TAMING THE TONGUE (2): ITS POTENTIAL TO DIRECT

(James 3:2-5)
June 9, 2019

Read James 3:2-5a – A few years ago we went to watch our neighbor – a 6’-
4”, 240 lb. linebacker play football (with Oakland now). But what really
caught our eye was a 5’-9” running back named Austin Eckler. He dominated
high school football games. During his senior year, coach Bill Mont invited a
friend who coached college football to come and see Eckler who was in the
gym playing basketball. The coach said, “You brought me out here to see that
little guy.” Mont said, “He can dunk!” The coach said, “No Way!”, so Mont
called him over, asked him to dunk, and sure enough, he could. Eckler went
on to set all kinds of rushing records at Western State and now plays for the
LA Chargers. It turned out, he can exert influence among the behemoths on
the football field out of all proportion to his size.

Well, guess what? Every one of us have body member that can do exactly the
same. It’s far more powerful than all our other muscles put together. We don’t
think of it this way, but our tongue is the most powerful member of our
whole body. How we use it says a lot about us. Last week we looked at Its
Power to Damage in teachers. It has great power for evil. But it also has great
power for good. And, incredibly, it has power to shape us – actually to shape
us for good or evil. That’s Jas point in this passage – Its Power to Direct.

Seems counter-intuitive. We know it reveals a lot about us – but to actually

shape us? Not obvious, but true! Jas 3:5: “So also the tongue is a small
member, yet it boasts of great things.” Petite but powerful! The tongue of
Adolf Hitler harangued multitudes into almost hypnotic states leading to
atrocities one might have thought beyond human capacity. On the other hand,
the tongue of Winston Churchill inspired a faltering England to her finest
hour in first surviving then helping defeat the evil of the Nazi regime.

But it’s not just nations impacted by the tongue. Individual people are as well.
What comes out of our mouths not only reveals our hearts, but it also largely
defines us. That’s Jas message, so let’s see how that works out.

I. The Problem Identified

Jas states a problem the tongue can address. 2) “For we all stumble in many
ways.” You’d think this problem was resolved when we were made new
creations in Christ. But, if anything, the issue is worse. As long as I’m in this
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body, I still have a sin nature to contend with – the flesh, the old me. I’m no
longer a slave to sin. I don’t have to sin. But the old me still wants what it
wants, when it wants it – only now it is countered by the HS. That battle
rages inside every believer. That’s one way you know you’re real. Your new
self wars against your old self. Gal 5:17: “For the desires of the flesh are
against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these
are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”
Who wins this constant battle? Whoever I say, “Yes” to at any given moment.
Flesh or Spirit. But, truth is, I stumble a lot. We all stumble a lot.

Even Paul struggled, right? Rom 7:15: “For I do not understand my own
actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate . . . 18) For I
know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh (the old me). For I
have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” What’s
his solution? Rom 8:6: “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the
mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” He knew he needed to obey the Spirit,
not the flesh. But we all stumble. Abe stumbled; Moses stumbled; David
stumbled; Peter stumbled – all as believers. Jas stumbled. He didn’t say, “For
you all stumble”; he said, “For we all stumble in many ways.” For believers
the stumbling gets less, but it doesn’t end. Not in this life. We all stumble.

And we all stumble in a lot of ways – laziness, greed, wrong priorities,

covetousness, immoral thoughts, anger, criticism, gossip, bitterness, pride,
hypocrisy. The list is long and tedious. It doesn’t have to be scandalous to be
sin. Puritan, Ralph Venning wrote in The Sinfulness of Sin, “As God is holy,
all holy, only holy, altogether holy, and always holy, so sin is sinful, all
sinful, only sinful, altogether sinful, and always sinful.” Our stumbling may
be scandalous or respectable, but it’s bad enough to send Jesus to the cross.

Years ago the body life movement began at Ray Stedman’s church in Palo
Alto, CA. He said, “We developed a Xn syndrome that spiritual believers had
no struggles. We tried to explode the myth by showing even Paul struggled.
We encouraged our people to share their problems, their struggles.” The
sharing was cautious. But a breakthrough came one night when a woman
shared, “My husband and I are here and we need prayer because we haven’t
spoken to each other all week.” Whoa! Deathly silence followed! Stedman
asked, “How many couples here have had this problem in your married
life?” A hundred hands went up. The woman gasped as she looked around and
realized others struggled just as she did. She admitted it had to do with her
husband not picking up his socks! Imagine that causing a breakdown between
loving people – but it does, doesn’t it? We all stumble. They stopped and
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prayed for all who were having marital issues. This is what church is about –
what small groups are about. Sharing the struggle. Bc we all fail, many ways.

II. The Perfection Implied

So we stumble, but Jas is not going to let it go at that. Even tho we stumble,
there is a goal. 2b) And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a
perfect man.” Really! Perfect? Are you kidding me? Haven’t we already seen
that’s not possible in this life? Yes, we have. So what is Jas getting at?

The answer is the word “perfect” (τελειος) has two meanings. It can mean
perfect in the sense of without error. But more often it means complete or
mature. That’s how Jas uses it in 1:4 when he writes that adversity is intended
to produce steadfastness. 4) And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you
may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Did Jas mean sinless? No.
He meant “mature” as in the NIV. So in 3:2, Jas is saying mature people
don’t normally stumble in what they say. They have reached a point in their
spiritual maturity where their speech is under control – the Spirit’s control.

This is not easy. But that’s the goal. It’s not okay to sit back and say, “Well,
we all stumble in a lot of ways. That’s just the way it is.” Maybe, but we
can’t be content with that. Our goal is to become more like Jesus. No true
believer is satisfied to stumble thru life like a staggering drunk. Love for
Christ drives us to seek holiness. Paul says in I Tim 4:15, “Practice these
things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.” You
may be a preacher, Timothy, but you need to be getting better. Making visible
progress in “these things.” What things? Back up to v. 12, “Let no one despise
you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in
love, in faith, in purity.” Those things – starting with the way you speak! You
grew up physically. Now grow up spiritually. Maturity is the goal.

One woman was training people in India to do medical transcriptions. She was
amused by some of the flowery language she got back: “With God’s grace
and you at the helm, I will endeavor to succeed on the road to perfection,”
wrote one man. She thanked him – and sent 3 pages of corrections to which he
responded, “I see the road to perfection is longer than anticipated.” So it is
for all of us. But that is the goal. That is where Jas is pointing us. We may
stumble in many ways. But the goal is to minimize the stumbling.

III. The Process Instructed

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So, how do we minimize stumbling? Jas gives a very unexpected answer. He
says in 2b) “And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect
[mature] man, able to bridle his whole body.” This is subtle. Jas goes from
“we all stumble in many ways” to, but the perfect person does not stumble in
what he says. He’s saying “Yes, we stumble in a lot of ways. But the perfect
[mature] person does not stumble in what he says. So, don’t worry about
perfecting everything. Perfect your speech and the rest will follow.”

Fascinating. You’d think he’d say, “Correct your stumbling by attention to

the Word and prayer and accountability to other Xns.” Instead he says,
“Watch how you speak.” He’s not discounting those other Xn disciplines.
They are the very things that will mature our speech. But his point is valid. Let
your prayer life and your study of the Word define your speech and stumbling
diminishes, right? That’s how powerful speech is. The one who does not
“stumble in what he says” is “able also to bridle his whole body.” Bridle the
tongue, and you’ll bridle everything. Powerful, powerful statement.

But is it true? If I control my tongue, does the rest follow? During WWII they
had posters: “Loose lips sink ships!” Well, guess what? Loose lips also sink
lives. Why? Bc words lead to deeds. Someone offends you. You fly off the
handle with – angry words. And so, you’ve damaged a relationship and maybe
got in a fight – a black eye, bloody nose, maybe even death. Loose lips!

You pass on some juicy gossip – only to find it wasn’t true. But the damage is
done. The reputation tainted, a friendship lost, a new guilt to carry. Loose lips!
It’s a harmless flirtation -- a little fun to spice up the day. Before you know it,
you’re in an adulterous relationship wondering how it all started. Loose lips.
Ill-advised words are behind almost every sin there is? Ever think of that?
Even sins of the mind – bitterness, hatred, envy, lust, greed – they all require
words. Without inward words, they’d be impossible. Loose lips. Spoken and
even unspoken words define us, shape us, guide us toward maturity or failure.

A woman came to Warren Wiersbe’s friend one time: “Pastor, the Lord has
convicted me of my sin of gossip. My tongue is getting me and others into
trouble.” Guardedly he asked, “Well, what do you plan to do about it?” She
replied, “I want to put my tongue on the altar.” Having heard the same thing
many times before, he told her, “I’m afraid there isn’t an altar big enough.
Better you just keep it in your mouth with your mouth closed.”

Jas is telling us the tongue is the key-factor in consistent living. And for good
or ill, we are masters of the master-key. It’s not just that a person strong
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enough to control the tongue is thus strong enough for every other battle. It is
deeper than that. It is that winning this battle is in itself winning all battles.
Each lever on our soundboard controls one mic. The person who controls
them controls all the mics. But there is also a master-switch which controls all
the mics at one time. It’s no harder to operate than any individual switch. It’s
not like, “If you are strong enough to operate that switch, then you are
strong enough to operate any of the others.” No. The simple fact is, if you
control the master-switch, you control all the mics; you are lord of the
switchboard. Just so, the person who bridles his own tongue, bridles his whole
body. Who’d have thought the tongue was that powerful?

Jas illustrates. You take a 1,000-pound horse and you’ve got power to burn. It
can go wherever it chooses. But put a half-pound bit in its mouth and a 100-
pound woman on its back who knows what she is doing and she can make that
animal dance. By controlling the bit, she controls the whole animal. So the
person who controls his or her tongue, controls the whole body. Who knew?

Same with a ship. The rudder weighs a fraction of the weight of the ship. The
Titanic weighed 137,000 tons. The rudder about 100 tons – less than 1/10 of
1%. Yet a simple turn of that rudder would have prevented its disastrous
encounter with an iceberg. So the person who bridles his 2-oz tongue controls
his or her whole 150-200 pound body. No small thing wields so much power.

Words can free or imprison; encourage or create despair; inspire or deflate; all
our words are guiding us either up or down. They are literally defining our
future. A 45-year-old woman attended the wedding of a childhood friend. She
kept running into people she hadn’t seen in years. She knew it had been a long
time when one of them said, “Kathy, you got your braces off!” She had
matured a bit. Have we? Do you have your braces off? Are you working at it?
Maturity is the goal, and it starts with our speech. Is it better than it was 10
years ago – sweeter, kinder, gentler, mellower, less critical, more edifying,
free of gossip, under control. Get the braces off – work toward maturity.

Conc – Let me close with this. The bit and the rudder control big things,
right? But that means they must be under the control of a strong hand. On our
own we are neither strong nor wise enough to control our tongue. But Jesus is.
What is the key to the tongue? The heart. Jesus says in Mt 12:34b: “For out
of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” A changed tongue requires a
changed heart. David knew he couldn’t do that himself thus he prayed in Psa
141:3-4: “Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of

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my lips! 4) Do not let my heart incline to any evil.” I don’t need me in control
of my mouth. I need Him.

So, first we must “confess with our mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in our
heart that God has raised him from the dead”, right? I must surrender my life
once and for all. But then I must take up my cross daily and follow Him –
letting Him control what I cannot. It’s a wonderful way to live!

When I was a kid, I loved to ride the tractor with my dad. Loved it. And when
I got to be 4 or 5, he would let me sit on the seat in front of him and steer. I
got to participate. But Dad was right there. We went where he wanted to go. If
I made a wrong move, his hands were quickly on the wheel. I got to cooperate,
but the control was his. So with the tongue – the key to our maturity. We must
work at it ourselves, but with the daily prayer, “Set a guard, O Lord, over my
mouth.” Let’s pray.