Word & Deed: Taming the Tongue

Scripture: James 3:1-12, Matthew 12:34-37, Isaiah 6

Intro:

• We're shifting focus from deeds to words, exploring how we represent Jesus through speech.
• Today's sermon is about the power of our words.

The Weight of Words:

• We spend a significant portion of our lives speaking.
• Words have power: to destroy, direct, and reveal.
• James 3:1-12 uses analogies (bit, rudder, fire) to emphasize the tongue's influence.
• Our tongue has a disproportionate amount of power.

The Tongue Directs:

• Verses 3-5 illustrate the tongue's power to guide.
• The tongue doesn't just describe; it directs our course.
• Like a bit or rudder, the tongue needs control.
• We must overcome contrary forces (sin, circumstances) to control our speech.
• James connects sins of the mouth to sins of the whole body.
• Controlling our tongue is crucial for self-control.
• Self-control involves choosing life-giving actions, even if initially difficult.

The Tongue Destroys:

• Verses 6-8 highlight the tongue's destructive power.
• A small spark can ignite a great fire; the tongue is a fire.
• Words can cause deep regret and do lasting damage.
• Human nature alone cannot tame the tongue.
• But we have a new nature through the Holy Spirit.
• The Holy Spirit empowers us to speak words of life, not destruction.

The Tongue Reveals:

• Verses 9-12 show how the tongue reveals the heart.
• Our words reveal the source from which they come.
• Matthew 12:34-37 warns that we will be judged by our words.
• Our words expose the condition of our hearts.
• We must be mindful of careless words.

Isaiah's Example:

• Isaiah, a prophet, recognized his unclean lips (Isaiah 6).
• God cleansed Isaiah, and he proclaimed God's word again.
• Conviction about our speech is appropriate.
• The solution isn't silence but using our mouths for God's purposes.

Call to Action:

• Confess sins of commission and omission.
• Receive cleansing through Jesus' sacrifice.
• Intentionally speak life and blessings.
• Ask yourself: 
  • What will I say over others?
  • What life am I proclaiming over situations?
  • What am I speaking over myself?

Conclusion:

• Our words have power because they flow from the heart.
• We are called to use our tongues to glorify God and bless others.

Transcript

If you got a Bible, open it to James 3.

We're in a series where we're talking about representing Jesus through word and deed.

And of course, we've centered on our deeds for quite some time, but we're gonna start to transition to our words, and how we bear witness through our words, how we proclaim the gospel. I know that there's a way that we work, a way that we go about our lives, that says to the watching world what God is like, but we also use our mouths to tell of what God has done. And so this week I wanna talk about our words, the power of our words.

So according to one researcher I read, one fifth of your waking life will be spent speaking.

And I know some of you are like, there's no way.

You get five, I see some people shaking their heads, like five words come out of me each day. There's no way a fifth of my life is spent speaking. And I know some of you are like, girl please, like it's not a fifth.

It's way more than that.

Some of you are like, that's a very conservative number, you've sat before me. So gals, you're running about 20,000 words a day.

Guys, you say 13,000 words less than that.

Guys, you're coming in at 7,000 words a day.

What does this all mean? Well here's what it means. Every day ladies, you write a 52 page book.

In your lifetime, you'll write a hundred, or in your year, you'll write 132 200 page books.

That's what this means for you.

And I guess I just wanna ask us all, whether you're like, no way man, I don't talk.

Or you're here and you're like, all I do is talk.

The real question I have for you is, what's your book gonna be on? The book that you write today.

If we were to actually read, if I were to hop up here and start reading your book and not God's book, what would I be reading?

And I guess how embarrassing would it be?

We can't talk about the tongue or talk about your mouth without going to James three.

Let me read it to you. Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers,

because your mistakes get put on the screen.

And you'll be judged more strictly.

We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.

When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large, they're driven by strong winds,

they're steered by a very small rudder where the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.

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 body, sets the whole course of one's life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.

Can both freshwater and saltwater flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives? Or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

This is perfect.

I mean, if you can't preach this text, you just can't preach.

It's just perfect.

And if you know me, you know my love language is analogies and metaphors.

And I run off steady diet of those.

Forrest and I for a time have been talking about a book called The Other Five Love Languages. (Audience Laughing)

Most of these being male.

Some people there's this quality time, some acts of service. Mine is analogies.

If you use a metaphor and use it well, I feel really connected, bonded to you.

I know for Forrest it's movie quotes.

The more obscure the better, but if you drop a movie quote and someone gets it in the room, it's like there's connection that's had there.

I also think a love language is silence.

I love the people that I can just sit in the car with and no one needs to talk. I love those people. Anyways, that's three, we're three for five. Has anybody got the other two?

Think about it. By the end, I'll be looking for another two for the book we're gonna write.

So this is full of metaphors, full of analogies.

And all of them work to say one thing.

Your tongue has a disproportionate amount of power.

With it, you can do a world of good. And with it, you can do a world of harm. They're all saying that.

Bits,

rudders, fires,

animals, all of it. All of it's working to say your tongue's incredibly important and what you say is incredibly weighty. Your words have the power to destroy.

Your words have the power to direct.

Your words have the power to reveal.

And these are the three things we're gonna be touching on and stick with me because we should go through a bit of a process where we're gonna feel and you should feel conviction.

Not condemnation,

but conviction.

And when you feel that conviction, we get to confess our sin. And when we confess our sin, we get to be cleansed by God. And then when we're cleansed, we get to, with our very mouths, declare what God has done. And so don't stop anywhere along this line, okay? If you're starting to feel convicted already, come with me into confession. Come with me into being cleansed and come with me into using your mouth to do what God designed it to do. The tongue directs.

Verses three through five. When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and driven by strong winds, they're steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. When we talk about the bit, when we talk about the rudder, we're talking about the tongue's power to direct.

And if you don't know this, know this, and hear this now,

your tongue does not just have the power to describe

or to define.

It has the power to direct.

It has the power to actually guide. Someone's whole life can be set on fire by the things that they're speaking out.

Real recently, this was probably in October, I found myself saying from my own mouth, this is what kept slipping out. I have nothing to look forward to.

One of the signs of burnout is that you usually don't find joy in the things that you usually find joy in. I was looking at my calendar and just going, I have nothing to look forward to. It's just one hard meeting after another. And I just kept saying this. And my wife would testify. It kept falling out of my mouth. I have nothing to look forward to.

When I did a deeper dive, I discovered a number of other things I was telling myself.

Things like you're alone.

Things like there's no one you can turn to.

Things like you'll always be in this place.

When I took a step back and looked at those, I was like, no wonder I'm feeling despair.

My words were not just defining or describing my reality. They were directing my course. And I was living into these sort of vows I kept quietly making. Once those were discovered, I had a chance to confess.

I had a chance to be cleansed and say that's not the truth. And I got the chance to declare the truth with my words and my thoughts. And guess what?

They also set a course for me. When we continually declare what's true with our mouths, that also opens things up and sets a course for us.

Your tongue is small, but it's significant and it sets a course.

The horse.

How long, I know that, I get worried. I get more guff when I say stuff.

People are crazy about horses.

I feel like I could step up, I could speak heresy this morning about the word of God. I'll get no emails. I say something wrong about a horse and it's like, well actually, that's not how the horse, you know, and you're like, all right, take it easy. So I'm just warning all you horse people, I'm about to say things about horses that may or may not be true.

But it's my lived experience, okay?

So no one can tell me what's true. So I feel like horses are one of those animals that I love from afar. Like I love seeing them like frolic in a field and then the closer I get, the more intimidated I get.

And then some horse owner, when you're real close to him, hands you an apple and they're like, feed it. And you're like, dude, I'm not, the teeth on that horse are as long as my face.

And I'm not putting my hand out with an apple in it.

That's a half ton of raw power.

I mean, just looking at their hindquarters, you're like, everything in you is like, no wonder we don't eat this animal. There's like no fat on it. And there's a reason, right, that we describe it as horsepower.

There's a reason, people ride camels, they ride elephants, but you're not like, wow, that car has got camel power.

No, you're like, that's got horsepower

because it's a powerful animal.

In Genesis, it says that we have dominion over the beasts of the field. And you kind of feel that way when you're looking down at an animal. I feel like I have dominion over everything I'm looking down on, but when I'm looking something in the eyes,

I'm like, I'm not sure I have dominion over this beast.

And that's exactly what like a four foot, 700 pound jockey has when they have a bit and that horse has been broken.

I've seen women, small women make a horse like dance

because they have a strong hand and they have the bit in hand.

Both the bit and the rudder are passive.

They're not active, they're not doing the work. A bit needs a strong hand, someone who knows what they're doing,

right? The rudder needs a captain, somebody who can put the thing in and under control.

And so when someone has power, they can control the tongue.

This is a controlled way of living.

Understand this for both the captain steering the ship and for the person riding the horse, they have to overcome contrary forces,

right?

The woman with the bit is up against the wild nature of the horse, teaching it to obey. She's up against a contrary force that's much more powerful than she is. For the ship, the ship's up against the current, the winds, the storms, and we are up against circumstances and there's contrary forces

that the rider and the captain are up against. And when it comes to controlling your tongue, you're gonna have to overcome contrary forces, right?

You have a nature in you that could be described as wild.

You've got a nature inside of you that could be described as violent, maybe the way that a storm would be described.

So not only is there sin inside of us that needs to be controlled, but there's contrary forces outside of us that are gonna call us to control our tongues.

And these circumstances around us and the sin inside of us is inviting us to lose control of our tongue. And James is reminding us of the importance of controlled speech.

James is saying here, can you hold your course against the violent beast inside of you?

Can you hold your course when the storms rage outside of you? Can you control your course? Do you have a strong hand? Because controlling your tongue has everything to do with holding your course.

James, if you'll notice in this text, he connects the sins of the mouth to the sins of the whole body.

As if to say, he knows that words lead to deeds.

That's what seems to happen.

And he understands that if you control your mouth, you could control the rest of your body. And if you can keep those words in check, you can most likely keep everything in check.

This is an interesting thing about self-control.

I've noticed with self-control that you kind of have like two options.

You can do what feels life-giving at first,

and in the end leads to death.

Or you can die a little death upfront and it leads to life.

That's what we call working out.

Do you know what I mean?

I'm not gonna lie.

Saying exactly what you wanna say feels good upfront.

Gossip feels great.

Not overt, the stuff we do.

Not the straight up stuff, but the like, hey, I was just wondering how they were doing. Hoping to hear something that your itching ears wanna hear.

That feels life-giving upfront. And in the end, it leads to death.

Or we exercise self-control and we die a thousand little deaths and say, I'm not gonna talk about someone, I'm gonna talk to them.

And those decisions, those small decisions upfront, they lead to life.

Jesus says, if you save your life,

if you use your tongue to go around saving your life, you're gonna lose it. But if you lose your life, for my sake, you're gonna find it. And that's how self-control works for us. We die those deaths upfront because we know that it brings life and leads to life. The tongue destroys. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue is also, the tongue also is a fire. A world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one's life on fire, and it itself is set on fire by hell.

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind.

It's like you have a better chance of swimming with shampoo.

You have a better chance of talking to dolphins than you do your spouse. Like you can put your head in the mouth of an alligator before you can deal with your tongue. No human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil full of deadly poison. That word restless means liable to break out at any point.

Dang, we know that all too well.

Consider this idea that the tongue destroys up against the nonsense that we tell ourselves.

Sticks and stones may break my bones.

Words will never hurt me. Except for that one sentence your dad said to you when you were seven that

Right? This is all just us trying to pretend.

I'm rubber, you're glue, whatever you say bounces off me, it sticks onto you.

So it doesn't, they don't bounce.

They stick.

And when you try to peel them off, they tear.

That's the reality, that's the weight of our words.

And James wants to remind us your tongue's got power to destroy. How small, how small a spark and how long it takes to recover.

How small a spark, how long it takes to recover.

Have any of you ever, have any of you ever flippantly just flicked something out?

Like you would flick a cigarette out the window of the car driving. You just flick something out, you know, and you keep driving, only to find out

that you just torched your relationship.

You had no idea that such a small spark was gonna cost so much.

Such a little thing can do so much damage.

Most of the people that I meet with, they aren't actually filled with regret over things that they've done. Of course, people meet with me to say, I've done some things and I've regret over those things. But more often than not, people wanna meet because they've said things that they regret.

Something came, you know, out of the toothpaste and you can't put the toothpaste back in, right?

And there's deep regret over it.

We've tamed all kinds of things, but no human being has tamed the tongue. And I know you're probably thinking to yourself, is that it? Is that the point of this message?

I'm basically gonna say your words are weighty, they matter, they destroy, and really there's nothing you can do about it. Good luck.

Mere human nature can't tame the tongue.

There's a fire creeping up from hell and human nature can't stop it. It is wanting to consume and control your speech.

Mere human nature is no match for it. Here's the good news. You don't just have human nature.

You have a new nature that's come through a new birth. We've received a divine nature and now we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit came upon the early church in Acts chapter two, what happened? What did they see?

Tongues of fire.

And so now their speech is not set on fire by hell, their speech is set on fire by heaven.

And that's the work of the Holy Spirit. And they begin to proclaim and declare the praises of God.

They begin to proclaim salvation to the nations. They begin to say God's message and their speech becomes a tool and you've received a divine nature and you've been given a tongue.

And no, I don't think I can just teach you to talk in a different way. And I certainly can't transform your heart, but the Holy Spirit can.

There's good news for you. You have a new nature inside of you.

Lastly, the tongue reveals.

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father and with it we curse human beings who have been made in God's likeness.

Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.

Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters can a fig tree bear? Olives are a grapevine, bear figs. Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Your words will reveal.

According to Jesus, what comes out of your mouth is not a slip of the tongue, it's a show of your heart.

They reveal and they will reveal the source.

When you speak, it will reveal the source of what you say.

Look at this, this is the worst. I'm gonna leave you with this. This is maybe the scariest verse in the whole Bible.

(Congregation Laughing) Jesus,

while handing it to some religious leaders, says make a tree good and its fruit will be good or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good?

For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted and by your words you will be condemned.

Are we really gonna have to give an account for every careless word we speak?

I've just gotten, it's been 20 years and I'm just to the point where I can like listen to myself preach.

And I'm saying good things, hopefully, I don't know.

Think this is all right.

How do you do with hearing your voice?

We used to have these things called answering machines and you'd have to hear your voice and you'd just cringe. I'm really surprised by how many pastors I meet that can't stand the sound of their own voice.

And I know many of us are like that. And look, when we leave a message,

we're on our best behavior.

Are we really gonna have to listen back to our careless words?

Is Jesus really gonna go play the tape?

This is 2012, Justin Turner just struck out,

hit play, you know?

I mean it's hard enough to hear our voices say beautiful, wonderful things. Are we really gonna have to account for the careless things? We're gonna have to listen back to those things and go, dang it, I said that.

Worship team, would you guys come?

Jesus would say, show me your words and I'll show you the condition of your heart.

You can say whatever you want.

But show me those words when under pressure, I'll show you the condition of your heart.

Words have power, not because they have sound and syllables.

Words have power because they have a source

and they flow from your heart.

And I want you as we close right now, I wanna turn your attention to Isaiah because you're probably like, yeah, I get it.

I get it, the two streams shouldn't run together.

You get it right, this is a full youth pastor mode right here.

He basically says, you know, this is pure single origin craft coffee from component.

It's pure, it's undefiled, hand roasted,

hand shucked.

This is the water from Mill Creek from under Canton.

I say under Canton because it matters.

And we know that if we take this and mix it with that, the purity of that doesn't overcome the defilement of this. And that's probably been shared with you in a youth group at some point. We know all this.

What do we do?

What do we do?

Well, I love this picture of Isaiah. Isaiah is a prophet. He's been appointed by God to use his mouth to declare God's message. So he goes about doing that. And in the first six chapters of his book, he's like, woe to you, woe to you, woe to you, woe to you and woe to you. And then in chapter six, God shows up and what does he scream?

Woe to me. And what's the first thing he says?

I'm a man of unclean lips.

That's the first thing. Was Isaiah a sailor?

No,

he was a prophet.

So I don't know. Likely he doesn't have a cussing problem.

But he's saying, oh my goodness, what's being revealed is my heart

and the source of these syllables and sounds. And before God, I repent. But here's what happens.

This is so cool. Stay with me here.

God immediately cleanses him.

But then God says this,

who will go for me?

And he says, I will. And he immediately begins to proclaim the word of the Lord again.

What I'm trying to say to you is you should be convicted this morning around your speech.

If you're not, there's probably something wrong.

We can pray for that too. But it's likely that none of us are like, yeah, I think I'm crushing it. That's not probably where we're at.

But here's the deal.

The answer is not just to stop saying something or to shut your mouth.

The answer is not actually to go into the doghouse and to say, well, that's it. For three days, I'm not gonna talk.

No, that's not it. It's to declare the praises of God and get your mouth moving to do what God designed it to do. It's not just today about bowing out. It's about stepping up and saying, my mouth belongs to you. Cleanse it so that I can use it for the things you've designed it to be used for. Do you understand what I'm saying? Hebrews says it like this. Don't let your hearts be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. And you're like, okay, well, how do I do that? Encourage one another as long as it's today.

So it's not about, oh, I don't wanna say something angry to my kids. So I'm not gonna say something angry. Don't leave thinking that's the point. What I'm trying to say to you is speak life over your children.

It's not enough just to not say something angry.

What I'm inviting you to do is to bless, to notice what is working, to see it, and then to speak that out. If it's positive and you see it and notice it, you have to speak it out. You have to call it forth.

And so I leave you with these three questions.

What are you gonna say over them?

Not what are you not gonna say?

Well, I can't say that again when Justin Turner strikes out. He's a cub now, by the way.

What are you gonna say over that? What kind of life are you gonna proclaim over that situation?

What are you gonna say when you get there? There probably being work or maybe home, which may feel like work right now.

What are you gonna say over that situation? What are you gonna proclaim? And then what are you gonna speak over yourself?

There's no one more influential in your life than you.

No one talks to you more than you.

What are you gonna say?

Would you stand with me?

Under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, I wanna invite you to confess your sin before Him.

And your sin might be sins of commission. I did this, that was dumb. Or omission, you're not using your mouth to bless, speak life over the people around you and into the situations that are in front of you. That may be the issue. Once you've confessed that, let's come to the table and be cleansed. Jesus paid a dear price so that you could get out of the doghouse and you wouldn't have to pay penance for the dumb things you've done. There's no getting out of it except for this meal that we couldn't make. His blood shed, His body broken. Take it and be cleansed. And then answer these three questions.

Not what are you not gonna say to your wife? What are you gonna say over her life?

I'm not gonna do this to my kids. What are you gonna do? What are you gonna say with the instrument God's given you?

Spirit of God, come, search us.

Steer us way far away from condemnation.

We welcome your conviction.

We renounce the enemy's condemning voice. There's life in your words over us, even when you say hard things to us. We bless your name.

There'll be a prayer team up front willing to stand with you if you know God's doing business with you.