James 3:2-12 - The Power of the Tongue

James 3:5-6 says:

”Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasters great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our embers, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.”

My papa is an old Mainer. He lived in Boston most of his life, but his heart was always in Maine. My great-grandparents and my grandparents had several acres in the country in West Newbury, Maine. I have a lot of memories going up there and picking wild blueberries and doing a whole lot of nothing because there is nothing to do in Maine.

One thing I remember clearly is my papa telling me a story about how a fire wiped out all of southern Maine. I couldn’t believe it. It was called the Great Maine Fire, and all the old Mainers would talk about it.

Two years ago, a couple of teenagers were playing on a mountain I’ve hiked—the Chimney Tops 2 Mountain outside of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. They threw a match, thinking it was funny, and started a small fire on top of the mountian. What they didn’t know was that the mountains there were dryer than they had ever been after four months with no rain, and that because there hadn’t been a forest fire in 80 years, there was 80 years’ worth of fuel to burn.

A freak windstorm with gusts up to 100 miles per hour blew that fire on the mountain towards Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, and the results were awful. Fire took over one of the most popular vacation spots in the country. Thousands of people lost their homes and their businesses; hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage; hundreds of injuries and fourteen people died.

I don’t use a lot of pictures, but look at these for a minute.

Two kids playing with matches. Every man in here stand up. Stand up. Now sit down if you’ve ever played with fire in your life. That’s what I thought.

Fire is so commonplace, but fire can be unbelievably unpredictable and destructive.

James says that is what the tongue is like. That is what our words are like—like a fire that burns out of control and does damage we can’t even imagine.

I’m going to preach tonight on James 3:2-12. We are going to cover this whole section about the tongue, but as we read the text and as we go into the different things the Bible is teaching us, I don’t want you to forget these pictures.

Let’s read the whole text, and then we’ll pray and get into the message:

”James 3:2-12 (KJV) 2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same [is] a perfect man, [and] able also to bridle the whole body. 3 Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. 4 Behold also the ships, which though [they be] so great, and [are] driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. 5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! 6 And the tongue [is] a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. 7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: 8 But the tongue can no man tame; [it is] an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. 11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet [water] and bitter? 12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so [can] no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.”

The title of the message tonight is “The Power of the Tongue.”

A little bit of gunpowder, a little metal tube, a little piece of lead—those things can start a world war that kills nearly a million people. A tiny germ—something we can’t even see—carried by a mosquito can cause a nationwide plague. The tiniest microchip, which is smaller than a quarter, now has hundreds of times the computing power of all the equipment that sent people to the moon.

Little things can be very, very powerful. The main idea of this passage is that your tongue is a little thing, but it’s insanely powerful and dangerous.

Specifically, James tells us that our tongue has the power to do three things.

Let’s pray and I’ll give them to you.

The first power that your tongue has is...

1. The tongue has the power to direct.

Verse 2 says that everyone offends. The word “offends” there means “stumbles” or “slips up.” Every one of us has times when we make mistakes and we sin. A lot of times, our sin isn’t us deliberately trying to be evil; we just slip up and fall.

But James has a secret for us. He says, ”If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.”

What James is saying here is that if you want to be a person who doesn’t slip up, who doesn’t stumble, who doesn’t sin—if you want to be a person who is in control—then control your tongue.

In other words: If you can keep this little thing under control, then you can keep your whole life under control.

James uses the example of a bit, which is a tiny piece of metal that lets you control a huge horse. He uses the example of a rudder, which is a tiny piece of wood that lets you steer a huge ship.

The idea is if you control your tongue, you control your life. On the flip side, if your mouth is out of control, your whole life is out of control.

Now why is that? James doesn’t tell us here, but I think the Bible makes it pretty clear: Your tongue is directly tied to your heart. Jesus said, ”For out of the heart the mouth speaketh.”

Here is a scary truth: Nothing comes out of our mouths that isn’t first in our heart.

Sometimes you’ll mess up, and you’ll say something that hurts someone’s feelings. You’ll be quick to say, “I didn’t mean it,” but yes, you did. You might regret it, but if it wasn’t in your heart in the first place, then it wouldn’t come out of your mouth.

There is this super tight connection between the words we say and what is going on in our heart.

Proverbs 21:23 says:

”Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.”

Proverbs 18:21 says:

”Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”

So direct your tongue and direct your life. Focus on keeping this little thing under control, and you’ll keep your heart under control.

That’s the first point. The second point James makes is one I’ve already covered a bit. It is...

2. The tongue has the power to destroy.

The tongue is a fire and a world of iniquity. It’s an untameable wild beast.

It is an unpredictable and wildly destructive force.

Wars are caused by this little thing. Genocides are caused by this little thing. Billions are led astray by this little thing.

Let’s get closer to where we live: Divorces are caused by this little thing. Suicides are caused by this little thing. Church splits are caused by this little thing. This little thing inflicts wounds that some people never heal from.

Some of you have tongues that are completely out of control. You may say, “Well, that’s just the way I am.” Well, that is no excuse. Murderers can use that excuse. Child molesters can use that excuse. “Just the way you are” can destroy your church; it can destroy families; it can destroy friendships.

Gossip, criticism, running your mouth, and making fun of people is not okay. You are playing with fire on top of the mountain, and someday a gust of wind is going to blow through and cause damage you could never imagine. Then you are going to have to live with the fact that you caused it because you said, “That’s just the way I am,” and you ran your mouth.

The tongue can be a fire. The tongue can be a poison. The tongue has so much power to destroy.

One more thing…

3. The tongue has the power to disclose.

Verses 9-12 say:

”9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. 11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet [water] and bitter? 12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so [can] no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.”

What James is saying is that your tongue tells on you. You can try to hide who you really are, but your tongue is going to disclose it to the whole world.

I had to do a research paper once on vocabulary. One of the things I learned is that it takes people just a few seconds to judge your intelligence, and most of what they go on is your vocabulary. You can try to seem smart, but your tongue tells on you.

Recently I was watching a program about the unabomber. The unabomber went uncaught for decades. The FBI had no clue. They had no idea how to catch the guy. Their big break came when he published a long manifesto in the newspapers. There wasn’t any forensic evidence at all, but there were little tips they picked up from his vocabulary that gave them a much clearer picture of who he was, and that is how they cracked the case.

Your words and your tongue tell on you.

Proverbs 17:27-28 says:

”He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.”

Ecclesiastes 10:3 says:

”Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool.”

You can try to hide who you are, but your tongue is going to tell on you. It’s going to disclose the thoughts of your heart. It’s like you are walking around wearing a sandwich sign that says:

I’m corrupt. I’m a fool.

But it can also go the other way. Your words can say:

I’m a Christian. I’m following God. I’m filled with the Spirit.

I’m going to wrap this up. It’s going to be a super short message tonight. But hear this:

Your tongue is a fire, but you didn’t get here tonight without a fire. We wouldn’t be able to see tonight without fire. It’s our ability to harness little fires that gives us such power and technology that we have today.

Your tongue is poison, but so is chemotherapy and so is most medicine if it’s taken incorrectly.

My point is this: You can’t preach the gospel without talking. You can’t share the good news of Jesus without using the tongue. We have a powerful thing here in our mouths, and under the control of the Holy Spirit, it can have a huge impact for God.

But we have to know that the nature of it is to get out of control. We have to know that most of our problems are tongue problems, and that those tongue problems come right from heart problems. The old posters used to say, “Loose lips sink ships.” I can tell you that loose lips sink friendships. Loose lips sink families. Loose lips destroy churches.

Gossip; making fun; criticism; meanness—You are dealing with fire there. One of these days that fire is going to catch ahold and burn, and you will see damage you could never have imagined.

So I want you to use your tongue.

• Use your tongue as a steering wheel. Control your tongue so you can control your life.
• Use your tongue like a fire suppression system. When bad stuff comes out, act fast.
• Use your tongue like a thermostat to gauge the spiritual temperature of your heart.

And then use your tongue to preach the gospel, to share the Bible, to encourage and to pray for others.