James 3.....bridling the tongue
The threefold epithet in chapter 1 v19 appears to dominate the thinking in the letter and can be summarised as follows:
“Swift to hear”....expanded in chapters 1-2; “Slow to speak”....chapter 3; and “Slow to wrath....chapter 4.”.
“Therefore let every man be slow to speak...” This then is the burden of chapter three, be careful with your tongue.
James addresses what appears to have been a “clamour” for teaching, and the same danger exists today. The superior content of biblical teaching can give a person a false sense of status and pride and he puts this in perspective in two ways:
Verses 1-12 The dangers of an unbridled tongue
Verses 13-18 The definition of true wisdom
The two sections are linked by verses 1 and 13. In verse 1 he counsels against undue haste to become a teacher of Divine things, and in verse 13 he defines what “being endued with knowledge” involves and it requires the application of “wisdom from above”. We could say, in the first portion we have the content of the teaching and in the second the character of the teaching.
Dangers of an unbridled tongue(3 vv1-12)
Verse 1 “My brethren be not many masters (become not many teachers)....”. Don’t aspire to the heady level of becoming a bible teacher without regard to all the responsibility it will bring. This is not to debase this necessary work, because teaching is an important role in the church and is not to be demeaned or minimised. According to Paul, the gift of teaching was to the whole church from the ascended Lord Jesus Christ, for the “edifying of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4 vv9-12) and is to be a prominent position in the local church as in 1st Corinthians 12 v28 “God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that....” The new testament makes it clear, however not everyone should aspire to this for we are not all gifted for it, and there are many other roles to fulfil in the body of the saints.
Those who aspire to this must consider the facts and attention to these words of caution may save us all from much of the pitfalls of undue public speaking that seems to have beset us in a culture that rejects “one man ministry”, and has replaced it with the equally unbalanced practice of “any man ministry”. Neither of these extremes are for the benefit of the church, in light of the appeal “...seek that ye might excel to the edifying of the church” (1st Corinthians 14 v12). In all the service of God excellence is required, and so in the realm of public teaching.
Verse 1 Teaching makes us more accountable to God “knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation”(judgment). Every one of us are accountable for our lives (Romans 14 v12) and (James 2 v12); Elders who take high position of leadership are accountable for the souls (the well being) of the flock (Hebrews 13 v17); Teachers are accountable for their teaching (2nd Timothy 2 v15) and (1st Timothy 5 v21), and 2nd Timothy 4 vv1-2). Teachers will be held to account for the content of their teaching and for the character of it. Jesus taught “To whom much is given, of the same shall much be required”. Moses spent 40 years in the desert before leading the people; John the Baptist spent 30 years in seclusion before his “shewing unto Israel”; Paul separated to the Arabian desert before becoming a “teacher of the Gentiles”. Says James, do not be in a clamour to aspire to teaching, for it will bring greater condemnation (in the sense of loss of reward) to many.
Verse 2 Teaching requires spiritual maturity Teachers are to be “perfect”, that is fully mature and it takes a while to reach that. We stumble in many things, that is we sin, we come short, and especially in word are we suspect. Therefore as teaching requires proper use of the tongue we need to harness it and only mature people have it. The tongue, the flow of words, is a measure of spiritual stature and until we can control ourselves, we have no business teaching others. Control of self is a prerequisite for teaching the things of God. The ability to control(bridle) our words is a rare gift and is symbolic of the ability to control the whole body. The Proverbs observes (13 v3) “He that keeps his mouth, keeps his life, but he that opens with his lips shall have destruction”. That great orator of the first century for God, Apollos is a great model to us all as described in Acts chapter 18 vv24-28. In these verses it is said of him a) he taught intelligently “an eloquent man, mighty in the scriptures...instructed in the way of the Lord”; b) he taught passionately “being fervent in the spirit”; c) he taught accurately “he spake and taught diligently (accurately) the things of the Lord; d) he taught humbly “Aquila and Priscilla...expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly(more accurately). He was humble enough to be corrected!; e) he taught graciously “when he was come helped them much which had believed through grace”.; f) he taught powerfully “he mightily convinced the Jews. There is no reason for teachers to be deficient in any of the above, but such character does not come quickly or easily.
Verses 3-6 We must understand the power of the tongue The tongue can be used for good or evil, and we must be aware of it’s power. He uses three “little things” that describe it, yet how big the effect is. Based on his observation in verse 5 “...the tongue is a little member”, he views it as the bit in the horses mouth, as the helm of a great ship, as a tiny fire which starts a forest fire. Each of these is small compared to the power it has....the tiny bit controlling a half ton horse; the very small helm (wheel) controlling a great ship even in hurricane winds; and a camp fire which can start wild uncontrollable fires. There can be no more graphic description of the role of the human tongue in the human body. What a little seemingly insignificant member, yet what power it wields, and what destruction it can bring! In the context of teaching of which the tongue is a key element, we then can understand the effect it can have for good or bad, and the bad is what James has in mind here, the severe damage it can do. It is “...a fire”, a destructive power capable of doing great damage. It is “...a world of iniquity...” that is it is capable of expressing the whole range of iniquitous language in rebellion against God. It “defiles the whole body” it permeates the whole person. It “sets on fire the course(wheel) of nature” it raises to the surface every aspect of the sinful nature within. It “is set on fire by Gehenna” it is controlled by the arch rebel Satan himself, who is able to use our tongues for evil now. Careful thought of these powerful descriptions must warn us as to the power of our own tongues.
Verses 7-8 We must also know the propensity of the tongue That is what the tongue, uncontrolled is capable of. We know what it has done, but there is no end to it’s evil. “Every kind of beasts and of birds and serpents and of sea monsters is tamed and has been tamed of mankind....”. This is just a fact from observing human history. Again a graphic picture, when we consider that the wildest of beasts has been, in the course of time, brought under subjection to man. If we ponder for a moment this breath-taking statement, that the lion, the king of beasts, the eagle, the highest order of fowl, and the huge sea monsters have all been tamed.......”.but the tongue can no man tame”! Note how he describes it.....”it is an unruly evil...” Only the power and grace of God can tame this evil, nothing else can control it, and it is used daily to wreak havoc in the world. Again “..it is full of deadly poison.” It has the power to hurt other people, slanderous words can destroy lives and amounts to killing a person’s reputation.
Just as in chapter 2, works reveal the reality of faith, now in chapter 3 words reveal the state of the heart.
Verses 9-12 The incongruous hypocrisy of the tongue The tongue is the revealer of the heart “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Luke 6 v45). The tongue has no embarrassment even in the presence of God....the same tongue can openly bless God and curse man. It can address God as “Father”, and simultaneously curse man who is in the image of God. This is quite out of place and is rank hypocrisy and is demeaning to both God and man. This kind of behaviour is perverse and against nature, because it is a mixture of two opposing things....he uses the picture of a fountain producing at the same time sweet and bitter water, and trees like the fig and the vine which can produce each others fruit. It is contrary to nature for a tree will produce only it’s own fruit. Such is the perverse hypocrisy of the tongue, since cursing and blessing should not emit from the same mouth.
Definition of true wisdom(3 vv13-18) Still thinking of the role of teaching, he looks at the true definition of wisdom. “Who is wise and endued with knowledge among you, let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom?”. In teaching the things of God there must be the balance of knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is the intellectual acquirement of facts, wisdom is the acquirement of skill to properly apply that knowledge. These two are rarely separated in scripture. In the teaching of the word of God, we need from the living Word of God the necessary Divinely- given wisdom. The word for wisdom in the old testament is “chockmah”, and in the new testament “sophia”. In both cases the thought is of excellence, of skilled craftsmanship. It is clear in the teaching of God’s word there is to be no mediocrity, only excellence, therefore there is to be no clamour for this, as it will require time and testing to perfect it. In the verses before us there are two sources of wisdom, God or the devil, heaven or hell, and we must distinguish between them.
James speaks of “wisdom from above” (v 15, v17), and “wisdom from beneath” (v15). There is a heavenly wisdom, there is a wisdom from earth; there is a wisdom from God, there is a wisdom from the devil; there is a wisdom out of soulish (selfish) desire, there is a wisdom that seeks the benefit of others. Wisdom should be distinguished from clever human manipulation, and seen as the operation of the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom. The truly wise man receives from above in meekness the wisdom that corrects his thinking and his ways. We can tabulate features of both which are very revealing;
Features of wisdom from other than God
• It is earthly.....that is it assesses things only from an earthly perspective
• It is sensual....that is it satisfies the personal inward desire
• It is devilish....that is it’s source is the arch rebel Satan who opposes the word of God
• It leads to bitter envying in the heart, selfish interests before the need of others
• It engenders strife, the malicious intent to bring trouble, and causes tumult leading to the emergence of every evil work
None of the above are from God, there is a spurious wisdom about today which is just based on earthly values, and is spawning all kinds of evil amongst the people of God.
Features of true wisdom from above
• It is first pure....that is unmixed, does not contain elements of good and bad, only what is transparent before the Lord. The Greek word hagnos variously translated “pure”, “chaste”, and “clear”.....containing no foreign element, can be thought of as “immaculate”. The root of the word is similar to hagios which denotes holy or sacred, that which reflects the character of God. The first priority of wisdom is that it reverences God. This comes before everything else.
• Then peaceable....not peace at any cost, peace that is in line with the God of peace, the approach that seeks harmony not strife.
• Then gentle...not assuming everyone is at the same level, not imposing, but mild, appropriate to another person, winsome, not authoritarian.
• Then easy to be intreated....approachable, affable- good natured, easy to talk to.
• Then full of mercy and good fruits....prepared to forgive and to garnish an offender with good things
• Then without partiality....not shewing respect to certain persons.
• Then without hypocrisy....not a spiritual actor, not pretending to be something we are not, not saying one thing and doing another.
Like a beautiful plant that produces all kinds of fruits, from the central stem of purity, the result is beauty and harmony, this is the wisdom of God.
There is a misunderstanding around that some possess this wisdom naturally whilst others do not. Nothing could be further from the truth, and we are confusing cuteness, and acumen, and shrewdness (all of which are human characteristics of some and not others). The danger is that communities of God’s people can become dependent on the methods of commerce. The book of Job makes it clear what is the only origin of true wisdom.
Job chapter 28 verses 12-28
“But where shall wisdom be found, and where is the place of understanding? Man knoweth not the price thereof, neither is it found in the land of the living: the depth saith “It is not in me” and the sea saith “It is not with me”. It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx or the sapphire; the gold and the crystal cannot equal it, and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral or of pearls, for the price of wisdom is above rubies, the topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold. Whence then cometh this wisdom, and where is the place of understanding, seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air. Destruction and death say “we have heard the fame thereof with our ears”. God understands the way thereof, and He knoweth the place thereof, for He looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven, to make the weight for the winds; and He weigheth the waters by measure, when He made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder; then did He see it and declare it; He prepared it yea, and searched it out. And unto man He said “Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding”.
The threefold epithet in chapter 1 v19 appears to dominate the thinking in the letter and can be summarised as follows:
“Swift to hear”....expanded in chapters 1-2; “Slow to speak”....chapter 3; and “Slow to wrath....chapter 4.”.
“Therefore let every man be slow to speak...” This then is the burden of chapter three, be careful with your tongue.
James addresses what appears to have been a “clamour” for teaching, and the same danger exists today. The superior content of biblical teaching can give a person a false sense of status and pride and he puts this in perspective in two ways:
Verses 1-12 The dangers of an unbridled tongue
Verses 13-18 The definition of true wisdom
The two sections are linked by verses 1 and 13. In verse 1 he counsels against undue haste to become a teacher of Divine things, and in verse 13 he defines what “being endued with knowledge” involves and it requires the application of “wisdom from above”. We could say, in the first portion we have the content of the teaching and in the second the character of the teaching.
Dangers of an unbridled tongue(3 vv1-12)
Verse 1 “My brethren be not many masters (become not many teachers)....”. Don’t aspire to the heady level of becoming a bible teacher without regard to all the responsibility it will bring. This is not to debase this necessary work, because teaching is an important role in the church and is not to be demeaned or minimised. According to Paul, the gift of teaching was to the whole church from the ascended Lord Jesus Christ, for the “edifying of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4 vv9-12) and is to be a prominent position in the local church as in 1st Corinthians 12 v28 “God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that....” The new testament makes it clear, however not everyone should aspire to this for we are not all gifted for it, and there are many other roles to fulfil in the body of the saints.
Those who aspire to this must consider the facts and attention to these words of caution may save us all from much of the pitfalls of undue public speaking that seems to have beset us in a culture that rejects “one man ministry”, and has replaced it with the equally unbalanced practice of “any man ministry”. Neither of these extremes are for the benefit of the church, in light of the appeal “...seek that ye might excel to the edifying of the church” (1st Corinthians 14 v12). In all the service of God excellence is required, and so in the realm of public teaching.
Verse 1 Teaching makes us more accountable to God “knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation”(judgment). Every one of us are accountable for our lives (Romans 14 v12) and (James 2 v12); Elders who take high position of leadership are accountable for the souls (the well being) of the flock (Hebrews 13 v17); Teachers are accountable for their teaching (2nd Timothy 2 v15) and (1st Timothy 5 v21), and 2nd Timothy 4 vv1-2). Teachers will be held to account for the content of their teaching and for the character of it. Jesus taught “To whom much is given, of the same shall much be required”. Moses spent 40 years in the desert before leading the people; John the Baptist spent 30 years in seclusion before his “shewing unto Israel”; Paul separated to the Arabian desert before becoming a “teacher of the Gentiles”. Says James, do not be in a clamour to aspire to teaching, for it will bring greater condemnation (in the sense of loss of reward) to many.
Verse 2 Teaching requires spiritual maturity Teachers are to be “perfect”, that is fully mature and it takes a while to reach that. We stumble in many things, that is we sin, we come short, and especially in word are we suspect. Therefore as teaching requires proper use of the tongue we need to harness it and only mature people have it. The tongue, the flow of words, is a measure of spiritual stature and until we can control ourselves, we have no business teaching others. Control of self is a prerequisite for teaching the things of God. The ability to control(bridle) our words is a rare gift and is symbolic of the ability to control the whole body. The Proverbs observes (13 v3) “He that keeps his mouth, keeps his life, but he that opens with his lips shall have destruction”. That great orator of the first century for God, Apollos is a great model to us all as described in Acts chapter 18 vv24-28. In these verses it is said of him a) he taught intelligently “an eloquent man, mighty in the scriptures...instructed in the way of the Lord”; b) he taught passionately “being fervent in the spirit”; c) he taught accurately “he spake and taught diligently (accurately) the things of the Lord; d) he taught humbly “Aquila and Priscilla...expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly(more accurately). He was humble enough to be corrected!; e) he taught graciously “when he was come helped them much which had believed through grace”.; f) he taught powerfully “he mightily convinced the Jews. There is no reason for teachers to be deficient in any of the above, but such character does not come quickly or easily.
Verses 3-6 We must understand the power of the tongue The tongue can be used for good or evil, and we must be aware of it’s power. He uses three “little things” that describe it, yet how big the effect is. Based on his observation in verse 5 “...the tongue is a little member”, he views it as the bit in the horses mouth, as the helm of a great ship, as a tiny fire which starts a forest fire. Each of these is small compared to the power it has....the tiny bit controlling a half ton horse; the very small helm (wheel) controlling a great ship even in hurricane winds; and a camp fire which can start wild uncontrollable fires. There can be no more graphic description of the role of the human tongue in the human body. What a little seemingly insignificant member, yet what power it wields, and what destruction it can bring! In the context of teaching of which the tongue is a key element, we then can understand the effect it can have for good or bad, and the bad is what James has in mind here, the severe damage it can do. It is “...a fire”, a destructive power capable of doing great damage. It is “...a world of iniquity...” that is it is capable of expressing the whole range of iniquitous language in rebellion against God. It “defiles the whole body” it permeates the whole person. It “sets on fire the course(wheel) of nature” it raises to the surface every aspect of the sinful nature within. It “is set on fire by Gehenna” it is controlled by the arch rebel Satan himself, who is able to use our tongues for evil now. Careful thought of these powerful descriptions must warn us as to the power of our own tongues.
Verses 7-8 We must also know the propensity of the tongue That is what the tongue, uncontrolled is capable of. We know what it has done, but there is no end to it’s evil. “Every kind of beasts and of birds and serpents and of sea monsters is tamed and has been tamed of mankind....”. This is just a fact from observing human history. Again a graphic picture, when we consider that the wildest of beasts has been, in the course of time, brought under subjection to man. If we ponder for a moment this breath-taking statement, that the lion, the king of beasts, the eagle, the highest order of fowl, and the huge sea monsters have all been tamed.......”.but the tongue can no man tame”! Note how he describes it.....”it is an unruly evil...” Only the power and grace of God can tame this evil, nothing else can control it, and it is used daily to wreak havoc in the world. Again “..it is full of deadly poison.” It has the power to hurt other people, slanderous words can destroy lives and amounts to killing a person’s reputation.
Just as in chapter 2, works reveal the reality of faith, now in chapter 3 words reveal the state of the heart.
Verses 9-12 The incongruous hypocrisy of the tongue The tongue is the revealer of the heart “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Luke 6 v45). The tongue has no embarrassment even in the presence of God....the same tongue can openly bless God and curse man. It can address God as “Father”, and simultaneously curse man who is in the image of God. This is quite out of place and is rank hypocrisy and is demeaning to both God and man. This kind of behaviour is perverse and against nature, because it is a mixture of two opposing things....he uses the picture of a fountain producing at the same time sweet and bitter water, and trees like the fig and the vine which can produce each others fruit. It is contrary to nature for a tree will produce only it’s own fruit. Such is the perverse hypocrisy of the tongue, since cursing and blessing should not emit from the same mouth.
Definition of true wisdom(3 vv13-18) Still thinking of the role of teaching, he looks at the true definition of wisdom. “Who is wise and endued with knowledge among you, let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom?”. In teaching the things of God there must be the balance of knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is the intellectual acquirement of facts, wisdom is the acquirement of skill to properly apply that knowledge. These two are rarely separated in scripture. In the teaching of the word of God, we need from the living Word of God the necessary Divinely- given wisdom. The word for wisdom in the old testament is “chockmah”, and in the new testament “sophia”. In both cases the thought is of excellence, of skilled craftsmanship. It is clear in the teaching of God’s word there is to be no mediocrity, only excellence, therefore there is to be no clamour for this, as it will require time and testing to perfect it. In the verses before us there are two sources of wisdom, God or the devil, heaven or hell, and we must distinguish between them.
James speaks of “wisdom from above” (v 15, v17), and “wisdom from beneath” (v15). There is a heavenly wisdom, there is a wisdom from earth; there is a wisdom from God, there is a wisdom from the devil; there is a wisdom out of soulish (selfish) desire, there is a wisdom that seeks the benefit of others. Wisdom should be distinguished from clever human manipulation, and seen as the operation of the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom. The truly wise man receives from above in meekness the wisdom that corrects his thinking and his ways. We can tabulate features of both which are very revealing;
Features of wisdom from other than God
• It is earthly.....that is it assesses things only from an earthly perspective
• It is sensual....that is it satisfies the personal inward desire
• It is devilish....that is it’s source is the arch rebel Satan who opposes the word of God
• It leads to bitter envying in the heart, selfish interests before the need of others
• It engenders strife, the malicious intent to bring trouble, and causes tumult leading to the emergence of every evil work
None of the above are from God, there is a spurious wisdom about today which is just based on earthly values, and is spawning all kinds of evil amongst the people of God.
Features of true wisdom from above
• It is first pure....that is unmixed, does not contain elements of good and bad, only what is transparent before the Lord. The Greek word hagnos variously translated “pure”, “chaste”, and “clear”.....containing no foreign element, can be thought of as “immaculate”. The root of the word is similar to hagios which denotes holy or sacred, that which reflects the character of God. The first priority of wisdom is that it reverences God. This comes before everything else.
• Then peaceable....not peace at any cost, peace that is in line with the God of peace, the approach that seeks harmony not strife.
• Then gentle...not assuming everyone is at the same level, not imposing, but mild, appropriate to another person, winsome, not authoritarian.
• Then easy to be intreated....approachable, affable- good natured, easy to talk to.
• Then full of mercy and good fruits....prepared to forgive and to garnish an offender with good things
• Then without partiality....not shewing respect to certain persons.
• Then without hypocrisy....not a spiritual actor, not pretending to be something we are not, not saying one thing and doing another.
Like a beautiful plant that produces all kinds of fruits, from the central stem of purity, the result is beauty and harmony, this is the wisdom of God.
There is a misunderstanding around that some possess this wisdom naturally whilst others do not. Nothing could be further from the truth, and we are confusing cuteness, and acumen, and shrewdness (all of which are human characteristics of some and not others). The danger is that communities of God’s people can become dependent on the methods of commerce. The book of Job makes it clear what is the only origin of true wisdom.
Job chapter 28 verses 12-28
“But where shall wisdom be found, and where is the place of understanding? Man knoweth not the price thereof, neither is it found in the land of the living: the depth saith “It is not in me” and the sea saith “It is not with me”. It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx or the sapphire; the gold and the crystal cannot equal it, and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral or of pearls, for the price of wisdom is above rubies, the topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold. Whence then cometh this wisdom, and where is the place of understanding, seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air. Destruction and death say “we have heard the fame thereof with our ears”. God understands the way thereof, and He knoweth the place thereof, for He looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven, to make the weight for the winds; and He weigheth the waters by measure, when He made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder; then did He see it and declare it; He prepared it yea, and searched it out. And unto man He said “Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding”.
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