Taming The Tongue Series

The tongue remains hidden for the most part, but when it does make its presence known it has devastating power. The tongue can express or repress; release or restrain; enlighten or obscure; adore or abhor; offend or befriend; affirm or alienate; build or belittle; comfort or criticize; delight or destroy; be sincere or sinister. The tongue can Xerox the good or X-ray the bad.

In verses 3-12, James uses 6 different word pictures of the tongue to help us see how small, yet powerful it is:

A bit

A rudder

A fire

A dangerous animal

A spring

Fruit

1 ­ Bit. The first metaphor is the bit that is put into a horse’s mouth by a trainer. This relatively small piece of metal can control a very powerful animal, directing the horse to the right or left and telling him to stop. When the bit is pulled back by the rider, it presses against the horse’s tongue causing him to stop.

2 ­ Rudder. James also compares the tongue to a rudder on a boat. Just as a small rudder can control the direction of a large liner or even an aircraft carrier, so too, the tongue can control our lives.

Both the bit and the rudder must overcome contrary forces. The bit controls the wild nature of a horse; the rudder must fight the winds and currents that would drive the ship off course. Both the bit and the rudder must be under the control of a strong hand.

When I was in high school, I was out water skiing with some friends. When it was my turn to ski we circled the lake a couple times and then I signaled that I wanted to quit. My buddy was driving the boat and decided to turn the wheel sharply to get me to wipe out. As he turned, the boat dipped suddenly to the left, causing him to fall out of his seat. I hit the water, of course, and then the boat started coming right toward me -- full throttle. At the very last second, my sister reached over and turned the wheel -- the boat just missed me by inches!

What was intended to be fun almost turned into a disaster. And, with just a small turn of the wheel, my life was saved. Friends, our tongues are the same way. They’re small but they have the power to delight or destroy. From our mouths come either words of life or words of death.

3 ­ Fire. After talking about the power of a bit in the mouth of a horse, and the power of a small rudder to steer a large boat, James uses the image of fire in 3:5-6: “Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue is also a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.”

Just like a small spark can ignite an entire forest, so too words that flow out of tongues can corrupt lives and shipwreck families. Words that are unleashed without thought can significantly affect and alter lives. James is pretty strong here as he tells us that our tongues are set on fire by hell itself.

When I was about 12 years old a couple of my buddies and I were out in the woods playing with fire ­ literally. We were lighting matches and throwing them into the dry grass and then stomping the flames out before it could get out of control. We were lighting the matches off our teeth, our buttons, our zippers, and even our jeans! I threw a match and a clump of dry grass went up in flames. I remember calling to my friends to come and see what I had done. I was proud of it. It looked cool. But, I must have enjoyed my masterpiece too long because the flames soon engulfed a pine tree and then spread throughout the entire woods!