The Tongue is a Fire (3-19-12)

James 3:6 - "And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell."

The third chapter of the book of James speaks a lot about the power of the tongue. The chapter begins with a warning to "not let many become teachers," because teachers will receive a stricter judgment based on what they say. He goes on to say how easy it is to stumble in our words, and compares the tongue to a rudder of a ship and to the bit in a horses mouth. These two things, though they are small, direct the course of these large objects, and the tongue is the same way. What we say directs the course of our lives. Here in verse 6, after saying that an entire forest can be set aflame by just a small fire, James says "And the tongue is a fire." Just as a forest can be set aflame by a very small fire, we can burn a lot of people with our words. Proverbs 16:27 says - "A worthless man digs up evil, While his words are like scorching fire." Words can hurt people, even if you're not talking directly to that person, if your talking badly about them your burning a bad image of them into the mind of someone else. If I tell you come away from a conversation with me thinking less about someone else based on what I've said, then I've sinned by burning that person behind their backs. (Not that it's any better to say it to their face. If you need to reprove a brother or sister, then speak the truth in love as the Bible says. If you can't do it in love then keep your mouth shut.) Gossip is a terrible way that we go around burning one another, and we Christians are especially good at justifying it. We disguise our gossip by prefacing it with something like: "we need to pray for so and so, this is what I heard about him..." We need to check our motives any time we're going to say anything about about another person. I'll say it again, anytime we say anything that makes someone think less of someone else we are sinning. The Lord knows our tendencies, that's why Paul tells Timothy, concerning young widows in 1 Timothy 5:13 - "At the same time they also learn to be idle, as they go around from house to house; and not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies, talking about things not proper to mention." A great way to stop gossip is to not listen to it. Proverbs 26:20 says - "For lack of wood the fire goes out, And where there is no whisperer, contention quiets down." Here we have the idea of the tongue connected with fire again. If someone is talking to you and they begin to burn another person, don't respond. Turn a deaf ear and let the conversation die. It may get awkward, but I find that if you don't want to listen to gossip people won't tell it to you. If you don't feed their fire it will die. Someone who is always up to date on the latest issues with their "friends" and neighbors is just like a box of kindling.

What we need to do is see everyone the way that God sees them. Think about this, God knows absolutely everything in everybody's life, every hidden secret, every sin about everyone, and yet He loves us anyway. He knows every hidden sin in my life, and He doesn't go around getting people to think less of me, He loves me. That's the attitude we need to have toward one another. Not burning one another. As Ephesians 4:29 says - "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear." We need to see each other with a heavenly perspective, the way God sees us. I'm reminded of an account given in Mark chapter 8 where Jesus healed a blind man, and He asked him if he saw anything, and this is what we read in Mark 8:24-25 - "And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.” Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly." When this blind man began to see with imperfect sight, he says "I see men like trees, walking." That's the way we tend to see people. With our imperfect, worldly, fleshly, carnal eyesight, we tend to see one another as trees, just someone to be burned, and so we burn one another with our words. But it says that Jesus made him look up. He looked towards the heavens and he began to see everyone clearly. We need to have that same heavenly perspective so that we can see one another in the same way that the Lord sees us. When we get that heavenly perspective our words will no longer burn. Rather than our tongue being a fire, our tongues will be purified with fire. That's what happened to Isaiah when he got a heavenly perspective, when he saw the Lord.
This is what Isaiah says in Isaiah 6:1-7 - "In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”" When Isaiah had this encounter with God and experienced His awesome holiness he cried out "woe is me, for I am ruined!" In view of God's holiness, even the angels had to use 4 of their 6 wings to cover themselves. It says - "Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”" When Isaiah saw this awesome sight he was broken. He saw the horror of his own sin. He said “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” And then he goes on to say - "Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”" A burning coal was taken from the alter and Isaiah's mouth was cleansed with it. We need to experience the awesome holiness of God in order that we may see the wretchedness of our words, the burning hell fire that has ignited our tongues. In view of Him we see ourselves and our words for what they truly are. We need to pray that God would purify our tongues with His holy fire.

James continues to talk about the tongue in verses 9-11 where he says - "With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?" It's amazing to think that at one moment we can be praying and praising God and at the next we can be speaking badly about someone whom He has made in His own image. A fountain doesn't send forth both fresh and bitter water, and we shouldn't send forth both fresh and bitter words. If our mouths are full of good things then it can't be full of bitter things. If praise is ever one our tongues then false words won't be. May we learn to fill our mouths constantly with the praises of God, and say with the psalmist - "My tongue shall declare Thy righteousness and Thy praise all day long."

James 1:26 - "If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless."

Proverbs 21:23 - "He who guards his mouth and his tongue, Guards his soul from troubles."

Proverbs 10:20 - "The tongue of the righteous is as choice silver."

Psalm 141:3 - "Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips."