The Power of Words

            As we continue in our sermon series on the book of James, our passage today from James 3:1-12 is all about the power of the tongue and the need to control our words and speech. But it begins with what is at first a seemingly unrelated warning. James warns us that “Not many should desire to become teachers. For teachers will be judged more strictly.” And I think this is true both in terms of how teachers will be judged by others and how teachers will be judged by God. When one seeks to become a pastor or spiritual leader, they are immediately put into a fishbowl type situation where others are looking at them far more closely. With the average church member, people don’t have very high expectations of how they should be or act, but with teachers, the expectations are often enormous. The slightest slip up and they will be judged harshly. 

            I think James is trying to warn those who might want to become teachers merely because they want to be up on stage, to have the attention of an audience, or to receive the respect that pastors get (though our level of cultural respect has certainly waned, it's not the 1950s anymore...). He warns them that there will be some difficulties and downsides to the role of teacher as well, and thus unless you are called by God to such a task, seriously consider doing something else, the stricter judgment may not be worth it. Of course, if you are called by God, you should become a teacher no matter how difficult the task ahead is.

            But yes, teachers will be judged more strictly. And in some ways this is unfair. After all, James tells us in verse two that all of us make many mistakes. Pastors are often unfairly expected to be perfect and sinless, but we’re just as human as anyone else. If you have godlike expectations for pastors, we will surely disappoint you. I even have to frequently disabuse myself of this notion of overly high expectations for clergy. When I first was headed to seminary, for example, I was very excited about what a special community seminary would be, a community formed entirely of spiritual leaders. Could you imagine how kind everyone would be? How harmonious an environment it would be? Well, it didn’t take long at all to find that pastors are as human as anyone else. Our seminary community was full of as much gossip and discord as any other. There were cliques. There were plenty of people who struggled with drinking problems, those who struggled with anger management, there was much pride and envy as people sought to show off how smart or spiritual they were and to one up each other. There were grave heresies of all kinds that were believed and taught. There were those who spoke with vulgar language. And all this was just about as prevalent among the professors as among the students.

All this to say, it is helpful to periodically remind yourself that pastors are not Jesus, and thus to treat them with grace and patience when they are not everything you hope they would be. Jesus is Jesus. And the best most of us pastors can do is point others to Jesus. But, as James says, all of us make mistakes.

            So, in some ways the stricter judgment teachers face seems unfair, but in other ways it is perfectly fair. Though we must never expect our leaders to be perfect or sinless, we nevertheless are instructed to pick leaders who, in general, are good role models of the faith. And Jesus said that to whom much is given, much is required. Those who become teachers are those who know the Bible very well, and because they know better, they should act better. They have less excuse. In the Old Testament, God was often particularly harsh in judgment towards corrupt priests and corrupt kings. God had higher expectations for them than the average person that they should lead with justice, holiness, and truth.

            Teachers thus must lead with humble and fearful reverence around how they will be judged strictly in their role. People will judge pastors, sometimes fairly, sometimes unfairly. And God will judge pastors: for how well we teach the whole counsel of God and model godly living. I strive to pastor humbly and fearfully, knowing I have no authority of my own, but am merely a servant of God.  

            So, I said that this section about teachers seems initially unrelated to the rest of the passage that is about our need to be careful in how we speak. But I think they actually are connected cleverly here. For James knows that it is easy to slip up and make mistakes in speaking, mistakes that are damaging. And guess what? Teachers are those who are talking publicly more than anyone else. They are given hosts of chances to slip up and make mistakes. 

            But though James singles out in this passage teachers as those most in danger of making mistakes in speaking, he knows that this is a danger and temptation to all of us. For who among us has not said something that we regret? It is an all too common occurrence for us to regret either the content of what we said or the manner or tone in which we said it. And these are no small slip ups either. Though some try to downplay the effect of words with phrases like “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” We all know deep down that words can be incredibly hurtful and damaging. And the Bible knows this too. James compares the damage of words to the damage that fire can cause, even comparing it to hellfire at one point. Yes, words can harm. Bullying, lying, gossiping, yelling in anger, cursing, these things can singe us like fire to our souls.

And James speaks of how a small blaze can quickly set a whole forest ablaze. It’s not uncommon to hear of forest fires on the news in places like California and Colorado. And apparently, these huge forest fires are often started by poorly tended campfires from one careless person. How quickly a small spark can set a whole forest ablaze. James says that with words it can be the same. I am sure you all can think of some example in your life where the harm of gossip spread like wildfire. A modern idiom that expresses a similar sentiment is the phrase, “Loose lips sink ships.” One careless slip up can do much damage.

            James has some very interesting imagery when describing the tongue. He compares our tongues to the mouths of horses that need bridled with a bit put in their mouths and reins attached. And he compares our tongues to the rudder of a ship. And the metaphor James is trying to get across here is to teach us that if we are able to control our tongue then we are able to control our entire body. It’s like how with the small bridle of a horse we can steer the entire horse, or like how with the small rudder of a ship, we can steer the entire boat; with our tongues, a small member of our body, if we can control the tongue, then we can control our entire body. In other words, our ability to control our tongue is very indicative of our ability to practice self-control in other areas of our lives.

Thus, someone who is unable to keep their tongue in check, James may worry that their lack of self-control is probably going to be evident in other areas of their lives too. Perhaps they are unable to be self-controlled in matters of gluttony and overeating, or in matters of greed and not overspending on frivolous purchases, or in matters of time management. This of course isn’t always the case, but we do know this: self-control is a fruit of the spirit, an often overlooked one, but an important one. And we do know that mastering self-control in one area can pay benefits in many other areas. This is why, for example, many who have done competitive sports or trained hard in music, they speak of how much the discipline and skills they learned from those endeavors were things they were able to apply to other areas of their lives. So, one reason to practice reining in what we say with self-control is that it could teach us habits and skills that are useful in other areas of our lives.

Now, for a moment I’m going to focus on curse words, because our scripture passage from Ephesians spoke of the need to avoid obscene or vulgar talk. It is no surprise to say that curse words have become more and more normalized in our culture such that we are no longer too surprised when we hear them come out of the mouths of our country’s political leaders or even out of the mouths of leaders in the church. Many nowadays think, what’s the big deal? Who really cares if we curse or not?

            I’ll give a few reasons. Curse words have a way of altering the tone or mood of a conversation. Sometimes they make everything angrier and more tense. Sometimes they loosen the mood in ways that invite obscene or vulgar topics to be brought up. And James talks about the absurdity of when both blessing and cursing come from the same mouth. He says that a freshwater spring does not pour forth saltwater also. And a fig tree does not also grow grapes or olives. The argument James is making, I think it’s basically just another form of that saying in our culture that we sometimes say when someone speaks vulgar words, “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?” We will look hypocritical to others if the same mouth from which we pray and proclaim praises to God is also the mouth from which we speak evil and hatred and vulgar words. It should not be so.

            Let us control our tongues, and, in so doing, perhaps gain mastery over controlling many other areas of our lives. But though James urges us to do this, James also knows that this is no easy task. James speaks of how humans have been able to tame all kinds of animals, and yet no human has been able to tame their tongue. This is pretty crazy to think about. James seems to think that it is easier to tame a lion than it is to control one’s own tongue. So no, this text should not make us more judgmental towards others when they slip up and curse, or gossip, or lie, or speak in anger. But it should encourage us that we need to put in the time and the effort to try and tame our tongues in the same way that we would need to put in effort to try and train up a newborn puppy or tame a lion.

            We must put in the effort to learn self-control because if you can remember back to James chapter 1 and my sermon from a few weeks ago where James defines true religion, we had said that true religion was two things: it cares for orphans and widows and it keeps oneself unstained by the world. But there is actually one more aspect of true religion that James mentions there that I didn’t mention in that sermon because I knew it would come up in this sermon, but James says that true religion also bridles the tongue. He in fact says, if you think you’re religious, but you don’t bridle your tongue, your religion is worthless. Those are some strong words. If you care to be religious, you have to be careful how you speak. The irreligious, they often don’t have a filter, they speak whatever comes into their head, they don’t care about offending others. But the religious must bridle their tongues, for we know the damage that can happen if we don’t.

But I want to end on a positive note. Because even though James mostly is just warning us of the danger of what happens when we misuse our tongues, there is another, opposite side to this, and it’s that just as the tongue has great power to do evil, the tongue has great power to do good. Think of how much good can come from speaking words of encouragement, from proclaiming forth the gospel, from sharing words of forgiveness and grace, from speaking to others in love and in kindness. If words used wrongly spread a forest fire, words used rightly are like a fireplace warming up a house in the cold of winter or like the light of a candle illuminating a dark room.

Friends, words have great power, and let us endeavor to use that power to build up and not to tear down, to spread truth and not falsehoods, to encourage and not to dishearten. One kind word can make a person’s day. One word of encouragement could give a person the confidence to do what they have been called to do. One word of support could make a person feel less isolated or lonely. One word of truth could change a person’s perspective. Let us be a people known for using our words for good.

           Words are powerful, and the most powerful word of all is Jesus. For John calls Jesus in John chapter 1 the Word, the word of God made flesh. And Jesus, the Word, he speaks truth, truth that he says will set us free. Words are powerful, and God’s words most of all. Listen to God’s words and let your lives be transformed by his words of forgiveness and hope. And then partner in God’s mission of spreading God’s word to all who would hear, for everyone needs to hear and understand the words of eternal life.