I suppose we’ve all had to learn the hard way that we carry a potent force with us everywhere we go. Some of the time it lies there inert, seemingly harmless. As harmless as a venomous snake in the grass, says James (3:8)! Philip Burrows Strong captures the wisdom of the ancients regarding the tongue in poetic form:
“The boneless tongue, so small and weak,
Can crush and kill,” declared the Greek.
“The tongue destroys a greater horde,”
The Turk asserts, “than does the sword.”
While Arab sage doth this impart:
“The tongue’s great storehouse is the heart.”
The sacred writer crowns the whole,
“Who keeps his tongue doth keep his soul.”
Intelligent speech is one of the faculties that marks us out, with the angels, as special creatures of God. True, higher animals communicate with each other in a limited way, but we have can express thoughts through spoken words. In this way it is possible to use our members (and this one in particular) as instruments of righteousness or unrighteousness (Rom. 6:13).
How sweet is the water that can flow from a consecrated tongue! How soul-saving is the gospel river to a dying son of the dust. How refreshing is encouragement to a parched life. Think of Hannah’s prayer of gratitude (1 Sam. 2), and David’s songs of delight in God, and Paul’s classic intercessions for the saints. But how bitter the springs of hatred and malice and petty jealousy. I can almost catch the hard, metallic aftertaste in the back of my throat as I write these words.
James, in speaking of the tongue, portrays it as a bit in the horse’s mouth so it might be used to bring the whole body to obedience (3:3). It is like a ship’s helm, that responds to the control of the captain and, though small, can bring great changes, in spite of contrary forces (v. 4). Or it can be like a little spark which causes a forest fire that rages out of control (vv. 4-5), or a poisonous snake inflicting its deadly venom on the unsuspecting (vv. 7-8). It can bear fruit, but only the kind of fruit that grows from that particular kind of root. The kind of words we sow are the kind of words we reap (Lk. 6:38; Mt. 5:7).
Then James throws us a curve. He writes: “Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men…Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing” (vv. 9-10). But he continues: “Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?” (v. 11). The answer is obviously, No. Sweet and bitter water can’t come out of the same spring. But can’t blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth?
That’s just the point! When you mix sweet and briny water, what do you get? Some of both? All sweet? No. The bitter water spoils the sweet. So with our tongues. The attempted blessings are ruined by the bitterness. May the influence that flows from our lives be sweetened by the river that unceasingly flows from the throne of God.
We had decided to gather an Uplook on worship–the highest use of the tongue–some time ago. It happened to coincide with receiving the responses to our renewal notices. Almost all of the mail was very encouraging, and we are deeply grateful for your constructive suggestions, kind words, practical fellowship, and prayers.
There were some others of a different flavor, of course. We expect that. We know it goes with the territory. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address was dubbed by the Chicago Times, “silly, flat and dishwater utterances.” Beethoven had his playing described as “noisy, unnatural, over-pedaled, and confused.” A bit like one or two letters I received, except mine were not so gentle.
Yet we should learn from such rebuke. We are not always sure it is a friend who is wounding us (Prov. 27:6), but anything that humbles us is good for us. It gets us moving in the right direction (1 Pet. 5:6). British statesman Edmund Burke said, “He who opposes me and does not destroy me strengthens me.” We do find the chastening a little easier to take, however, when we know that the person correcting us cares for our spiritual well-being.
For some reason, I’m reminded of General George Patton’s remark, “All my life I’ve been shot at. Often by the enemy.”
Watch how you use your weapon.