7.8 - James 3, Seeing Ourselves

James' sober teaching regarding the power of the tongue offers a lot of application for us as we journey through James!

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Paul and Noah both preach and teach with the Cedar Park church of Christ in Cedar Park, TX. You can visit our site at: https://www.cedarparkchurchofchrist.org/

Transcript

Noah: 0:30

Well, welcome back to the Stan Strong podcast. We're in the middle of our journey through James and we're in James chapter three today. Last week, we looked at trying to see God in chapter three, things that we can learn about God, better understand about him and his character because of what James wrote. And as we alluded to at the end of last episode, now we're going to look at ourselves, or as Paul said, at the end of last episode, we're going to be looking at our tongues today. So I brought a mirror, Paul. I don't know about you.

Paul: 0:59

I did it this morning when I got up, I just went and

Noah: 1:02

stuck my tongue out and did the exam. So, that's really important if you're driving right now, you know, you might want to pull over and flip down that little visor, open up that mirror, take a look at your tongue. No, this, obviously, that's not exactly what we meant when we said that we're going to be looking at our tongues today, Paul. What we're, what we meant is, as we said near the end of last episode, is that, What we say is important. The tongue is a powerful thing. That's a huge part of what James gets to here in James chapter three is the power of the tongue. And right there at the beginning, as we referenced in last episode, he warns about teachers and there's a lot that could be unpacked there and maybe we'll get into that. But the first thing that we have to recognize is in any position of authority. The, the power of the tongue is increased.

Paul: 1:56

Absolutely.

Noah: 1:57

And that should be, that should right there be a very somber warning.

Paul: 2:02

Tongue is a vehicle of communication. Communication is tied to edification. I mean, if you could just go down that road and see the importance, I think that's why James starts where he does. But the whole subject, he's not divorcing the importance of the role of teaching to the tongue. Everybody's here, whether you're a teacher or not, you're in James chapter three. You have a tongue. And he says, verse two, I like this translation, Noah, verse two, we all stumble in many ways. If you're already struggling with that, I would say that, that James three is not the place you need to be today. You need to be somewhere else in the text on honesty, seeing yourselves. We do all stumble. We've got the flesh. We have those moments where the flesh rules and, and we know it should not. We stumble, we fall, we falter. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man. Okay. There's no, that, that's, that's not the case with any of us. We, we cannot tame the tongue. Verse eight, it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. If you can keep your whole body in check, good for you. The George's James says you can't he's, he's a perfect man able to keep his whole body in check. That that's not the case. So I think James is using hyperbolic language here. beginning to make his point about how important it is for us to look at the tongue and what is creating a lot of our tongue troubles.

Noah: 3:37

Yes. Put simply, controlling our words is one of the most difficult tasks that we will ever encounter. Yes. And there are, you know, you could go into all sorts of wild comparisons. Well, what about this? Is it? You know if I had this job or if I was tasked with this or if I was put in this situation That might be more difficult listen I'm, not i'm not here to say it is absolutely the most difficult thing, but james makes it really clear that discipline In all areas of our life is difficult, but it is exceptionally difficult in the area of how we use our words. That's what, you know, what he says there in verse two, verse three, verse four. We think it's so small, so insignificant. And yet in, in many ways it steers our entire body. It steers our entire life. And so words are Powerful. I really like verse five. The tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. That's a really fancy way, a poetic way of saying, man, it is powerful.

Paul: 4:50

Yeah, I love what James does. I mean, there's, there's a point here to us as teachers. If we're going to say that something is super serious and a big deal, we want to gain the attention of our audience, then we've been using illustrations to support a claim that we've just made, that it's a big claim. Like the tongue is this serious, folks, I need to get your attention. James does that, or the Holy Spirit through James is doing that. And you alluded to that. You gave us verse five, but three, four, and five illustrates, that's brother Bowman's. I love how you use that word. But it, what it does is it shows us, it illustrates for us just how powerful this tongue is. So James says, okay, a small bit can control such a huge animal horse. A small rudder can control such a large vessel, vessel, a ship. One tiny spark in a dry forest can destroy thousands of acres. Now, Do you think the tongue is a big deal? Yes, it is a small member. But it does boast. It has power and potential for either a lot of bad things or a lot of good things.

Noah: 5:55

Yes. Well, and verse 5 and 6 is kind of a turning point because verse 3 and 4, it's talking really productively, right? A bit controls a powerful animal and a rudder steers a large ship. Verse 6, all of a sudden, now we're talking about how wild and destructive. That power can be a small spark can start a huge fire, right? So, and, and as he goes forward through the next several verses he starts to speak what feels like very negatively about the tongue, but really he's not talking negatively about the tongue. He's trying to drive home. He's trying to emphasize just how destructive it can be when it's used. how God did not intend for it to be used. Right.

Paul: 6:48

You know, human nature. I mean, God knows human nature. There's a tendency in all of us to become relaxed, to let our guard down. Okay. You like where James is going in verses seven and eight by, well, okay, you can tame this animal. You can tame this beast, but you can't tame the tongue. Yeah. Look at, look at these professionals who can tame some very wild beasts, or they assume. that this beast is completely, has been completely harnessed, you know, is tamed. You can't do that with the tongue. And it would be easy for me to let my guard down. If I, if I had, you know, tamed some Lion or wild animal to a point that it, it obeyed my every command. It was mild. It did whatever I wanted to do. I had control over this beast. Then I would let my guard down. I feel pretty good about that. I've, I've conquered this. I've accomplished this. And James says, you, you can't get to a point where you say, I've arrived. I don't need to pay attention to my tongue. I'm, I'm 57, I'm 67. I'm 57. I'm 97. I have arrived. No, you have not. That's how serious it is. No man can tame the tongue. It's an unruly evil. It's full of deadly poison. I'm not saying we don't get better at it. Right. As we grow. But I think us getting better at it is us being more honest with the fact that we've got to, we've got to stay focused on this. We've got to keep, keep it in check. And as you know, Noah, bridling the tongue or guarding the tongue is really a heart issue, not just a tongue issue. Yes. And James makes that point here in James three.

Noah: 8:31

Absolutely. In fact, the, the, the wild and destructive nature of what the tongue is capable of. Really, James drives back to the heart and because he says, this is not how it ought to be just a few verses later. We talked about this a little bit last episode. You know, we bless our Lord and father and we curse people who are made in his likeness. And he says it shouldn't be that way. Well, why shouldn't it be that way? Because it's it's inconsistent and it demonstrates that our hearts are are inconsistent in our love. We say we love God, but we are unwilling to love his creation, his, and his people in his image. But in that there's an implication of the good that our tongue is capable of. If that's how much destruction it's capable of yet, we bless our father. Well, what if we then, in, in the way that he intended, if we were consistent as our Father is consistent, what if we turned and blessed our neighbor, and blessed our brother, and blessed those created in the likeness of God, suddenly we see that, as is said elsewhere in scripture, in tongue, in the tongue is the power of both life and death. Just as destructive as it can be, it can also be productive and it can build up and it can give life if we imitate the consistency of our father.

Paul: 9:57

Yeah, I like that. The, the tongue reflects what is in our hearts. You know, Jesus talked about that. We could, we could read that in Matthew 12, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks our tongue gives a voice to our heart. A man's heart determines his speech. And again, look at your heart on and on. I love what I read years ago. One author said, Noah, the skill of life, the skill of life is keeping bad thoughts from gaining utterance. And then this writer says, I like this, it, it, it, it creates a moment of honesty in ourselves where we, we look at ourselves because we first looked at God, his perfection, but those of great minds discuss ideas. People of mediocre minds discuss events and those of small minds discuss other people. Oh It stings a bit to hear that, but what James was trying to do in a very positive way is move in this, okay, who is wise and understanding among you,

11:00

verse

Paul: 11:00

13, let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self seeking, where? In your hearts. Yeah. Do not boast and lie against the truth. And he says, this wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly. It is sensual. It is demonic. And for where envy and self seeking exists, confusion and everything are, are there. It would be easy to look at this and say, well, okay, timeout. What are you doing preacher? Are you preaching two sermons? I mean, you preach one on the tongue and then you preach this on something completely different. I think there is a connection here. Yeah. I don't know that he's necessarily gotten away from the tongue, even though he doesn't mention the tongue. What is he dealing with? Our heart. What's going on inside of me? That fountain that's producing this kind of water and this kind of water. What's the source? The source is the heart. So if there's something in my mind and in my heart that, that is not pure. Until I get that out, a lot of bad things that sometimes I never intended to happen or to come out.

Noah: 12:10

Yeah.

Paul: 12:11

So that's just what James is doing here.

Noah: 12:13

Yeah, absolutely. I want to sit for just a moment on you. You referenced that passage in Matthew and I know there's a parallel passage in Luke out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. When I, when I first began preaching one of my mentors used that verse as just something to stick. In my mind you know, as a point, you're going to be in, as in the role of preaching, you're going to be speaking a lot and you've got to pay attention to the fact that what comes out is going to be based on what's in your heart. And for me, one of the applications that came from that is what's in my heart is going to be developed by what I consume. So if I'm, if I'm spending my time in the word, and if I'm, if I'm devoting myself to God's words and to praying to him and those kinds of things, that's going to shape my heart one way. But if I'm neglecting that, and maybe the way I should put it is, in the times in my life where I have neglected that, my heart starts to change. My heart starts to atrophy.

Paul: 13:25

Atrophy.

Noah: 13:26

Yes. I like that. Well, but then that's going to affect what comes out, out of the abundance of the heart and the mouth speaks. And so, I think some of the challenges, You know, we get into this later part of James chapter three, and I want us to spend time here, but sometimes we see the things you know, the jealousy and the selfish ambition and the boasting and the unspiritual demonic things. We see those words and we have a tendency to look in the mirror and go, well, that's not me. I don't, I don't have that problem. Well, one, I think sometimes we're just being dishonest with ourselves. But two, sometimes we've, we've put a veneer over, over the real problem. And so, well, we don't, we don't see ourselves as being jealous or selfish. Well, maybe a way to evaluate is what are, what are we putting in? And how is that going to affect us? And I don't want to make this, I don't want to make this about, you know, our, just about our media consumption or what movies or music do we, you know, consume, what's our social media, our news intake, like, you know, that kind of thing. But that is an application. And I don't think that we should pass by that and say, Oh, well, that that's not going to affect. No, that's going to affect it because we speak from the, from the abundance of our heart. And our heart is shaped by what we consume, by what we take in. We should not be surprised if we spend all our time consuming worldly things. We should not be surprised when what comes out of our mouth is worldly things.

Paul: 15:13

Yeah, but that's that's well said well said and this will probably and should come up in our next So I'm kind of putting a plug here For the very next one for those who are listening when Noah and I get to pick our top two and so, you know We've got four but this should be a good talking point Noah for next week From this latter section of chapter 3 really verses 13 through 18 And here's the point where there is wisdom I think James is saying where there is wisdom, the wisdom that is from above. So how do we see God? Okay. Where there is wisdom, there will be good works. We don't intend, we don't try to divide churches and divide homes and create conflict and have this jealousy and this I'm working on a sermon entitled a drama free fellowship. Yeah. Are you kidding me? A drama free fellowship is such possible. James three says there is, but what's it going to take wisdom from above. And he says that wisdom where wisdom is, there will be good works. That's a wisdom that's first pure. So if it's uncontaminated without pollution, if it's genuine and sincere, if it is loyal and honest. Then look at how it influences and impacts how we speak to each other, how we speak about each other, and how we treat one another.

Noah: 16:46

Well, I'm already looking forward to that lesson, Paul. We got a plug for next episode and a sermon. The Drama

Paul: 16:53

Free Fellowship.

Noah: 16:55

It's possible. It is. I really, I want to restate one part of what you just said in shorter words, because I think it's just. really impactful to consider. Wisdom is demonstrable. It is something that is demonstrated. It's demonstrated, as you said, in good works later in the verse, it also talks about meekness. So it's demonstrated in the attitudes that we show that we, that we enact in our relationships. But wisdom is not some, you know, highfalutin, you know, esoteric thing. It's something that's demonstrated in how we live and the attitude of our hearts. We need to hang on to that.

Paul: 17:41

I love it. I love it. I'm already wanting to do the next episode and we can't do it in this episode because we're running out of time. We've been looking at our tongues. Y'all who are listening to us today, we've had our tongues out the whole time, the whole time we've been looking at it, but yes. Yes, every idle word Jesus says, men will give account of. James says you can't tame the tongue. James says it's sourced in this. It has power and potential for this. But instead of, instead of Jay, I don't think James wants us to just talk about all the negative, negative, negative, right? Honesty means doing. Look at the text. Yeah, it's there, but look at its capability. It's capable of so many good things. And there are a lot of good people you know, that you and I preach to every week that are using the tongue and powerfully good, good ways. Life and death is in the power of the tongue. They're, they have chosen life. They have chosen the tongue to be a vehicle of communication to speak forth life and keep, just keep doing that. Don't underestimate the power that you have to influence someone else's heart by what you say, what you text, what you write it can, it can change the whole day for someone.

Noah: 18:55

Yes, it can, and it has. Some, I have been the recipient of some of that. And it makes a huge difference to, to hear those words, to read those words. And sometimes it, it requires a little bit of pain or a little bit of frustration. Words can bring life and healing through correction, like setting a bone. And that's good too. But that's, that's life giving words, and that's the power of the tongue, positively. And that's the, that's just as challenging, if not more so than the just simply keeping withholding the negative. It's one thing to withhold the negative. It's a whole other thing to build on top of that and use it positively. And that's a really important thing for us as followers of Christ to consider.

Paul: 19:46

Well, we're going to get into the wisdom. Next podcast for those who are listening next week, so much wisdom here in the book of James, certainly here in James chapter three, but the tongue of the wise, no, I'm ending with this. I love it in Proverbs 12 verse 18, the tongue of the wise brings healing. The tongue of the wise brings healing. So my encouragement for all who are listening today or this week is seek to bring healing and you can do it. You have the power to do it through your speech. The tongue of the wise brings healing.

Noah: 20:18

Well, that's a good place for us to end for those who have been following along. We appreciate the fact that you are taking this journey with us. We want to serve God in every aspect of our lives. And as we talked about today, we want to serve God in our words. And one of the ways that Paul and I are trying to do that is through this podcast. And so we, our prayer is that the work that we're doing here is something that blesses you, that, that directs you back towards Christ, that helps you build a foundation on him so that as you deal with the ins and outs of every day, you can continue in Christ to stand strong.