#11 - JAMES AND THE BEHAVIOR OF BELIEF - How to Recognize the Presence of Saving Faith

CONSISTENT SPIRITUALITY - HOW TO STUMBLE WITHOUT FALLING

James 3:1-12 - “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. [2] For we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. [3] If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. [4] Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. [5] So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! [6] And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. [7] For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, [8] but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. [9] With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. [10] From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. [11] Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? [12] Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.”

Let’s try to frame the context of this text. Two weeks ago we studied James 1:26-27 - “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. [27] Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

I said at that time these two verses really set the agenda for the rest of James’ letter. Last week, in 2:1-13, James expanded on 1:27, the rich and the poor and how they should treat each other in the body of Christ. Now, in 3:1-12 he will expand more on what he said in 1:16 and the subject of the speech patterns of the Christian.

In fact, 3:1- 4:24 deals with the two main destructive forces at work in the individual Christian and the community of the church. The first is the way we speak and the words we say, and the second is the love of the world with its craving for power and accumulation. These two areas ruin souls.

What’s more, James identifies them as the primary causes of strife, bitterness, and enmity in the church. That’s why James isn’t content just to give a brief, two verse mention of these things in 1:26-27. He wants to expand on them, to walk us through the ugliness and the seriousness of these sins.

Please notice one other thing. The last words we studied from last week’s text were these - “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead” (2:26). Now James will spend the next twelve verses talking about our words. His point is obvious. He hasn’t switched subjects. Words are works.

Most of us think of works as things we do and words as things we say. But James says this is not so. When you think of your works your words should be at the top of this list. Your words are as much what you do for Jesus as is your tithe, or your Bible study, or your missions trip. On the flip side, words are also works when they are wicked. They are as much what you do as theft, child-abuse, homosexuality, incest, or immorality.

“Pure religion” (1:26-27) begins with your words - James 1:26 - “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.”

More than that, pure religion can’t rise higher than the level of the things I say about others. We are easily deceived about how quickly damaging words make all other expressions of faith void - “worthless.” We are easily deceived about this because we can’t imagine our words count so much with God. We can’t imagine words have so much shaping power over our spiritual state. We will spend much time wondering what’s wrong with our soul because we won’t consider our whispered, invisible words can pull the plug and drain all the other religious things we do.

James reminds us all this is what God looks for first in our lives. And James won’t let us give this important area of our lives less time than we’re naturally inclined. Let’s look at what he says:

1) THE FIRST RULE OF LIFE IS TO LIVE BY THE STANDARDS WE DISPENSE TO OTHERS

James 3:1 - “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

What a strange way to begin a section on Christian speech. Where did this whole idea of teaching come from? What is James doing here? He’s telling us that what he is going to say about the tongue he applies to himself first and foremost. James is a Pastor. He knows the temptation to earn a living telling others what they should do. And I’m not taking my words seriously enough until, when I speak them, I hear their truth just as clearly in my own soul as I would like to apply them to others.

James begins his passage with this emphasis on self-application because we all tend to be deaf to our own speech. We hear other people’s words more than we do our own. We receive what others say about us with great attention and retention, but we throw our words out into the air about others with casualness and ease. If we could hear our own words the way others hear them, we’d never believe it.

2) WHERE DO WE START IN OUR SEARCH FOR PURITY OF LIFE?

James 3:2-8 - “For we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. [3] If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. [4] Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. [5] So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! [6] And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. [7] For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, [8] but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”

This is where the title of this teaching springs from - “How to Stumble Without Falling.” There is a difference between stumbling and sabotaging your entire experience of grace. And James, in these verses, is going to tell us what we need to be particularly careful about.

I pray I have the ability to show you how profound these verses are. They contain so much more than just a warning about how powerful sins of speech can be. James knows we all "stumble in many ways" (3:2).

The Greek word for “stumble” is “ptaio,” and literally means “to trip.” James probably has in mind the kind of sins we all fall into - inadvertent sins. Notice, we all have this problem - “....we all stumble in many ways....” We intend to live so much better than we do. There are so many different kinds of sins. It's so hard to stay clean and pure.

If the path to purity is strewn with so many hurdles and snares, how shall we stay clean? That’s the rubber-meet-the-road issue James is putting on the table. And the case James is going to make is this - the best way to keep your whole life clean is to give special attention to a part - the words you speak.

In explaining this point James is going to say something all of us know and something else almost none of us knows as he or she should. We all know our words reveal what’s in our heart. We know the words of Jesus, “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45).

Words are revealers of what’s in the heart. James, of course, knows that. But James is saying much more than that in these verses. Words are not only revealers of what’s in the heart. Words are instruments that shape and steer the life. That’s the whole point of those words about horses and bits and ships and rudders:

James 3:3-4 - “If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. [4] Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.”

We can read those words and nod reverently, but they really don’t seem believable. James seems to be saying if I will gain mastery over the words of my mouth, the rest of my being will be holy as well. And that’s very hard to believe. It’s like saying if you clean and wax the outside of your car the leather seats will be shampooed and treated too. And we all know it doesn’t work that way.

What does James mean? A good clue comes in the following few verses:

James 3:5-8 - “So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! [6] And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. [7] For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, [8] but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”

This is quite a picture. The tongue is both wicked and dominant. Everything in these verses points to the spreading, contaminating effect of our speech. Fire starts small and can wipe out a national park. A drop of poison touching only your lips can work its way into the bloodstream and destroy the whole body.

So there it is. When you put these passages together here’s what you get. Verses 3 and 4 speak of the steering power of our words over the rest of our being. They are like the bit in the horse’s mouth or the rudder on a ship. Verses 5 through 8 speak of the power and the damage loaded into the words of our mouth. The conclusion of all this is our words are the most dangerous, naturally corrupt, and powerfully influential force in our entire make-up.

Now, rewind your thoughts to the question we asked earlier. James says something unbelievable in 3:2 - “For we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.”

How can this work? Here is a man who has a bad temper. He blows up at people, perhaps even people in his own home, in fits of rage. But if he will begin by concentrating on guarding his tongue - if he will keep from speaking the words of anger - he can make progress in holiness. True, anger and words aren’t the same thing. One is internal and one is external. But if he will start with his words he will gradually gain control over the anger as well.

Here is a man who is proud. His pride makes him crave attention and tell off colored stories with his friends. It makes them laugh and puts him in the spotlight. His tainted words aren’t the same thing as his pride. One is internal and one is external. But if he will start by simply putting a reign on his words he will gain ground controlling his pride as well.

Here is a woman who has been wronged in the church. And she has been genuinely mistreated. Bitterness is growing in her heart. She takes subversive opportunities to tell others of the one who wronged her or her family. Her sour words aren’t the same thing as the bitterness in her heart. One is internal and the other is external. But if she will simply begin by concentrating on not speaking the words she will gradually gain a victory over the bitterness as well.

Because our speech is the most powerful influence (like the bit or the rudder), and because it runs wild in wickedness (like poison or a fire), if a person can learn, with the Spirit’s help, to live life trained to look out for sins of speech, he will sharpen his eye for sin in all areas of life. In other words, if you discipline the most unruly aspects of your life, you will find holiness easier in more manageable areas, just as if you train yourself to lift 200 pounds you will automatically find it easier to lift 40 pounds.

Proverbs 13:3 - “Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.” Keeping your tongue will keep other parts of your life - pitfalls you can't even imagine right now - from snaring your soul. That’s exactly what James is saying.

3) YOUR WORDS AND THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUR LIFE

James 3:9-12 - “With it (the tongue) we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. [10] From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. [11] Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? [12] Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.”

James wraps up this passage by coming full circle. There is a theme that has been close to James’ heart right from the beginning of this letter - doublemindedness - James 1:7-8 - “For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; [8] he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

Because our words receive so much attention in this letter, it shouldn’t surprise us that James sees them as perhaps the very best barometer of consistency and spiritual depth. He pictures something that happens regularly. He pictures people (notice how inclusively he uses the word “we” in verse 9) - he pictures us coming to church to bless our Lord and Father with songs of praise and worship. Then, probably not in the worship service, he pictures us slandering and denigrating our brothers and sisters, who have been made by God Himself - made, in fact, “in the likeness of God”(3:9).

James can’t think of a more striking example of the power of the tongue than its ability to pull our lives into such a terrible state of “doublemindedness.” It has the power - largely manifested in the body of Christ in split churches and splintering members - to turn us against the deepest convictions of our lives. It makes our faith “useless”, as James would say, and our religion “worthless.”

It's such a deplorable sin to use the same instrument to both praise Father God and be cruel to the creature made in God's image. It’s as though James stops up short, running out of words to describe the horror he feels in his soul. All he can do is blurt out the obvious - “My brothers! These things out not to be so!”(3:10).

God speaks to this sin very pointedly: Psalm 50:16, 19-20 - “But to the wicked God says: "What right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips?....[19]"You give your mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit. [20] You sit and speak against your brother....”

That’s strong talk. I have no right to use my mouth to praise God at all. I should just go home and be quiet if I frame sentences of evil against my brother.

James 3:12 - “Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs?”

Remember that praise is called the "fruit of our lips." And a good tree should produce good fruit. There is such a good emphasis on worship and praise in the church today. But sometimes I think we leave some important truths out of the picture.

You can’t become a person of solid worship just learning to sing new choruses or raising your hands. Those things are fine, Scriptural, and good. But James seems to teach that you can’t add worship to your life until you delete something else - unkind, dishonest, and self- centered speech.

So, when your worship seems to go flat, when God seems distant and silent, you may need something more than the latest chorus. God may want to perform surgery on your mouth.

And all the people said....