth is because they lack the ability to keep their tongues in check. Indeed, we see that these efforts are really wasted ones because no one can take the tongue and that means no one. Large horses can be controlled by bits placed in their mouths and mammoth ships are steered and managed by rudders that are small in comparison to the ship itself but there is no such device that can regulate the tongue that can spark major wickedness with just a few spoken words, just as a forest fire rages after just a small spark started it.
Indeed, the scriptures tell us that although all kinds of living creatures can be tamed, the human tongue is in a league all its own, possessing the ability to corrupt the entire body and lead a person’s life to go down in flames, mostly because of the kind of wickedness that leads to hell itself. James writes that the tongue is a “restless evil, full of deadly poison”. Ever think about that when you consider that tiny part of your overall body picture?
But the tongue isn’t always necessarily bad, right?
I mean, there are many people who have spoken words that have inspired generations. Think about Jesus in this light, for example. Nothing ever came out of His mouth that would cause anything except for a person to become better in and through Him and the Father God who sent Him. Jesus was the only person ever who could perfectly control His tongue and if there’s going to be any hope for us to do likewise, we have to enlist our Lord’s help to do so. Remember, the word of God here makes it clear that no person can control their tongue on their own. But through Jesus Christ, all things are possible (Philippians 4:13).
What will happen if we don’t do this, turning our tongue control issues over to the only One who can take them?
Well, we’ll continue to sin with our tongues while showing running contradictions through our actions. We’ll show that we can use our tongue for positive things that are pleasing to our Lord like lifting up our praises to Him. But then we’ll turn around and curse others - gossiping, slandering, or abusing them with the words our tongue helps us speak. These two polar opposite uses of the tongue are nonsensical. They defy reason as much as seeing fresh water and salt water flowing from the same spring or a fig tree bearing olives and a grapevine harvesting figs.
As James said so well, “…brothers and sisters, this should not be.”
Indeed, it shouldn’t be but it is and it’s a major problem in our society today.
How are we going to stem the tide of destruction caused by our respective tongues?
The answer to the question is found, not within ourselves, but in our Lord. If we’re going to have any hope to rein in our tongues and have them tamed, we’re going to have to surrender that task to the only One with the power to do so. The starting point comes when we relinquish the choice of words we use to the Lord, allowing Him to dictate what we say. Then and only then, do we stand a chance to control our tongues and become more the people that God wants us to be through His Son.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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