A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A
small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in
the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no
account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!
It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest
fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our
speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation,
send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from
the pit of hell.
This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a
tongue—it’s never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our
tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men
and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!
My friends, this can’t go on. A spring doesn’t gush fresh
water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don’t bear
strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don’t bear apples, do they? You’re not
going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are
you?
Continuing with James challenging
teaching today, we come to a challenge to teachers themselves. Of course, my ears perk up because even in what
I am writing at this very moment, I am seeking to teach. James would have me think very carefully
about even proposing to do so. And athirty-three
years after I taught my first Sunday School class of 3rd-5th
graders at First UMC of Deland, I still think of James words nearly every time
I open my mouth to instruct or write words aimed at guiding others. I often also think about what Fred Craddock,
one of my preaching heroes, said one time in a chapel service I attended. I don’t remember his exact words but he
suggested that it was dangerous to propose to speak on behalf of God without a
healthy does of fear and trembling.
At the heart of James warning about
teaching is a lesson for all, not just teachers. Our tongue is perhaps the most dangerous part
of our body. Our whole life is affected
by the words that come from our mouth.
Our words can bless and heal but, all too often, they curse and
wound. Our words can lead; they can calm an uprising or inspire an
insurrection. Perhaps the most
disturbing thing that James says about all this is that there is no remedy for
the double nature of our tongue; “it cannot be tamed.” And after seeking to be someone who prides
themselves on carefully chosen words since my youth, I have to say James is
right. I still marvel at what sometimes
slips out of my mouth. What was I
thinking? I wish I had a solution, but
the tongue is indeed untamable.
So what do we say? What is the lesson here? I believe it is reverence and
mindfulness. First, we need a reverence
for words because they matter. They
matter in profound ways that we are still unable to understand fully. You may flippantly think that what you say in
any given moment doesn’t matter, but you would be woefully mistaken. All of our words are important. Listen and
meditate on some of the witness of Proverbs:
Proverbs
11:9 “Evil words destroy one’s friends; wise discernment rescues the godly.”
Proverbs
11:12 “It is foolish to belittle a neighbor; a person with good sense remains
silent.”
Proverbs 11:17 “Your own soul is
nourished when you are kind, but you destroy yourself when you are cruel.”
Proverbs 15: 1 “A gentle answer
turns away wrath, but hard words stir up anger.”
Proverbs 15:4 “Gentle words bring
life and health; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.”
Proverbs 16:24 “Kind words are like
honey–sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.”
Proverbs 18:4 “A person’s words can
be life-giving water; words of true wisdom are as refreshing as a bubbling
brook.”
Proverbs 18:20 “Words satisfy the
soul as food satisfies the stomach; the right words on a person’s lips bring
satisfaction.”
Proverbs 20:15 “Wise speech is
rarer and more valuable than gold and rubies.”
Proverbs 25:18 “Telling lies about
others is as harmful as hitting them with an ax, wounding them with a sword, or
shooting them with a sharp arrow.”
The second thing we need in
relation to words is mindfulness. The
times I am surprised by the words that slip out of my mouth are the times I was
not aware of the process of the words forming on my tongue. It was as if I just was letting the words
happen instead of participating in the process.
While it is true that our tongues will never be fully tamed, this does
not mean we have no ability to control our words. Being aware of our emotions and our thoughts
(my definition of mindfulness) better prepares us to control our words. When we are aware of the rage mounting within us, we can
choose to channel that in another way rather than lashing out with our
words. Even if is appropriate to express
the anger with words, our mindfulness and our reverence for words can temper
that anger in a way that it has a better chance to accomplish something helpful
rather than hurtful.
So let us have a healthy respect
and reverence for the power of words.
Let us develop a growing awareness of the swirling currents within us
that produce those powerful words. And
let us ask God pour His Spirit into our spirit so that our words are influenced
by the currents of God’s will. I’ll
finish with a quote from Brennan Manning:
“In every encounter we either give life or we drain it; there is no
neutral exchange.”
Question: How often
does it happen that you are surprised by the words that come out of your mouth?
Prayer: If anyone can
tame our tongue Lord, it is you. “May
these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your
sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14) Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray
for reverence for words and mindfulness of what should and should not be said
to begin to temper the rhetoric of our elected leaders and influencers.
Songs: I couldn’t
choose between two songs today so you get two:
Speak Life – TobyMac
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeBv9r92VQ0
Power In The Words – The Green
