Jam 3:1-2 | KingComments | STEP | You have received practical teachings in chapters 1 and 2, a practice that is surrounded by heavenly light. That practice can only, as you have seen in chapter 1, become reality when there is new life. That means that only new creatures ( ) are able to bring faith into practice. In chapter 2 your attention was focused on an object for the heart: the glorious Lord ( ), the center of the new creation. By Him you are attracted to follow a straight course through the world. But another thing is needed and that is wisdom which like the gift of the new life comes down from above ( ; cf. ). . Before James starts to talk about this wisdom from above he first urgently demonstrates the danger of the tongue to you. The tongue is the most accurate measure of what is present in your heart. It is for a reason that the Lord says that the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart and that we will be justified or condemned by our words ( ). James calls on his brethren because of the fact that it appears that many people tend to present themselves as a teacher. By that he means that they tend to place themselves above others to lecture those others about how things should be done. So he is not talking about the teachers in the church who are given by the glorified Lord as gifts to His church ( ). It is not possible that James is addressing those teachers. It is about those who want to be something that God has not given to them. It is the same like wanting to be rich, which is different than if God makes a person rich. James warns that you should bear in mind that if you want to be a teacher, you will receive a stricter judgment. If you want to be a teacher without first being taught yourself, then it will appear from your words that you do not know what you are talking about. However, you will be judged by it. In itself, it is not wrong to have the desire to teach others and it is certainly a good thing that there is room to teach in the meeting of the church. That seems also to be the case here, for this admonition would be superfluous if the freedom to speak were not open to all brethren. Only it seems that it became crowded at the pulpit. It is like the Corinthians with whom Paul also had to put a brake on their impulse to express themselves ( ). If you want to teach others in the right sense of the word, you absolutely need to be taught first at the feet of the Lord Jesus ( ). He Himself gives the right example. To Him has been given a tongue of disciples or of those who have learned, in other words: of someone who has been taught ( ). He had always obeyed His Father. He never passed on anything, unless He had heard it from His Father. Therefore He was able to talk with the weary woman at the well of Jacob and tell her everything she had done ( ). He was able to speak because He had opened ears ( ). . Another instruction for not desiring to be too eager to be a teacher, is that we stumble in many ways in what we say. If you honestly look at yourself, then you need to admit that it regularly happens that you do not put in the right words what you mean, do you? When you look back you sometimes have to regret that not everything you have said was right. It shows your weakness and you have to be well aware of that. If you are perfect in your speech, thus if you perfectly control your tongue, then you will also control your deeds and the course you take. The Lord Jesus is the only One Who has never stumbled in His words, which also makes only Him perfect in everything His body did. To us it is important to guard our tongue, for that is the greatest stumbling block for us. . James wants to clarify the functioning of the tongue and the effect of both the right and wrong use of it through examples from nature. You keep your body in control by keeping your tongue in control. It is the same as how you bridle a horse. If you want to bridle a horse you must put bit and bridle in its mouth (cf. ). In this way you can manage to direct the whole horse to your pleasure and turn it wherever you want. That large body of the horse is totally in your power through the small bit in its mouth. Horses were primarily used in combat. We may apply this example in that sense to a battle of words. Precisely then it is important for us to control our tongue. Especially in battles of words or disputes we often say things that we later regret. . The second example is that of a large ship that is driven by the hard wind in its sails. Still it is not a plaything of the wind and the waves. That large ship has, in proportion to the large ship, a very small rudder. That very small rudder is directed by a pilot. When the pilot directs the rudder with his firm hand, then that large ship obeys according to the position of the rudder. The position of the rudder determines where the ship is heading to and not the wind. We can apply this example of the ships at sea to our journey through the sea of life which we are sailing and where we are exposed to all kinds of winds. Events in our life stir us up. If we know that the Lord Jesus is standing at the rudder of our life ship, we know that those events do not happen accidentally. That will prevent us from sinning with our mouth, as we see that with Job ( ). We stay on the right course if we keep focusing on the Lord and our home harbor with Him. . After the positive examples of the use, or better said, the control of the tongue, James turns to the destruction that the tongue often causes. He already showed how the tongue as a small part of the body can control mighty powers. Now he shows how the tongue as a small part of the body is an indomitable force that wreaks great havoc. The tongue is a member by which the pride of man and his independence of God are expressed in the most arrogant manner ( ). The tongue is the instrument by which man boasts in great deeds. You can hear that daily in the language that politicians use. Without the slightest modesty they summarize everything they have achieved, according to their own convictions. In these same speeches they also make their promises while they keep on overestimating themselves gigantically. It would be a shame for believers to use such prideful language. This blustering and exaggerated language has often set the flame on fire. It is for a reason that James says that the tongue is a fire. The point is that although it is a small fire it is like a match stick that is able to set on fire a large forest or a great stack of wood. Look at the fall of man and all its consequences. The sin of the tongue has been the first sin that entered creation. The fire that has been kindled in paradise has been destructing the lives of all men until this day. Everyone who does not convert will be delivered to this fire forever and ever. . It is the fire burning in hell that comes out through the tongue. “The [very] world of iniquity” is summarized in the tongue. Of all parts of the body the tongue takes the place of ‘defiler’. You can do as many good deeds as you possibly can and in that way build up much goodwill, but once you say something that causes others to stumble, you have been marked forever. People will always remember what you have said and they will always echo that after you. An irreversible stain has destroyed your garment of good deeds. By the way, you not only must deal with the results of a wrong use of the tongue in your personal life. The whole nature, the way natural life develops and has its course, is set on fire by the tongue. Statements that are made in all kinds of areas without involving God, provoke a reaction that only make things worse and lead to greater destruction. The fire consumes everything that is in its environment. This fire is ultimately from hell, with which man without God is connected. No one will admit that. Men without God deny the existence of hell, but James shows the reality. Now read James 3:1-6 again. Reflection: Which positive and which negative elements are present in the tongue?

‏ James 3:1-2

The Danger of the Tongue

You have received practical teachings in chapters 1 and 2, a practice that is surrounded by heavenly light. That practice can only, as you have seen in chapter 1, become reality when there is new life. That means that only new creatures (Jam 1:18) are able to bring faith into practice. In chapter 2 your attention was focused on an object for the heart: the glorious Lord (Jam 2:1), the center of the new creation. By Him you are attracted to follow a straight course through the world. But another thing is needed and that is wisdom which like the gift of the new life comes down from above (Jam 3:17; cf. Jam 1:17-18).

Jam 3:1. Before James starts to talk about this wisdom from above he first urgently demonstrates the danger of the tongue to you. The tongue is the most accurate measure of what is present in your heart. It is for a reason that the Lord says that the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart and that we will be justified or condemned by our words (Mt 12:34b ; 37).

James calls on his brethren because of the fact that it appears that many people tend to present themselves as a teacher. By that he means that they tend to place themselves above others to lecture those others about how things should be done. So he is not talking about the teachers in the church who are given by the glorified Lord as gifts to His church (Eph 4:11). It is not possible that James is addressing those teachers.

It is about those who want to be something that God has not given to them. It is the same like wanting to be rich, which is different than if God makes a person rich. James warns that you should bear in mind that if you want to be a teacher, you will receive a stricter judgment. If you want to be a teacher without first being taught yourself, then it will appear from your words that you do not know what you are talking about. However, you will be judged by it.

In itself, it is not wrong to have the desire to teach others and it is certainly a good thing that there is room to teach in the meeting of the church. That seems also to be the case here, for this admonition would be superfluous if the freedom to speak were not open to all brethren. Only it seems that it became crowded at the pulpit. It is like the Corinthians with whom Paul also had to put a brake on their impulse to express themselves (1Cor 14:27-33).

If you want to teach others in the right sense of the word, you absolutely need to be taught first at the feet of the Lord Jesus (Lk 10:39). He Himself gives the right example. To Him has been given a tongue of disciples or of those who have learned, in other words: of someone who has been taught (Isa 50:4). He had always obeyed His Father. He never passed on anything, unless He had heard it from His Father. Therefore He was able to talk with the weary woman at the well of Jacob and tell her everything she had done (Jn 4:6 ; 29). He was able to speak because He had opened ears (Psa 40:6).

Jam 3:2. Another instruction for not desiring to be too eager to be a teacher, is that we stumble in many ways in what we say. If you honestly look at yourself, then you need to admit that it regularly happens that you do not put in the right words what you mean, do you? When you look back you sometimes have to regret that not everything you have said was right. It shows your weakness and you have to be well aware of that.

If you are perfect in your speech, thus if you perfectly control your tongue, then you will also control your deeds and the course you take. The Lord Jesus is the only One Who has never stumbled in His words, which also makes only Him perfect in everything His body did. To us it is important to guard our tongue, for that is the greatest stumbling block for us.

Jam 3:3. James wants to clarify the functioning of the tongue and the effect of both the right and wrong use of it through examples from nature. You keep your body in control by keeping your tongue in control. It is the same as how you bridle a horse. If you want to bridle a horse you must put bit and bridle in its mouth (cf. Psa 32:9). In this way you can manage to direct the whole horse to your pleasure and turn it wherever you want. That large body of the horse is totally in your power through the small bit in its mouth.

Horses were primarily used in combat. We may apply this example in that sense to a battle of words. Precisely then it is important for us to control our tongue. Especially in battles of words or disputes we often say things that we later regret.

Jam 3:4. The second example is that of a large ship that is driven by the hard wind in its sails. Still it is not a plaything of the wind and the waves. That large ship has, in proportion to the large ship, a very small rudder. That very small rudder is directed by a pilot. When the pilot directs the rudder with his firm hand, then that large ship obeys according to the position of the rudder. The position of the rudder determines where the ship is heading to and not the wind.

We can apply this example of the ships at sea to our journey through the sea of life which we are sailing and where we are exposed to all kinds of winds. Events in our life stir us up. If we know that the Lord Jesus is standing at the rudder of our life ship, we know that those events do not happen accidentally. That will prevent us from sinning with our mouth, as we see that with Job (Job 2:10). We stay on the right course if we keep focusing on the Lord and our home harbor with Him.

Jam 3:5. After the positive examples of the use, or better said, the control of the tongue, James turns to the destruction that the tongue often causes. He already showed how the tongue as a small part of the body can control mighty powers. Now he shows how the tongue as a small part of the body is an indomitable force that wreaks great havoc.

The tongue is a member by which the pride of man and his independence of God are expressed in the most arrogant manner (Psa 12:4). The tongue is the instrument by which man boasts in great deeds. You can hear that daily in the language that politicians use. Without the slightest modesty they summarize everything they have achieved, according to their own convictions. In these same speeches they also make their promises while they keep on overestimating themselves gigantically. It would be a shame for believers to use such prideful language.

This blustering and exaggerated language has often set the flame on fire. It is for a reason that James says that the tongue is a fire. The point is that although it is a small fire it is like a match stick that is able to set on fire a large forest or a great stack of wood. Look at the fall of man and all its consequences. The sin of the tongue has been the first sin that entered creation. The fire that has been kindled in paradise has been destructing the lives of all men until this day. Everyone who does not convert will be delivered to this fire forever and ever.

Jam 3:6. It is the fire burning in hell that comes out through the tongue. “The [very] world of iniquity” is summarized in the tongue.

Of all parts of the body the tongue takes the place of ‘defiler’. You can do as many good deeds as you possibly can and in that way build up much goodwill, but once you say something that causes others to stumble, you have been marked forever. People will always remember what you have said and they will always echo that after you. An irreversible stain has destroyed your garment of good deeds.

By the way, you not only must deal with the results of a wrong use of the tongue in your personal life. The whole nature, the way natural life develops and has its course, is set on fire by the tongue. Statements that are made in all kinds of areas without involving God, provoke a reaction that only make things worse and lead to greater destruction. The fire consumes everything that is in its environment. This fire is ultimately from hell, with which man without God is connected. No one will admit that. Men without God deny the existence of hell, but James shows the reality.

Now read James 3:1-6 again.

Reflection: Which positive and which negative elements are present in the tongue?