Small but mighty
3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
James 3:1–12 (ESV)
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Today, our focus is James 3 which teaches us about the power of the human tongue.
The tongue has power to influence
3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
James 3:1 (ESV)
I’ve heard said that the best way to learn something is to teach it. When you need to show someone how to do something or explain how something works, you need to be able to do so clearly and simply, while also being prepared for any question or challenge.
We are all teachers in some way—we pass on our knowledge to other people all the time. “This is how you use this… Here’s how we do it here… This is how I see things…” When we teach, we influence.
In Ephesians 4, Paul writes:
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.
Ephesians 4:11–12 (ESV)
The Christian Church, from the very beginning, has participated in the ministry of the Gospel. The Church is a community that both receives and shares the good news of salvation for all who believe in Jesus.
As time has gone on, we have tended to focus this ministry on the pastor and maybe a paid ministry worker. However, Paul describes this ministry as something which is shared by five distinct roles, one of them being the role of teacher. Teachers, together with the others, have the purpose of equipping all God’s people for “the work of ministry.”
To do this work of ministry, we firstly need to know what ministry is. To know that, someone needs to teach us.
How do you know how to participate in a worship service? How do you know what the Word of God is? How do you know that Jesus came into the world to forgive the sin of the world? Someone taught you. Whether it was Sunday School, Confirmation, or even just through your observation, you have been taught the Christian faith and how to live in it.
But teaching isn’t easy. If you’ve ever had to stand in front of a group of people and teach something, you’ll know about the criticism and judgment that can come your way. Teachers often can’t win: their content was too light or too heavy, their style was too boring or too much, you should’ve done it this way, not that way… When you teach, you expose your knowledge and open yourself up for judgment.
It takes a certain amount of resilience to be a teacher of any kind, even when it comes to teaching the faith. Teaching was one of the five key roles in the Early Church and it is still one of the most difficult professions in the world today, but it’s also up there with the most important for society.
And, if the Christian Church is to continue to have a presence in this town, the faith needs to be taught. We all have the privilege and responsibility to teach the faith and pass on the knowledge that was first handed down to us.
The tongue has power to destroy
Our tongues are one of the smallest parts of our bodies, yet they have huge potential to either cause great harm or make good things happen. James uses a few analogies to help us understand what this means:
A horse’s bit
A ship’s rudder
A spark that starts a bushfire
Throughout history, it has been the tongue that has caused conflict, wars, and all kinds of destruction. The tongue can send someone into depression, cause permanent damage to a relationship, or even end a marriage. We can inflict such great pain with our tongues that James calls them “a world of evil among the parts of the body”. He says the tongue “corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell” (v. 6).
It was the tongue of the serpent in the garden that deceived Eve into committing the very first sin. It was Eve’s tongue that then convinced Adam to follow suit. It was the tongue that caused the fire of sin to spread. Since then, every war, every act of genocide, and every violent riot was sparked by someone’s tongue.
A couple of weeks ago, our gospel reading was from Mark 7, where Jesus said:
20 He went on: ‘What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.’
Mark 7:20–23 (NIVUK)
The tongue causes so much damage because our words come from the heart. And, as Jesus says, the heart is where evil thoughts come from. We might have an exterior that looks presentable, but all our hearts are corrupt and evil because of sin. That means it’s near impossible to tame the tongue. It is inevitable that our words will cause damage at some point, no matter how hard we try.
We need to be aware of just how powerful our words can be. What seems like a harmless joke or a quick throwaway comment can cause a lot of harm to someone without us even realising it. The tongue can spread gossip, tell lies, or provoke someone to anger. We need to be careful with them.
The tongue has power to bless
9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
James 3:9–10 (ESV)
Although the tongue has so much power to cause destruction, it can also be used to bless our Lord and Father. Either way, our tongue reveals what is in our hearts.
Peter is a perfect example of the tongue’s dual purpose. One minute, he confesses Jesus to be the Christ. The next, his words toward this Christ cause Jesus to say, “Get behind me, Satan!” (Mk. 8:27–33)
Not even creation itself is capable of being two things at once. A fig tree can’t bear olives and a grapevine can’t produce figs. As human beings with a sinful nature, we can only produce the fruit of sin.
God said through the prophet Ezekiel, “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you” (Ezk. 36:26). Through His Holy Spirit, God doesn’t just take away the bad bits and leave the rest—He gives us new hearts, replacing the old, rotten, sinful one with a fresh, pure heart of faith.
When He does this work in us, our tongues have power to speak truth instead of lies, love instead of anger, healing instead of pain, and gospel instead of gossip.
Peter declared his faith Jesus because the Spirit worked through him. Very quickly, Peter spoke against Jesus because of his own sinful heart. It’s one or the other, and it’s a constant struggle for us. But it’s not a hopeless struggle.
After all, someone taught you the faith. Someone used their tongue to build up the Church rather than tear it down. Someone spoke the truth to you in love. Someone spoke forgiveness and hope into your life.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, may we do the same. As you do so, may the peace which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus. Amen.
