Introduction
Would you take your Bibles please now, and turn to James chapter 3 as we continue our journey with James. He has left us bruised and bleeding, but blessed. And, I want to read the first 12 verses of chapter 3. James chapter 3: “My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation”—that is, don’t just jump up and profess to be a religious teacher, because one day what you teach is going to come under the close scrutiny of the judgment of God—“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. Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. 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”—or rudder—“whithersoever the governor listeth”— that means wherever the captain wants the ship to go—“Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth 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 members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. 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: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh” (James 3:1–12).
I want to speak this morning on this subject, “The Meanest Member in our Church.” Would you like to look around and cast a vote? The meanest member in our church.
Now, some people are very mean. When I was a little boy, my mother used to tell me of a man who was so mean that he gave his little boy a penny to go to bed without any supper. And, then in the middle of the night, that man stole that penny from his son. In the morning—he scolded the son for losing the penny, whipped him, and made him go without breakfast. Well, I thought that was perhaps the meanest man I’d ever heard of. But, there’s something even meaner than that. I want to speak about the meanest member in our church.
And, if you’re wondering who it is, I want you to look in verse 6: “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members…” (James 3:6). The tongue is the meanest member in our church. The tongue is a fire and a world of iniquity. And, I want us to think this morning about the tongue, the subject that is in everybody’s mouth. And, so it refers to you and to me. So, I want you to listen very carefully.
I. The Influence of the Tongue
James says three things about the tongue. First of all, he speaks of the influence of the tongue. And, then James speaks of the iniquity of the tongue. And, then James speaks of the inconsistency of the tongue. So, I want you to notice those three things. First of all, I want you to notice the influence of the tongue.
Now, James is saying the tongue, though it be very small, is very powerful, and very influential, and therefore the tongue should be handled with care. The tongue can direct, the tongue can destroy, the tongue can delight, the tongue is a very powerful thing. And, James illustrates that by showing us three very small things that have great influence.
A. The Tongue is like a Bit in a Horse’s Mouth
First of all, he says the tongue is like a bit in a horse’s mouth. Look in verse 3. He says, “Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body” (James 3:3). Can you imagine? Here’s a little lady riding a great fiery steed, a powerful horse, and with just that little piece of metal in his mouth, she makes him go this way or that way. She makes him start, and she makes him stop. Just a little piece of metal controls the whole horse. Some of us had difficulty learning that.
When my wife and I went to Ridgecrest, North Carolina as teenagers—of course, she wasn’t my wife then—but as we went there we rented some horses. And, I thought that would be wonderful to go on a horseback ride. I didn’t know anything about horses. But, her horse wouldn’t go. I said, “Joyce let me show you how—what to do.” And, I got on the horse, and took hold of his ear, and twisted it. It was a very long ride. Finally— finally—after going all over North Carolina, that horse came to a stop, and I learned that they put bits in horse’s mouths—not ears on horse’s heads—to control horses. But, a very small bit can control a very big horse.
And, what is James saying? James is saying a word—just a small word, just a bit of a word—can control sometimes the destiny of a man.
One time a preacher was preaching in a congregation. After the congregation, a young man came up to him and said, “Sir, I want to thank you for leading me to Jesus Christ.” The minister looked at the man and did not recognize him and said, “I’m sorry, I don’t remember when. Would you tell me about it?” He said, “I wouldn’t expect you to remember but,” he said, “years ago you were standing on a street corner talking to a friend of yours, who happened to be a friend of mine also, and I came up and the three of us—when engaged in conversation, and you turned to me, and you didn’t know me, but you asked me, ‘Young man, are you a Christian?’ And, I said, ‘No, I’m not.’” “And,” he said, “you looked at me and said, ‘That’s such a shame. You’re such a fine looking young man to be lost and to be going to Hell.’ And, that’s all you said to me. “But,” he said, “Sir, that was many years ago, and I have never been able to get that statement out of my heart, and out of my mind, and it was etched upon my soul; it thundered in my heart until I received the Jesus Christ as my personal Savior.”
B. The Tongue is like a Rudder on a Ship
Oh, if we could only understand sometimes the power of just one sentence, just a bit of speech. But, not only does James say that the tongue is like a bit in a horse’s mouth. He also says that the tongue is like a rudder on a mighty ship. And, look in verse 4. He says in verse 4: “Behold, also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet they’re turned about by a very small rudder” (James 3:4). Just a little rudder can change a mighty ship, can change the direction of something so large. And, what James is saying, your speech is this way. Speech is such a powerful thing. The power of speech, and the power of oratory, is unbelievable.
Think of Dr. Robert G. Lee and the silver tongue that God has given this man. Think of the lives that have been blessed and brought to Jesus. Think of multitudes that have been swayed, think of conventions and great masses of people—more than by Dr. Lee’s pen, Dr. Lee’s tongue was so powerful. And, then think of Adolph Hitler. Think of Adolph Hitler and his rantings and his ravings, and demonical, and maniacal speeches, as he would whip the people of Germany into a frenzy. Think of the power of the tongue, the tongue like the rudder of a ship can bring that ship, buffeted and tossed by the waves and winds, into a safe harbor. Or, the tongue in the hands of a wrong person can bring the ship of life upon the rocks and the reefs of disaster and destruction.
James is saying, “Never underestimate the power of the tongue.” It is so small, but so powerful.
C. The Tongue is like a Spark in Dry Grass
And, then James gives the third illustration of the power of the tongue. He says not only is it like a bit in the horse’s mouth, not only is it like a rudder on a mighty ship, but James also says that the tongue is like a spark in dry grass. Look, if you will, in verse 5: “Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!” (James 3:5). We sing a chorus, “It only takes a spark to get a fire going” (Kurt Kaiser).
And, James is saying how you use your tongue—because your tongue is like a torch. It is incendiary that tongue of yours. You see, a fire doesn’t have to be great and large to begin with.
Back in 1871, a Mrs. O’Leary was milking her cow in a barn in Chicago. And, the cow kicked over Mrs. O’Leary lantern, and that lantern caught the hay in that barn on fire. And, Mrs. O’Leary was not able to put it out. By the time that fire was finally controlled, 17,450 buildings in the city of Chicago were destroyed. One cow kicks over a lantern, 17,450 destroyed. The entire downtown part of Chicago wiped out by the great Chicago fire. Over 250 people lost their lives.
(According to http://www.thechicagofire.com/, http://www.prairieghosts.com/great_fire.html, http://www.chicagohs.org/history/fire.html, http://cpl.lib.uic.edu/004chicago/timeline/greatfire.html and other sites, Mrs. O’Leary’s cow was not the cause of the great Chicago fire, 300 people lost their lives, 100,000 people were left homeless, and property valued at $192,000,000 was destroyed. There was not any record of number of buildings destroyed.)
A small fire can become a big fire. And, a few words wrongly used can bring such devastation, and such destruction. Words are like fire, and fire is a wonderful servant. We couldn’t have civilization as we know it without fire. But, fire is a poor master. Fire can warm, or fire can burn. Words can bless, or words can burn. Words can warm a heart, or words can inflame hatred. There’s a chain reaction. That’s what James is saying.
Have you ever noticed the chain reaction of words? Let me give you a hypothetical situation. Here is a man, we’ll call him Mr. Sparks. Now, Mr. Sparks is a business executive. And, he’s been at the helm of this business for many years, and he’s quite proud of the way he runs his business. Always punctual, and always on top of everything. But, one day Mr. Sparks is at the country club having lunch, and he gets engrossed in a conversation, and then he looks at his watch and he realizes that he’s ten minutes late getting back to the office. He almost drops his coffee cup, he jumps in his high-powered automobile, and he starts off down the expressway doing 90 miles an hour, and he’s stopped by a policeman. And, this policeman gives Mr. Sparks a tongue- lashing and at the same time he writes a ticket.
Now, Mr. Sparks is infuriated. He’s saying, “Why isn’t that policeman out there catching criminals, and crooks and murderers? Why is he picking on me, a law-abiding citizen? I may have been going 90 miles an hour, but I was doing it safely.” And, so when he gets back to the office he’s still muttering. He calls in his chief sales director and he says, “Armstrong, come in here. I want to ask you a question. Did you get that contract settled that I gave you?” Armstrong says, “No, sir. We lost that contract.” He said, “What do you mean you lost that contract?” He said, “Don’t you know how much money that could have been to our company? Don’t you know that this could have opened a whole new field of development? Armstrong, I want you to know something. You may have been here for 17 years, but you’re not irreplaceable. Now, you had better get that business made up and replace it, or we will replace you.”
Armstrong is infuriated. He says to himself, muttering, “That old codger, that rascal. He doesn’t do anything around here, he’s just a pompous figurehead. I’m the one that gets all the business for this company. I’m the one that made all the business for this company. Why, without me it would fail. What a cheap shot to threaten to fire me.” He gets his secretary on the phone, “Mrs. Jones,” he says, “Did you get those five letters that I gave you this morning, done?” She says, “No sir, I haven’t. You told me that this matter was to take precedence.” “Mrs. Jones, when I give you letters to be done, I want them to be done. I want those five letters now; do you understand me? You get those letters on my desk. You may have been here seven years Mrs. Jones, but secretaries are easy to get.” Bang.
Mrs. Jones is burning. “The nerve of that guy. He told me to do something else and now he blames me for not having those five measly letters. Well, I’ll get his letter all right.” She goes down to the switchboard operator and says, “Listen, I need some help and I need it now. I’ve got some letters that have to be typed, so you just turn loose of what you’re doing and help me type these letters. After all, you don’t do anything anyway except sit around here and answer the telephone, whenever it happens to ring. We do all the work, and if you can’t help me, I’ll find someone else who can.” You talk about being hot!
The switchboard operator says, “Can you imagine? All they do in the back office is sit around and drink coffee. I’ve got more calls coming in here. Nobody could handle this switchboard but me. I’m the lowest paid person on this staff, and I do the most work. The nerve!” Boy, is she mad.
She drives home after work. There’s her little twelve-year-old son lying on his tummy on the floor watching television. The first thing she sees is a tear in his blue jeans. She said, “Would you look at that. You have torn your blue jeans. You go upstairs. There’s no supper for you tonight, and no television for you tonight. Look what you’ve done.” Boy, you talk about being mad.
The little fellow is angry. “Why,” he says, “what right does she have? I tore my britches cleaning up the yard like she told me to do. I was doing something for her. Boy, she sure is a misunderstanding mama.” And, he goes upstairs, and about that time the tomcat comes past. Whomp, he gets a kick. “You get out of here,” he says to the
tomcat. “You’ve probably been up to something no good.” Knowing the tomcat he probably had.
Now, wouldn’t it have been a whole lot simpler if Mr. Sparks had simply come directly from the country club to the home of the telephone operator and kicked the cat himself. I mean, wouldn’t it? Wouldn’t that have cut out a lot of in between things? That’s exactly what James is saying. James is talking about chain reactions. James is talking about the power of the tongue ,and James says, “…Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!” (James 3:5). So, James is saying about the tongue, you handle the tongue with care, because one of these days every “idle word that men speak where they give account thereof in the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36).
II. The Iniquity of the Tongue
But, now not only does James speak to us about the influence of the tongue, like a bit, like a rudder, like a spark. But, he also speaks to us about the iniquity of the tongue, the iniquity of the tongue. Look in verses 6 through 8: “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. 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: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” (James 3:6–8).
A. The Tongue Pollutes
And, now James, who is the master illustrator, uses several figures of speech again to describe this time, not the influence of the tongue, but the iniquity of the tongue. One of the figures of speech he uses is this: He says the tongue defiles like a broken sewer. Look at it in verse 6: “It defileth the whole body.” Defiled by your tongue. The tongue pollutes like a dripping, broken sewer pipe. The greatest ecological problem in America is the problem of words, wrongly used that defile the whole body.
Are you guilty of using filthy, dirty speech? You know, somehow today the people who are speaking the most about free speech sound like they fought at Valley Forge. And, they think that free speech means the right that they can open their mouths like a sewer, and pour out all of their filth, and all of their dirt, and all of their garbage wherever they want. And, James says the tongue pollutes, it defiles. You beware of the sewer mouth, the gutter mouth.
B. The Tongue Destroys
But, then not only that, James says not only does it defile, like a sewer, it destroys like a hellish arsonist. Look in verse 6 again. He says, “And the tongue is a fire”—and, then he says in the last part of verse 6, it—“setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell” (James 3:6).
There are people who deliberately, and hellishly, and hurtfully, and hatefully use their tongues to destroy the lives of other people. You may wish to write in your margin Proverbs 16, verses 27 and 28 by this verse, by verse 6. Here’s what that verse says: “An ungodly man diggeth up evil: and in his lips there is a burning fire. A perverse man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends” (Proverbs 16:27–28). The fire of the tongue.
Oh, we talked about arsonists a few weeks ago. Are you guilty of using your tongue in a form of arson? So many people who would not think of using vulgar language, so many cultured ladies who sit around drinking pink tea, and discussing flower arrangements, use their two-inch tongue as a fire. They don’t use vulgar language, they just gossip, and snipe, and criticize. The ladies raid society. And, men, how many times we speak about men as gossips, or women as gossips. Some of the worst gossips I’ve ever known are men, and some of them ministers.
I heard about a lady one time who went to the newspaper office to put something in the society column, and she happened to lean up against a wall where there was a freshly printed piece of newsprint, or at least a type, and it printed on the back of her dress. She didn’t know that it had, but it printed on the back of her dress these words: “Daily News.” All day long people were snickering at her, laughing at her, pointing; she knew something was wrong. Finally, when she got home she said to her husband, “Would you please look on the back of my dress, and see if there’s anything there that ought not to be there.” He looked and said, “No, ma’am, nothing at all.”
The tongue is a fire. Morgan Blake, who was a sportswriter for the Atlanta Journal said this: “I am more deadly than the screaming shell from the Howitzer. I win without killing. I tear down homes, break hearts and wreck lives. I travel on the wings of the wind. No innocence is strong enough to intimidate me, no purity is strong enough to daunt me. I have no regard for truth, no respect for justice, no mercy for the defenseless. My victims are as numerous as the sands of the sea, and often as innocent. I never forget and seldom forgive. My name is gossip.”
C. The Tongue Devours
The tongue is a fire, and it destroys like a hellish arsonist. And, then next James says that the tongue devours like a wild beast. Look in verses 7 and 8: “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: But the tongue can no man tame…” (James 3:7–8). And, he says here now, the tongue is like a wild, ferocious, untamable beast. It may be very small, it lives in an ivory cage, but it breaks forth, and that boneless tongue can crush and kill and hurt.
Boys and girls sometimes say, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me.” But, words do hurt, they do hurt. And, all the protestations can’t take it away. The tongue is like a beast that devours. Paul said, and you might jot this scripture down, Galatians chapter 5, verse 15. Paul said this, “But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another” (Galatians 5:15). Isn’t that a strange thing to write to Christians? “If you bite and devour one another.” Christian cannibalism—consuming one another like animals, ferocious animals that are biting and destroying. Some people have had terror struck in their hearts by a movie called Jaws. I suggest something more dangerous is a church member that I call “Monster Mouth.” Like a wild beast, the meanest member in the church.
D. The Tongue Deadens
And, then not only does James say that it pollutes, not only does James say that it destroys, and not only does James say that it devours, but he also says that it deadens like a vile poison. Look in verse 8: “But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:8). Oh, did you know that you can poison with your tongue? You can kill with your tongue. Proverbs 18, verse 21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue…” (Proverbs 18:21).
You can kill, surely, with your tongue. You dip your tongue in the slime of the sewer, and with that forked tongue you assassinate somebody’s character. You’re guilty of murder. “The man who with the breath lent him by Heaven speaks words that soil the whiteness of a life is but a murderer. For death is given as surely by the tongue, as by the knife” (Jean Blewett).
A lady went to the doctor for an examination. She felt terrible. The doctor got a very serious expression on his face and said, “Madam, I hate to tell you this, but you have rabies.” She got out her notebook and started making a list. He said, “What are you doing? Making out your will?” She said, “No, I’m making a list of people I’m going to bite.”
There are people who are just that mean. A. B. Simpson said this. He was a great leader in the Christian Missionary Alliance Church. He said, “I had rather play with forked lightening, or take in my hands living wires with their fiery currents, than to speak a reckless word against any servant of Christ.” Have you been guilty of that?
A reckless word against any servant of Christ, or idly repeat the slanderous darts which thousands of Christians are hurling on others. Are you guilty of using your tongue to poison lives? I warn you that one day when you stand before Almighty God you will give an account. “Every idle word that men speak, shall they give account thereof in the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36). By your words you’ll be condemned. By your words you’ll be justified. And, even as Christians we’re going to face the record, not in the sense of condemnation, but at the judgment seat of Christ.
III. The Inconsistency of the Tongue
Now, the third and final thing I want us to notice. Not only the influence of the tongue, and not only the iniquity of the tongue, but I want you to notice the inconsistency of the tongue. And, here’s the great problem.
Many of us who are members of this church love the Lord, and yet we’re so inconsistent with our lives. James found it in the early church, and it is true in churches down through history. Here’s what James says to those early Christians: “Therewith”— that is with the tongue—“bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?” —that literally means fresh water and salt water—“Can the fig tree, my brethren”—he’s talking to brethren—“bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh” (James 3:9–12).
And, here James speaks of those who are so inconsistent in the use of their tongues. And, he’s saying this inconsistency is impossible in the natural world, impossible in the physical world. When a spring doesn’t have salt water, and fresh water at the same time. That’s impossible in the physical world. A tree, if it’s an olive tree is not going to bear figs. That’s impossible in the physical world. It’s not going to happen. If the water is bitter, the well is bitter. The fruit and the tree are going to correspond, they’re going to be the same.
But, what James is saying is that what is impossible in the physical world ought not to be in the spiritual world. It’s improper in the spiritual world. It’s improper for you to come here on Sunday morning and praise God, and then leave here and criticize your brothers and sisters in Christ. That ought not to be. That’s what James is saying. It’s amazing what happens ten minutes after the benediction in some churches. We go from the Gloria to gossip. We go from the creed to the criticism. We go from blessing God to criticizing men. James says you can’t do that. Those things ought not to be.
A little girl had crawled up into her father’s lap, and she put her arms around her father’s neck, and she was hugging her father. But, then she looked over and saw her little brother sitting across the room, and remembered the grudge that she had with her little brother, and so at the same time while she was hugging her father she stuck out her tongue at her little brother behind her father’s back. And, she’s hugging her father at the same time. The mother saw it, and it infuriated the mother. And, she walked into the room and she said, “You take your arms from around your daddy’s neck, you cannot love your daddy’s neck and stick out your tongue at your daddy’s son at the same time.”
Now, that’s what James is saying. That’s exactly what James is saying: That you can’t bless God and curse men at the same time. And, to curse men doesn’t mean to cuss men. You can curse a man with criticism, you can curse a man with gossip. You can curse a man, you can place a curse upon his life with slander, and James is saying, “If you love God, then let it be shown in your speech toward other persons.”
I tell you the sweetest thing on the face of this earth is a church where the glory of God is upon it. The love of God is being expressed, and tongues are not wagging. You say, “Brother Rogers, who’s doing it around here?” No one that I know of, that’s the reason I’m just preaching preventative medicine, preventative medicine. You say, “You sound like you’ve got a problem.” I’m just preaching the Bible folks.
Conclusion
A lady called me up one time and said, “Preacher, were you preaching to me?” I said, “Dear lady, I was shooting down in a hole, if you were down in it, I can’t help it. I just don’t know.” Frankly, I don’t know, but I do know this: I know that there are people who are double-tongued. They are inconsistent in their Christian life. Some of them are great church workers.
But, James says, “These things ought not to be.” We, as Christians ought to be consistent, consistent. Hasn’t James given us a lesson about the influence of the tongue, and about the iniquity of the tongue, and the inconsistency of the tongue.
Well, what should we do about it? The Bible says if a man can bridle his tongue, the same is a mature man. But, then the Bible says the tongue can no man tame. Is that a contradiction in speech? Does James say on the one hand that the tongue can be bridled so we can be perfect or mature? And, then on the other hand James says the tongue can’t be tamed. No, what James is saying the tongue can no man tame.
You can’t tame your tongue. You cannot control your speech any more than I can control mine. You might as well try to control gunpowder in Hell as try to control your tongue, apart from the aid of the Holy Spirit of God. You see, the Bible says that it is
“out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Luke 6:45). That’s what James is talking about. What’s in the root of the tree is going to show in the fruit of the tree. What’s in the well will show in the water.
And, James is saying that if we would really control our tongues, we must control our hearts, because, you see, while it is the bit that controls the horse, there’s someone
who holds the reins. And, while it is the water that controls the ship, there’s someone who has his hand on the tiller. Is it self or is it the Holy Spirit?
The only way that you can have peace in your home is control your tongue, and the only way you can control your tongue is for you to be born again, for you to be saved. And, not only saved, but filled with the Holy Spirit. No man can tame the wicked tongue, no man his soul can save—only God—only God can cleanse the heart, and make the tongue behave. That’s true. You can’t make your tongue behave any more than you could save yourself. But, when you give your heart to Jesus, that ol’ tongue of yours, that no man can tame, can be tamed by the blessed, wonderful, Spirit of God. For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. Let’s bow together in prayer.
