James 3.3-12.
In talking about the sort of mature Christian who’s got the self-control necessary to teach others, James went off on a tangent about how out-of-control the tongue can get. Which, if you think about it, is a little ironic. Wasn’t he talking about teachers?
Well, anyway. This just after he briefly wrote how mature Christians oughta be able to control ourselves. Under the Holy Spirit’s power, of course, ’cause it’s profoundly difficult to get such hold of ourselves without him, since self-control is one of the Spirit’s fruit.
It’s just we don’t do it. Cause we demand the “freedom in Christ” to do as we please, say what we wish, and unwittingly hurt one another and hinder God’s kingdom.
James 3.1-6 KWL - 1 My fellow Christians, don’t become “great teachers,”
- since you’ve known we’ll receive great criticism, 2 for everybody stumbles.
- If anybody doesn’t stumble in the message, this is a mature man, able to bridle the whole body.
- 3 If we put bridles in horses’ mouths so they heed us, we steer their whole body.
- 4 Look also at ships: They’re large, and driven by strong winds,
- steered wherever the urge of the pilot wants—by the smallest rudder.
- 5 Likewise the tongue: It’s a little body part, but claims huge things.
- Look how it lights a big fire on a big forest! 6 The tongue is fire.
- The tongue places an unrighteous world in our body parts, staining the whole body,
- setting the cycle of creation on fire, set on fire by ge-Henna.
Y’know, James was there when the tongues of fire fell upon the apostles at Pentecost in the year 33. He was among the brothers of Jesus who were praying for the Spirit to come.
The popular saying may be “Talk is cheap,” but nobody really believes that. Talk is seldom cheap, and more destructive than ever we realize. That’s James’s point.