Beware of the Tongue
Beware of the Tongue
Preacher James C. Orchard
Tuesday , May 29, 2007
James 3:1-12
Topic: Teachers take caution with your words
What is the desired result: That the listener will respect the power of the tongue when one is teaching.
Intro
The tongue is part of some famous times
Abraham Lincoln,
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and edicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Neil Armstrong
That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
Dr. King
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
And not so famous times
Adolph Hitler
It was the first time that television was used to broadcast a sporting event.
"Christianity is a rebellion against natural law, a protest against nature. Taken to its logical extreme, Christianity would mean the systematic cultivation of the human failure."
Madalyn Murray O'Hare,
"An Atheist seeks to know himself then and his fellow rather than to know a god. An Atheist understands that a hospital must be built instead of a church. An Atheist knows that a deed must be done instead of a prayer said. An Atheist strives for involvement in life and not escape into death.
How about personally
The first word spoken by your child
The first time you said I love you
The day you said I do
Or
The time you lost your cool with your spouse
Words let slip at a co-worker
This passage is James writing about the nature of the tongue
Last time speaking to you
Graduating from seminary
Graduating to the next chapter.
I.
Teacher and anyone who is In the position to inform or influence
Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We 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.
I came across this story
Henrietta Mears is undoubtedly the greatest Christian education genius of our time. As Christian ed director of Hollywood Presbyterian Church during the 1940s and 1950s she built the Sunday school to the then unheard of proportions of 4,000. At the end of her life Teacher, as she was affectionately called, could count no less than 400 young people who went into Christian service under her direct influence. Thumbing through her biography I noted photographs of seminarians who came through her college department, including such later notables as Richard Halverson, chaplain of the United States Senate, and several prominent pastors and theologians. She took young Billy Graham under her wing, and also Bill Bright, who would go on to found Campus Crusade for Christ. She was a woman of immense personal influence.
In contrast a teacher named
Jim Jones. Images of the rotting bodies of hundreds of people in the infamous Jonestown massacre — an unforgettable testimony of the influence of a teacher for evil.
We must realize what power teachers have at crucial times in tender lives — to crush the bloom or make it eternally flower!
Teacher is an important office
Up there with apostles and prophets
2 Tim. 4:16 says,
“Watch how you live and what you teach...because if you do these things you will save the people who listen to you.”
1 Co 12:28.
And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers,
II
The tongue controls
3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 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.
Rider and bit can make horse act unnaturally
Small rudder at the whim of the pilot can make big changes with small movement
Personal experience Math class
III
The tongue destroys
5 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. 6 The 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.
Gossip.
Gossip often veils itself in acceptable conventions such as
"Have you heard. . . ?"
or
"Did you know. . . ?"
or
"They tell me . . ."
or
"Keep this to yourself, but . . ."
or
"I don't believe it's true, but I heard that . . ."
or
"I wouldn't tell you, except that I know it will go no further."
Of course, the most infamous such rationalization in Christian circles is,
"I am telling you this so you can pray."
Innuendo
A cousin of gossip
example
Consider the ship's first mate who after a drunken binge was written up by the captain on the ship's log: "mate drunk today." The mate's revenge? Some months later he wrote on his own entry, "captain sober today." So it goes with the word unsaid, the awkward silence
Flattery.
Gossip is saying behind a person's back what you would never say to his or her face; flattery is saying to a person's face what you would never say behind his or her back. The Scriptures warn us repeatedly against flatterers, for they are destructive people who carry a legion of unwholesome motives.
Psalm 12:2
They speak falsehood to one another;
With flattering lips and with a double heart they speak.
Criticism. Criticism can take many forms, but it is always motivated by self-doubt and jealousy.
There are many other ways the tongue can destroy:
meanness,
sarcastic humor
IV
The tongue is powerful
7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8 but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
I have seen whales playing jump rope at Sea World
I have seen African lions cowed and submissive by the trainer in the circus.
I have seen falcons kill their prey and humbly lay it at their master's feet.
I have seen a woman obediently kissed on the lips by a deadly cobra.
But I have never seen a man or woman who in their own power could tame the tongue
V
The tongue is contradictory
Evidently James had observed a contradictory phenomenon in his church
9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
"Blessed be he" after each utterance of God's name
Singing praises and then leave church and swear at the first person who cuts you off
As a teacher you have just taught on forgiveness and as soon as you walk out of the class berate a fellow believer about the money they owe you
Conclusion
In view of all this, what are we to do?
As a teacher we need to stop gossip
Sometimes as a teacher we will be the first to hear gossip
1. Stop listening to it:
If you are listening to gossip, you are part of the problem. So, if someone comes to you and starts being negative saying things about other people. Be polite but simply say you don’t want to hear it. Nothing shuts down gossip faster than not having a listening ear.
2. Start confronting those who spread gossip:
When people are spreading stories and gossip the best way to deal with it is to confront them in a loving but firm manner. This is going to be the policy of the church and I want you to know and understand this, if you are spreading gossip in this church, you will be confronted.
3. Think before you speak
as a teacher we have a platform to make comments that many will hear
T--Is it true?
H--Is it helpful?
I--Is it inspiring?
N--Is it necessary?
K--Is it kind?
The most important way to combat the untamable tongue is to
- Admit you are powerless over the sin in your lives.
Rom. 7:18
I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
- Give the control of your tongue to God because YOU are powerless to do anything about it.
Rom. 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship
- Confess to God and another person the things you have said.
James 5:16
Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.
- Continue to vigorously monitor you speech
Gal. 6:1
Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted
Lastly
5. Pray
Col 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you
Close with James having the final word
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom