Lookahead: And per Webster’s, execrate means to detest utterly, to declare to be evil or detastable, to denounce. So curses are not the result of a fleshly moment. Curses are the result of having a deep loathing for someone, and represent a sincere wish that the recipient would be doomed. That’s pure evil and the curser is submitting to an evil influence.  Someone who has allowed Jesus to set up residence in their heart probably no longer has this capacity in them. Another way to say it would be…if someone is cursing people in the sense of kataráomai, then chances are pretty good that their spirit has not been regenerated.  That could mean that they’re pretending to be saved, which would make them a Grade A Hypocrite.

With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, this should not be! Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree grow olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.  James 3:9-12

Have you ever had a situation in which you were fervently praying for the salvation of some vice-ridden person (as in, “I smoke, drink and chew, and run with those who do” 🙂 ) who didn’t appear to have any God-connection whatsoever; but once you got to know them better, they started talking Christian-ese and quoting verses from the Bible as your jaw was proportionately dropping?  Or another situation:  have you ever found yourself needing to pray for a professed Christian who turns into Mr. Hyde when adversity happens–outperforming any of your unsaved friends in the dishonesty and vindictiveness and unforgiveness categories?  Or have you ever needed to pray because one of your former mentors left the church, left the faith and/or left God–leaving you to wonder if it was all one big act?

These are situations in which the people were speaking out of both sides of their mouth–and oops!  James says that’s an oxymoron.  But there are also situations in which people are toggling between the flesh and the spirit because they are new-born believers; and yet, the LORD has truly begun His cleansing work. To my point, on Tuesday I heard one of the most amazing testimonies ever from a woman who came out of a gay lifestyle as a result of direct divine intervention.  This woman was enmeshed in a life of alcohol and soft drug addiction, sex addiction and pornography–all while playing Baltimore Catholic League and NCAA Basketball and successfully earning a college degree.  Jesus appeared to her in a dream/vision, when she was seeking a way out–but not necessarily seeking Him as the instrument.  Nevertheless, in the vision, He wondrously delivered her and she fell completely in love with Jesus.  She basked in His Glory alone in her apartment for some months as He was healing and teaching her. 

This new believer was still processing a lot of her pain, so both holy and unholy words were flowing out of her during the testimony. But in my view, it’s all good!  The beautifully transparent testimony irrevocably opened my eyes to the nature of the enemy’s onslaught against millennial youth.  The woman walked us through the sociological conditioning–that kicked off when her male classmates (tweens!!) spurned and typecast her because of her anatomy…and lack of “fashion sense.”  That conditioning shoe-horned her into lesbiansim. The tragic thing is that she understood about sex at five, was manifesting pubescent behavior by ten, and the addictions had started to take hold by twelve years of age!!¹  This wasn’t a 2023 phenomenon–if we do the math, we see that it was the societal state of things 20-ish years ago!

But is James 3:11 implying that this woman’s testimony would be problematical?  Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? Nope not problematical! I believe that James wasn’t talking about positive and negative speech content here. He was talking about heart content.  (For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of his good store of treasure, and the evil man brings evil things out of his evil store of treasure.  Matt 12:34-35)  If the heart is messed up, then it’s all negative.  Either curses or lies will consistently be coming out of that person’s mouth.  You won’t have some good and some bad. Also, James specifically used the spoken-word terms:  blessing and cursing!  With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, this should not be!

Bible Hub provided the Greek translation: (1) eulogéō (from eú, “well, good” and lógos, “word, reason”) – properly, to speak/reason (goodness) which confers benefit; hence, bless.(2) kataráomai – to curse, to execrate; by analogy, to doom — curse.

And per Webster’s, execrate means to detest utterly, to declare to be evil or detastable, to denounce. So curses are not the result of a fleshly moment. Curses are the result of having a deep loathing for someone, and represent a sincere wish that the recipient would be doomed. That’s pure evil and the curser is submitting to an evil influence.  Someone who has allowed Jesus to set up residence in their heart probably no longer has this capacity in them. Another way to say it would be…if someone is cursing people in the sense of kataráomai, then chances are pretty good that their spirit has not been regenerated.  That could mean that they’re pretending to be saved, which would make them a Grade A Hypocrite. 

Jesus was not well-enamored with hypocrites during His earthwalk:  What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are!  Matthew 23:15  

Basically the unacceptable behavior here was talking the talk without walking the walk.  Today in 2023, hypocrisy is still hated though people may differ in terms of what they would consider to be unacceptable hypocritical behavior…I found a Quorum Survey on the web:  What are the most extreme examples of hypocrisy?  It looks like an active thread with dozens of responses since 2016.  

1.  The Flat Earth Society with global membership

2.  Wildlife photographers on an African natural habitat tour screaming “wake-up” at napping lion family

3.  Ruthlessly ridiculing weight-challenged girl’s foot stumble but deeming awkward cute girls “whimsical”

4.  UCLA Protesters who are taking advantage of their 1st amendment rights to say that someone else doesn’t deserve their 1st amendment rights

5.  “Hero to Animals” Award Winner posting her recipe for roasting turkey

6.  Cycling in gym for fitness but cannot go to college on bicycle due to status (especially Indian students)

7.  Spoof Ad which says “You don’t have to objectify women to sell a product”…featuring male comedian pretending to be the objectified women in re-enactments of offending ads

And some that were of a tragic nature 😦

8.   You are…expected to find a partner, but dating is a social taboo

9.   People claiming to be promoting peace, who act in a violent manner and hurt others…(or claiming) to be anti-fascist, who act in a fascist manner 

10. ISIS killing fellow Muslims 

11. The US government, claiming to bring democracy to the world and save it from tyranny (followed by highly disturbing photographs of the aftermath of what was called American terror bombings)²

Further, I discovered that Goodreads even has a “Hypocrisy Book” Category.  Some of the books were classics that were required reading in the American educational system:  https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/hypocrisy

Hypocrites can do significant damage…in the faith-destruction category.  And of course we know that the serpent was the biggest hypocrite ever–pretending to be all helpful and nice in the garden.  He was “more crafty” than the other creatures, but he was also the most horribly deceptive hypocrite of all time.  

Hypocrites today can be highly deceptive as well and fool 99.9999…% of the people 100% of the time.  So how do we spot one, and especially in the Christian sanctuary or other supposed safe havens/spheres of influence?  Look at the fruit!  My brothers, can a fig tree grow olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. Is the person imparting life to episodes and people?  Or, as Jesus said, is it a case of:  …out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.  Matthew 15:19

Also we can take comfort in the knowledge that even the most cleverly deceptive hypocrite can’t fool God.  Their eventual condemnation is a certainty.  In the meantime, God has given us the powerful hyprocrite countermeasures of wisdom and discernment.  1 Corin 12:8,10 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom…to another discerning of spirits; John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God;  2 Timothy 3:1,2,5 In the last days…men shall be…lovers of themselves…having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

Back to James’ above-referenced scriptures, I believe that he probably wanted people to do an assessment about whether they and/or others had had a genuine heart change. Further, I believe that the more that they allowed the Living Water (fresh versus salt) to flow out of them, the less toxic their tongue would be. 

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¹https://www.christianpost.com/news/ex-lesbian-shares-journey-from-insecurity-to-christ.html

²https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-most-extreme-examples-of-hypocrisy