Lookahead: I’m sure we all can zoom in on specific toxic words that we would take back, if only we had the chance. :-(…but it’s the old toothpaste analogy–it comes gushing out of the tube and there’s no putting it back in. And in fact, I was so NOT looking forward to the drill-down on these verses about “saying the wrong thing” or more appropriately–the total lethality potential of the tongue. My error-laden words have gotten me in more trouble than any dastardly deed that I could have committed.
Not many [of you] should become teachers [serving in an official teaching capacity], my brothers and sisters, for you know that we [who are teachers] will be judged by a higher standard [because we have assumed greater accountability and more condemnation if we teach incorrectly]. For we all stumble and sin in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says [never saying the wrong thing], he is a perfect man [fully developed in character, without serious flaws], able to bridle his whole body and rein in his entire nature [taming his human faults and weaknesses]. Now if we put bits into the horses’ mouths to make them obey us, we guide their whole body as well. And look at the ships. Even though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the impulse of the helmsman determines. In the same way the tongue is a small member and yet has great pretensions. Remember how a mere spark may set a vast forest in flames. James 3:1-5
we [who are teachers] will be judged by a higher standard….
Those of us who are blessed with teaching gifts have an austere responsibility to be as blameless as possible, and try to maintain optimal communication with the LORD so that we can let the Word flow through us. I believe God gives teachers a special reverence and a real appreciation for the pricelessness of His Word. So we are not faithful out of phobic terror, but out of riveting respect. Nevertheless, we are very aware that there are consequences to misleading people with our teachings.
“My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders. For the LORD of Hosts attends to His flock, the house of Judah; He will make them like His royal steed in battle. The cornerstone (Jesus) will come from Judah, the tent peg from him, as well as the battle bow and every ruler together. They will be like mighty men in battle…They will fight because the LORD is with them, and they will put the horsemen to shame. Zechariah 10:3-5
“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says the Lord. Jeremiah 23:1-2
Ironically, within the last week, I watched a video about how people got this all mixed up and thought the preacher/teacher was accountable to them and not God–the elders actually removed their shepherd from tending the flock. The video was about an Amish man who was selected to be a preacher in his community by, as was the custom, drawing lots. The man had not received a calling from God, nor any training per se, and was just a victim (or beneficiary?) of the “luck of the draw.” Since he knew very little about the Book he was going to be preaching from, the preacher began to read the Bible studiously. He developed a great respect for, and love of, the Word of God. As a result, instead of preaching from “the community rule book,” he began preaching directly from the Bible. The people loved it. But his overseers were envisioning that the preacher should be more of an enforcer, basically driving compliance with a rigidly complex system of 18th century rules and ordinances. As the preacher found and imparted more and more peace from the Word, the overseers felt less and less peaceful themselves. They eventually stood him down. But God had the final say. Jesus had lit a fire in the preacher, and his children. Twenty years later, the family of nine were all born-again and on fire for God; plus his oldest son eventually became a pastor, and…a movie maker. Thanks to social media, the preacher’s sphere of influence has extended to many thousands.
For we all stumble and sin in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says [never saying the wrong thing], he is a perfect man [fully developed in character, without serious flaws], able to bridle his whole body and rein in his entire nature [taming his human faults and weaknesses]. James 3:2
I believe that James is saying here that if someone can get a handle on what/how they speak, they can achieve human perfection. So James really underscores the importance of right-speaking. On the other hand, I wouldn’t consider this perfection to be achievable in the natural. No one is sinless, therefore, by implication, we won’t be able to totally tame our tongues 100%. And the tongue can easily be considered the most formidable body part, capable of causing untold damage. We will get into this more in the next post, but wars have been waged due to miscommunication/misunderstanding resulting from untamed tongues. And in fact, I’ve previously conjectured that 99% of the problems in the workplace are related to miscommunication. There are always rampant comm issues due to linguistic, cultural, behavioral, ethnic, etc. factors. As an ironic example, one U.S. politician, while he was demonstrating this miscomm and mystifying the public (who weren’t finding any humor in his words), put his finger on the biggest communication problem:
In contrasting political-rally v. rock-concert venues…and claiming that attendance at his rallies was much greater…
“I have broken more Elton John records — he seems to have a lot of records…and I, by the way, I don’t have a musical instrument (said tongue in cheek)…We’ve broken virtually every record. Because you know, look, I only need this space (hand gesture encircling an invisible boundary around his podium). They need much more room. For basketball, for hockey and all of the sports, they need a lot of room. We don’t need it. We have people in that space. So we break all of these records. (Said with the barest hint of a smile…) Really, we do it without, like, the musical instruments. This is the only musical – the mouth. (points to his mouth) And hopefully the brain attached to the mouth, right? The brain. More important than the mouth is the brain.” (italics mine)
The media pundits were indeed mystified: “What is he talking about? I have no clue, Alice. His speeches are brainteasers. They are sonic Sudokus. But this is the important part: whenever he mentions his ‘good friend’ Elton, those rambling words lose their repulsive edge. The gibberish almost becomes endearing.”1
In all the head-scratching surrounding this speech, probably nobody (including the politician) was aware that the he had characterized perhaps the biggest comm problem ever–when the mouth has been decoupled from the brain and the former is running on sheer emotion. Another way to put it is, “walking in the flesh, not in the spirit.”
And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another… Gal 5:24-26
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. Gal 5:16
I’m sure we all can zoom in on specific toxic words that we would take back, if only we had the chance. :-(…but it’s the old toothpaste analogy–it comes gushing out of the tube and there’s no putting it back in.
And in fact, I was so NOT looking forward to the drill-down on these verses about “saying the wrong thing” or more appropriately–the total lethality potential of the tongue. My error-laden words have gotten me in more trouble than any dastardly deed I could have committed. I thank my Heavenly Father forever that …There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…Romans 8:1 and If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 (underlines mine) So I won’t get into a lot of embarrassing reminiscences here; although I believe the LORD gave me one example to share. However, I confess that I have jeopardized many relationships, even sidelining ones for some time, because of the junk that came out of my mouth. Although I have also been on the receiving end, that’s no excuse! And I wish that I could say that this behavior stopped after I became a Christian, but that’s not the case.
Example: I was at a small family reunion, helping out in the kitchen; and I could hear several members of my family in the living room laughing hysterically at what sounded like a highly violent movie that was richly peppered with expletives (included a lot of deity swears). When I became a believer, movies were a major cleanup opportunity for me. I went from primarily R-rated to being on a G-Rated-Only Movie “Fast” for a few years. I told all my friends and family that this was between me and God–He had set the boundaries for me. So I was not judging others or trying to impose my standard on my loved ones.
However, it was difficult for me at times. My mother avidly pursued a theatrical career when she was growing up (sacrificed a second lead on Broadway to marry my father); and, as children, we always enjoyed watching plays and movies together with her–as she discussed the trade while the TV helped her babysit. When we got together as adults, invariably at some point during the visit, there would be a big buildup to a great new movie that we all needed to see–a movie that also invariably wasn’t on my green-light list. Two family members (who are in heaven now) had been mightily used by God in my salvation, and they would sometimes accept the majority’s viewing choices. The day that I heard the expletive volley I later cornered one of them in the kitchen and said, “What on earth are you watching?” Their unfortunate droll response was, “I think it’s funny. I like it.”
I believe if they had explained that it was a hilariously funny comedy about some idiot hunters and one highly intelligent bear–and that the cursing was viewed an unappreciated side-accessory–I probably wouldn’t have waxed judgmental the way I did. But my relative had said “I like it.” So I’m thinking, “This person needs to get saved again!” because I’m hearing lots of gore, and screaming, and cursing like machine gun repeats. So what’s to like?
Well, that was all I needed to swap spectrum sides, and go from the spiritual to fleshly realm in a heartbeat. I began to pontificate about how we were meant to be in the world, not of the world, and that this person really needed to set an example instead of condoning the violence and profanity. I can’t remember who all was in the kitchen with me at that time, but they noticed my, shall we say, overly zealous response. I think I may have been branded as one of those radical, legalistic Christians. I assume that because…relatives who weren’t there that day…relatives living hundreds of miles away…did pre-watch DVD screenings with me the next time I visited. 🙂
If I could take anything back…it would be my stealthy judgmentalism that fueled those holier-than-thou words, driving a wedge between us. I really hurt the family with this behavior. And unfortunately, that’s probably the tip of the iceberg for me. 😦 I can’t overemphasize that this all boils down to: Death and life are in the power of the tongue: And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Proverbs 18:21 The tongue had the power to impart words of life that day, or judgmental words of legalistic condemnation, that were really none of my business.
So how on earth do we tame the tongue? More in the next post…
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Cross-Denominational Bible Study 