Bridling
Our Tongue
(James
1:19, 26)
By
Shelby
G. Floyd
August,
2008
"Speech
is silver, silence is golden."
"Men have two ears but one tongue, that they should hear more than
they speak." "The ears are
always open ever ready to receive instruction, but the tongue is surrounded by
a double row of teeth to hedge it in and to keep it in proper
bounds." "Talk little and work
much." Those are just a few pithy
proverbs and short sentences of wisdom.
BE SLOW TO SPEAK
God's word
has a lot to say about the proper use of our tongue and speech. This lesson is from the book of James where
he writes about guarding our speech:
James 1:19
My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should
be quick to listen, slow to speak...
NIV
Let Your Words Be Few
In a
nutshell, we are to be quick to listen and slow to speak! The teaching of James harmonizes with the
words of Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes:
Eccl 5:2
Do not be quick with your mouth,
do not be hasty in your heart
to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven
and you are on earth,
so let your words be few.
NIV
Keep A
Tight Rein On Your Tongue
James
continues his instruction about the control of the tongue when he writes to the
Christian people of his day:
James 1:26
If anyone considers himself
religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself
and his religion is worthless.
NIV
We all claim to be religious people, do we not? James says that if we claim to be religious
and do not keep a tight rein on our tongue, our religion is
worthless—vain—empty! Jesus taught that
if we teach for doctrines the commandments of men our worship is vain. (Mt.
15:9). And James teaches that if we do not keep a tight rein on our tongue our
religion is vain or worthless. No one
should want a worthless religion.
King Solomon
wrote to the people in ancient times that one must guard his lips:
Prov 13:3
He who guards his lips guards his life,
but he who speaks rashly will come to
ruin.
NIV
Someone has
summed up all that we have said so far in the following verse:
A careless word may kindle strife;
A cruel word may wreck a life.
A bitter word may hate instill;
A brutal word may smite and kill.
A gracious word may smooth the way;
A joyous word may light the day.
A timely word may lessen stress;
A lovely word may heal and bless.
Before we
examine the different kinds of speech that may characterize us, let us relate
the story of the two jesters:
The Two Jesters
Once upon a time there was a powerful King who
summoned the court jesters to come before him.
When they appeared he said to foolish Simon, "Go and bring me back
the best thing in the world." Then
he addressed silly John and said, "Go and find me the worst thing in the
world." Those two clowns were back
in short order, each carrying a package.
Then foolish Simon bowed before the King and said, "Sire, I have
found the best thing in the world."
When they opened his package there was a human tongue. Silly John laughed and said, "Sire, I
have brought you the worst thing in the world." When his package was opened, there was also
found a human tongue.
The moral of
this story is that the tongue can be both the best and worst thing in the world. With the tongue we can praise God and bless
man. But with the same tongue we can
curse God and revile man. So we use the
tongue to bless and curse. And that
makes the tongue either the best thing or the worst thing in the world.
And
sometimes even in the church we may have our "church clowns" that are
using their tongues for the worst thing in the world—destruction. While the good people are using their tongues
for the best thing in the world—to praise God, proclaim his word and bless his
people.
HARMFUL SPEECH
Now let us
notice the various types of speech that we may use. Let us study the negative types of speech
that are very destructive. There are several species of negative speech. The first is gossip.
Gossip
Recently, I
read an article where the author said that there is some value in certain types
of gossip. He pointed out that one
reason people like to gossip is because in the social, financial and
intellectual pecking order, we want to know where we are in relation to our
peers. If the gossip is negative
concerning someone superior to us, we enjoy it because we feel it may bring
them down to our level. But if the
gossip is positive about one of our peers inferior to us we also want to know
because they may be surpassing us. That
may be the psychological reason why people want to be in on “the
know” of the latest gossip.
However, we
are more interested in what the Bible has to say about gossip. The apostle Peter wrote in one of his
letters:
1 Peter 4:14-16
If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you
are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it
should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as
a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise
God that you bear that name.
NIV
A meddler or busybody is the same thing as one who
gossips. Peter exhorts us not to suffer
as a meddler in other people's business.
We are to mind our own business and do God's work.
What is Gossip?
Gossip is
information that may or may not be true, but that is nobodies business but the
person the rumor is about. Gossip may
come in many different forms. It may be
an out and out rumor. In may be an
inquiry about a person from people who we may think have the inside scoop. Someone has defined gossip as "letting
the cat out of the bag one claw at a time."
Solomon
taught that gossip stirs up division and dissension:
Proverbs 16:28
A perverse man stirs up dissension,
and a gossip separates close friends.
NIV
The reason that gossip and meddling is so bad is
because people use it to separate good friends.
The friends often do not realize that the gossip is not true until after
the friendship has been destroyed and broken.
Gossip is harmful speech when the design of that speech is to destroy
friendships and the reputations of good people.
Lying
A second
type of negative speech that should be avoided is lying. God is the God of truth and his people must
learn to speak the truth in love. God is
also the God of love. But the God of
love also hates some things. Hate stands
in equipoise to love. The Bible
specifically states that God hates seven things:
Prov 6:16-19
There are six things the LORD hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
a false witness who pours out lies
and a man who stirs up dissension
among brothers.
NIV
As this text relates to our lesson, notice these three
things God hates: “a lying tongue,” “a false witness who pours out lies,” and
“a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.”
Put Off—Put On
On many of these subjects the New Testament
teaching is in tandem with the Old Testament teaching. For instance, to the church at Ephesus Paul
said,
Ephesians 4:25
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak
truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
NIV
One of the things each member must put off when we
enter the body of Christ—the church is every form of falsehood and then we are
to put on the new garment of speaking the truth.
In the book
of Colossians the same author said,
Colossians 3: 9-10
Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off
your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being
renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
NIV
When we find someone claiming to be a Christian, going
around telling lies, then we know that person has not put off the old man and
therefore has not put on the new man—that person is still wearing the cloth of
the sinful man!
Lying
identifies us with the god of this world more closely than anything else we
could possibly do. Satan is the god of
this world and he is a liar and has been from the very beginning. Jesus was criticized by the religious people
of his day—the Pharisees. Their
character was about as low as a snake.
And there are sometimes Christian people that are just like the
Pharisees, and they should be marked as modern-day Pharisees when they act as
the Pharisees did. Concerning lying
Jesus once said to these people:
John 8:42-47
Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you
would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own;
but he sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because
you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil,
and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the
beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he
lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me
guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? He who
belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do
not belong to God."
NIV
That is strong language and you will not hear any
rebuke stronger than this statement Jesus made to these religious people—his
own people. No wonder they wanted to
kill him—which they later did. He
basically said, “Satan is a liar, he is the father of lies, and he is your father.” Everyone who falsely flatters with their
lips, who conjures with honey dripping from their tongues, is a liar and Satan
is their father—the father of all liars.
Cursing and Filthy Talking
The third form of negative and destructive
speech is cursing and using filthy language:
Ephesians 4:29
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your
mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their
needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
NIV
It is the norm in our day for most of the media to be
filled with cursing, filthy, and vile talk.
We must avoid using this language and even the softened forms, such as
golly, gee whiz, gosh, gee etc. Many of
these by-words are only corruptions of the name of God and Christ. All of us have some room for improvement in
this area. Let us rid ourselves of all
irreverent, gossip, lying, cursing and filthy talk.
BENEFICIAL, HELPFUL,
Now let us notice in contrast the kinds of
speech that are positive and helpful in living the Christian life:
Ephesians 4:29
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your
mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their
needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
NIV
The kind of speech we want and need is that which is
helpful to build up other people according to their needs. When we do that then people will benefit when
they hear our words and speech.
Gentle, Considerate Speech
The first kind of beneficial speech is
gentle and considerate speech. This
would be just the opposite of harsh speech.
To Titus, the apostle Paul gave this charge:
Titus 3:1-3
Remind the people to be subject to rulers and
authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no
one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.
NIV
Peaceable and considerate speech is a mark of being a
civil person. Our society today
definitely needs more civility. Gentle
speech sweetens our conversation in contrast to harsh words that would sour our
speech.
We should
learn not to overreact when other people are blowing up. If we do this it will only increase the wrath
and anger:
Proverbs 15:1
A gentle answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
NIV
Solomon, the Sage of Israel gives good advice. What does a gentle answer do? It turns away wrath. What does a harsh word do? It stirs up anger. When I was a young boy, the advice was to
count to ten when you are about to become very angry. There was a lot of wisdom in that
saying. Gentle, considerate and
beneficial speech is the kind of speech we need so we can help to build up
other people.
Speech That Instructs
Next, we need to speak in such a way that
our words instruct others in the Christian life. This kind of talk is not overly critical of
others, but seeks to lend a helping hand to those in need. Solomon said it like this:
Proverbs 25:11-12
A word aptly spoken
is like apples of gold in settings of
silver.
Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold
is a wise man's rebuke to a listening
ear.
NIV
Therefore, instructing speech can be a word that is
aptly spoken—saying the right thing at the right time. But it also could be a gentle rebuke to one
who is ready to listen.
Speech That Builds Up
The third type of positive speech is
edifying speech. An edifice is a
building—so edifying speech is that which builds people up. Paul wrote to the church at
Romans 14:19
Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to
peace and to mutual edification.
NIV
In the congregation
we want to do everything we can to promote peace and mutual edification in the
spiritual body of Christ. Therefore our
speech should have as its object the building up of each other in our mutual
faith:
Ephesians 4:29
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your
mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their
needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
NIV
Graceful and Sound Speech
The fourth kind of helpful speech is that
which is graceful and sound. There is
the saying, “sound body, and sound mind.”
In the New Testament the word sound means, “complete, whole,
healthy.” Sound speech is therefore the
speech that is whole and healthy in the moral and spiritual realm. Our speech should promote spiritual health in
the body of Christ, moral health in our social relationships, and domestic
health in our family relationships. In
this way we will know how to speak to everyone:
Colossians 4:6
Let your conversation be always full of grace,
seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
NIV
We must
learn to talk to people in such a way that our words will be like food that we
put salt, pepper and spices on, so it will be tasty and have a good
flavor. Some speech is not seasoned with
grace and therefore is repulsive. Our
speech is to be full of grace and seasoned so people will want to listen to us
and have what we have. To Titus, the
apostle Paul says:
Titus 2:6-8
Similarly, encourage the young men to be
self-controlled. In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In
your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot
be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have
nothing bad to say about us.
NIV
When this type of speech fills our hearts and lips
even our enemies will be ashamed to say anything bad about us.
SPEECH IN WORSHIP
Finally, the highest form of speech is that
used in worship to our great God and the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the speech used in praising God,
petitioning him in prayer, and proclaiming the glad tidings of salvation found
in Jesus Christ.
Praise
David is the best example of using our
words to praise God. In our worship we
read many of David’s Psalms of praise and sing many of David’s Psalms of joy
and gladness of heart. This is good and
uplifting to the soul and refreshing to the spirit of man. As an example notice the words of this Psalm:
Psalms 63:3-5
Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my
hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of
foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise
you.
NIV
Prayer
Our speech offered up in prayer should also
be the kind of speech that is sincere, simple, brief, and comprehensive and
exalting as Jesus taught the disciples in the model prayer.
Matthew 6:9-13
This, then, is how you should pray:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.'
NIV
Proclamation of the Gospel
Also, there is no greater privilege than to
speak the gospel of Jesus Christ as we are commanded in the great
commission. This charge includes what we
are to do and what those who hear us are to do in order to have salvation.
Luke 24:46-47
He told them, "This is what is written: The
Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and
forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at
NIV
Matt 28:18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority
in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And
surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
NIV
Mark 16:15-16
He said to them, "Go into all
the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and
is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
NIV
EXHORTATION
Let us never forget the words of James:
James 1:19
My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should
be quick to listen, slow to speak…
NIV
James 1:26
If anyone considers himself
religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself
and his religion is worthless.
NIV
Let us
bridal our tongue, get rid of all destructive speech, take on all beneficial
speech that will build people up, and let us assemble every Lord’s day to offer
up the speech of praise, prayer and proclamation of the gospel of Jesus
Christ. A-Men!
A wise old owl lived in an oak.
The more he knew, the less he spoke;
The less he spoke the more he knew;
Does that same thing apply to you? *
*Shelby G. Floyd delivered this sermon