James Chapter Three, The Tongue: A World of Iniquity

 

James 3:2 For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.

 

Continuing the passage regarding teachers, James reminds his audience (and us) that we all make mistakes. We all err. Note how his pronoun choice includes him. James isn’t perfected in the sense that he as incapable of sin; the “we” reminds us that he is in the same boat. The first step to teaching should be to acknowledge that we do not know everything. We teach others, are taught by others, and together grow in the word and our love for Jesus Christ. Love ought to be our motivation for teaching: a fervent love for God that translates into a love for our fellow saints and unsaved men.

Again, no teacher is perfect apart from our Lord and His word. “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us,” 1 John 1:10. We search the Scriptures, commit ourselves to God in prayer and teach with confidence. The apostle suggests that if anyone could in fact refrain from stumbling in word he would be perfect, capable also of a spiritual walk the mortifies the flesh and abstains from sin, hence the image of him bridling his body and directing it where he wills, no matter the urge or impulse. But is there such a man apart from Christ? When we move on a few more verses, James appears to be telling us, no, there is not: “But no man can tame the tongue,” James 3:8.

 

James 3:3 Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. [4] Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires.

 

These two examples, common both in James’ day and ours, show how horses are controlled by a such a small thing as a bridle, while ships are turned by the rudder to determine its course. Back of both examples reveals human will, determining how they wish to manipulate their respective modes of transportation. Such a small thing in the end creates quite an impact and turns the fortunes of both. A skilled pilot or rider will with care and deftness, bring both safely to their destination; a careless one will visit harm through lack of awareness, foresight or outright mischief.

 

James 3:5 Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles!

 

If we return to James 1:19, 20 we find him cautioning us to be “swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” An insulted man is quite often a vocal man. In this day and age of social media it is all to easy and far too tempting to voice our opinion online for all to see. But to what benefit? This admonition, given 2000 years ago, applies today for us. Be quick to hear: listen intently and make sure you understand what is being said and formulate a thoughtful, educated response. The best debaters do not always provide the wisest or especially the most godly solutions or answers. They simply possess quick wit. Be slow to speak: give an answer to build up, clarify, correct in humility or acknowledge our wrong if rightly convicted. Be slow to wrath, primarily because our anger does not produce godly righteousness.

 

The metaphor of a forest fire is apt. Our tongues wag when we are upset, or perhaps speak too freely in proud overconfidence. We want to sound learned and broach territory we really don’t have a right to weigh in on. It is in these places that reserved quiet might serve better, so we can learn, or at least understand and formulate an opinion or response that is qualified to be heard.

 

James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.

 

A great forest burns from a small flame, James tells us. Words have power, because words convey meaning. We wouldn’t speak if we didn’t want to be heard; and being heard would be irrelevant if the words we chose did not convey an understandable meaning. How then, do we as Christians, speak? Not just to God. Not just at church. Not just to those people we want to maintain a good image with. How about when we’re alone? When we’re angry? When we’re inside our own head? When lust has taken hold of us? “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks,” Matthew 12:34.

 

The language suggests a cavity filled with something, and sudden applied pressure releases it. What’s on our mind becomes vocalized and permanently imbedded in the minds of our hearers. In verse 8 James tells us that the tongue is filled with deadly poison. Paul, quoting the Psalmist, says of the general state of mankind, “Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit”; “The poison of asps is under their lips”; “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness,” Romans 3:13, 14. Solomon declares, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit,” Proverbs 18:21.

 

The tongue is a fire, and the words that spew forth can burn. James calls it a world of iniquity. Our words, and the intentions that give them life, can be likened to a factory mass producing sin. Bridling the tongue, we are learning, is not as easy as it initially sounded, and the prospect of that “perfect man” who can do so falls farther out of our grasp, if we are at all honest with ourselves. If we were a perfect man then we could “bridle the whole body,” if we could tame the tongue, James 3:2. Instead we find that too often our untamed tongue has bridled us, and it “defiles the whole body.”

 

“Defiles” in this verse is the Greek “spilos” and means “a subtle intaking from an impure source which can…destroy a life.” We learn from those we come into contact with, and are influenced by those we listen to.

 

Paul says, “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify [build up],” 1 Corinthians 10:23. Who kindles our tongue? At whose feet are we learning how, and what to speak? Paul cautions teachers, “If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself,” 1 Timothy 6:3-5.

 

“Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits,’” 1 Corinthians 15:33. Like Paul’s counsel in Romans 3, James is not stating an absolute. Rather, the apostle is warning us about our words and the violence we can carelessly or maliciously reap on others. The tongue is a fire, and wrong influences in the Christian life, laxity in the word and prayer, failing to fellowship with likeminded believers, will cause carnality to spring forth in us, through which we will hypocritically praise God and revile our fellow man, James 3:9. Teachers, both present and future: this admonition is for us. As we have listened and learned from others, we now desire to share with others what we have learned. Or perhaps our language is mere vitriol. Be careful then what we say, how we say it, and why we feel it necessary. May our words edify in love, not burn the church down.