James 3 (Taming the Tongue)

 ¹ Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. ² 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.

 ³ When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. ⁴ Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. ⁵ 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. ⁶ 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 is itself set on fire by hell.

 ⁷ All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, ⁸ but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

 ⁹ With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. ¹¹ Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? ¹² My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Few of us stop to consider the power of our words before we speak them. From the very first moment of creation words usher forth reality, as the entire cosmos comes into being from the spoken Word of God.  "Let there be", and it was. The power of words to frame and shape human destiny is a fact of human history. Entire nations and entire systems of life and theology have been ushered forth from the mouth of prominent voices in our past. The Reformation was born with words. The Revolution which brought our independence as a nation was built upon words. Football games are won or lost, Elections are determined, and marriage partners are forged through the inherent powers contained within the spoken word. And entire childhoods and the direction of our lives are often largely determined by the words that surround our youth. With our tongue we have the power to heal and inspire, and we have power to manipulate and destroy. In light of this truth, I have always found myself so confused as to why we use our words to usher forth so much pain in people's lives in the name of the Jesus we claim to serve.

When I read His words I discover a gentle life giving agent of God's love who used language and story to inspire people past the barriers that others imposed upon them. I find Jesus using words to create disciples of prostitutes, to usher forth leadership from fishermen, to forge communities of faith out of life long enemies, and to overcome the condemnation humans impose on us through words of kindness, compassion and forgiveness, which are often missing in so much of Christendom today. How have we managed to migrate so far from the core of the Words of our Lord? How have we come to the place where we more often define people through the exercise of gossip and condemnation, rather than the verbal disciplines of prayer and reconciliation? Was my mother so far from the teachings of Jesus when she taught me - "if you don’t have anything good to say about a person, don't say anything at all."

There are few places in life which communicate the power contained in our words than what we might find in the destructive influences of gossip. There is story I heard several years ago that serves to remind us of the incredible responsibility we bare within the content of the things we say, and the destructive power the tongue contains. It is called:  "Feathers in the Wind" -  

"A man went to a trusted Teacher with a question. "Teacher", he said, " I understand almost all of the Law. I understand the commandment not to kill. I understand the commandment not to steal. What I don't understand is why there is a commandment against slandering a neighbor, especially if they have committed acts they ought to be slandered for."

The Teacher looked at the man and said, “I will give you an answer, but first I have a task for you. I would like you to gather a sack of feathers and place a single feather on the doorstep of each house in the village. When you have finished, return for your answer.

The man did as he was told and soon returned to the Teacher to announce that the task was complete. ‘Now, Teacher, give me the answer to my question. Why is it wrong to slander my neighbor?”

“Ah”, the Teacher said. “One more thing. I want you to go back and collect all the feathers before I give you the answer.”

“But Teacher”, the man protested, “the feathers will be impossible to collect. The wind will have blown them away and beyond my finding them.”

“So it is with the words and the slander we tell about our neighbors”, The Teacher said. “They can never be retrieved. They are like feathers in the wind.””