Warning: Poison if Spoken

Continuing with our study in the book of James....
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,^[a] and set on fire by hell.^{[b] 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,^[c] 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.


I am grinning as I type - when I open my Bible to this passage, it is so well-worn that I have had to tape up tears in the pages.  Apparently, I have been in need of this instruction so many times that I have worn out this section of God's Word!  I can only pray that this Truth is wearing its way into my soul and leaving its mark on my life......


James's letter is characterized by his direct approach and these verses are not an exception in any way.  As he moves from proclaiming to us in chapter two (by the way, remember that when these letters were written to 1st century believers, they weren't sectioned off in chapter and verse - we've just done that to help us break it down into more manageable pieces) that the evidence of the veracity of our faith is seen in our lives.


  And the first result he points to has to do with what we say.


What a concept.  There's an undeniable connection between our faith and our tongue.


Here is a brief sketch of what James says in verses 1-12 --
 
1.  A precaution about using our tongue to teach (v. 1)
I don't think James is against teaching.  Not at all.  Rather, I think he is urging believers to not take the teaching of God's truth lightly.  It can be a thrilling task to be one who teaches the Bible to others...and it can easily cause one to stumble into pride and self-righteousness and vulnerability.  So James is warning us to be cautious.  To be mindful that teaching is a serious responsibility and God will hold those who teach to a higher standard than non-teachers.  Matthew says "By your words you shall be justified and by your words you shall be condemned".  Before you teach it, be sure you live it.


2.  The proof of our faith is in our tongue (v.2)
Pretty straightforward - the condition of our tongue is evidence of the maturity of our faith.  Our words are the manifestation of who we are.  Our words reveal our heart.  Luke 6:45 - "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks".  What fills our heart spills out our mouth.


3.  The power of the tongue to direct the course of life -- ours and that of others (vs. 3,4)
WORDS, not TRUTH, can destroy a career, ruin a ministry, end a friendship.  WORDS are small things that affect in big ways - like a bridle for a horse, a rudder for a ship.  Proverbs puts it this way - The power of life and death are in the tongue (Proverbs 18:21)


4.  The potential for evil in the tongue (vs. 5-12)
Notice there are only negative descriptions - fire, poison, unable to be tamed.  It's as though James is doing all he can to paint a frightening picture.  Like in Driver's Ed when they show the film of the awful carnage of car wrecks to convey  the realm of possibility when you get behind the wheel of a car. 
James is making sure we get the picture - like a fire can be intentionally or unintentionally set, so our tongue can cause serious damage.  Whether we mean for it to or not, the effect is still a burning. And in verse 6 we see that our words not only have the potential for evil to others but even in our own lives - "set on fire the course of our life and is set on fire by hell".  Not only do we speak from the overflow of our hearts but our hearts become like the words we speak.


Wow.


And James doesn't stop there.  In verses 7,8, the lack of encouragement continues.  Not only is the tongue full of deadly poison, it is also "restless" - the original Greek word here means "liable to break out".  What a description!  Just when we think we've got it under control, the tongue "breaks out" and casualty results.
Wow.
I can think of several personal examples that fit this description.
Can you?


James stops abruptly here.
Just like that film in Driver's Ed was the last thing they showed in class.
He leaves us with a feeling of desperation.


So that perhaps we will acknowledge the potential for evil in our tongue...
and desperately desire the Only One who can transform it.
The One who can produce good fruit in us.
The One who can make sweet water flow from our mouth.


Help us, Lord Jesus.  Help us, please.

Love is...Blind

2 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. ² For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, ³ and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” ⁴ have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? ⁵ Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? ⁶ But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? ⁷ Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

⁸ If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. ⁹ But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. ¹⁰ For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. ¹¹ For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. ¹² So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. ¹³ For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
James 2:1-13


In this passage, James addresses a timeless issue of the human condition....an attitude of favoritism.  As old as history itself, James faced the same matter that churches and you and I and everybody else have to guard against today.  Favoring one group over another.  Preferential treatment for the such and such's or so&so's.  James calls it judgment.  And he warns us not to do it.


So let's unpack this passage...........



Predicament
In verses 1-3, James explains the predicament - preferential treatment based on superficial values.  Here, it's rich over poor but it could be lots of other things.  Position.  Skin color.  Gender. Belief system.  Anytime we base a person's value on something other than what God values, we find ourselves in this same predicament....an attitude of favoritism.


In verses 4-7, James explains the Problem that causes this predicament -our value system is different than God's.


Problem
The Greek word for "judge" is "krino" - it means to separate into categories ,to make distinctions among,  to cause a division between the parts.  It's like deciding what something is and slapping a label on it so as to know what to do with it then.  Only the "something" is a "someone" and the "it" is a "who".
And when we do it, it's because we have an agenda.....James is a bit more harsh with his words - he says we have evil motives.
Gulp.
I think James is right. 
We are inclined to treat people in ways that we believe will benefit ourselves.
So we assess someone else's value.  And then determine if their label could offer an advantage to our own position.  If so, we are tempted to adjust our behavior in a way that leverages the other person's assets.


And James just shakes his head at us, warning us that we are deceived.  He knows the principle from Proverbs 29:5 applies  A man who flatters his neighbor Is spreading a net for his steps.  By trying to gain favor from people we think can give us an advantage, we are actually setting a trap for ourselves.


The only One qualified to determine a person's value is God, the Only Righteous Judge. 


And the basis of His acceptance is.......Mercy.


Not some superficial issue like skin color or position or net worth.
Mercy.


So what's the Prescription for the Problem that causes this Predicament of preferential treatment?


James writes out the Divine Remedy in verses 8-11.
The Royal Law.


Loving one's neighbor as one's own self.


Instead of favoritism which is loving one's neighbor  in order to help one's own self.


Failure to keep the Royal Law is a serious matter and James reminds us of that.  In Matthew 22:34-40, Jesus explains that all of God's Holy Word can be boiled down to just a couple of principles:


But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. ³⁵ And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets

Love God....and Love Others.  As much as we love ourselves.


That's the prescription that will heal the problem.  And that will get rid of the predicament.
Wow.  That's powerful stuff.


One more thought.


Depending on how well we live out the Royal Law, James has a Prognosis for our lives.  Verses 12, 13. These are definitely worth repeating as we close out today....So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. ¹³ For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.


Anybody you need to show some mercy to today? 


The evaluation of your life depends on it.


Wow.

Helpful tip for Mommies and Memory work

I have some really brilliant friends.  And I love it when they share their ideas with me.


And I love passing them on to you!


Here's one from my brilliant friend Brionne that will help you help your kids memorize Scripture:


Once a week (Thursdays after AWANA verses the night before) she writes her kids' upcoming memory verses on their bathroom mirror.  With dry erase marker.  They see this at least twice a day, she says, when she brushes their teeth.


And they get those verses memorized over a whole week. 

Instead of cramming them in on Wednesday afternoon.  Like somebody I know........


It's  a great idea.  I hope you'll try it.


Aren't you glad I have brilliant friends??? 


I love sharing their ideas and I'd love to pass yours along, too.


Oh, btw.  Just in case you're wondering.  She's not only brilliant.........she's beautiful as well.





I'm still marveling over the fact that she gets four kids' teeth brushed TWICE A DAY.

Looking in the mirror

Do you ever slap yourself on the forehead and say "I knew better than that!!"?  I surely do!  I cannot count the times that I hear a sermon or read a passage of Scripture or just plain remember a Truth and think - "I used to do that right but somewhere along the line, I've stopped".  Or I find myself repeating the same commissions or omissions over and over again.


How does that happen to us?


Well, basically,


we're human!


And humans forget.  Like James tells us
 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.  For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.  But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing


Just like I look in the mirror everyday to check my hair and makeup before I leave the house.  More than once, if I have time!  And then, based on what I see, I adjust.  And tweak.  And look again.  Because I can't remember what I look like from one glance to the next!


It's the same with our spiritual life.  God's Word is the mirror that we look into in order to know what we look like spiritually.  And, based on what He shows us, we adjust and tweak and look again.  And what helps us remember what we saw is to obey what He shows us to do.  Being a doer, not just a hearer - or a looker !!


I love what the word "intently" means in Greek - it means to stoop down and focus.  Isn't that powerful?  We don't need to merely read God's Word - we need to humble ourselves and examine how to apply what it means to live it out.  It means being willing to let the Word show us where we need to adjust.  And then to obey it.  That's what helps us remember.


This mirror of God's Word that we are to look into isn't just another law to follow.  Thankfully not.  Rather it is the perfect law...the law of liberty. 


What does that mean - a law...of liberty?  Seems contradictory.


Except that it's not.


The perfect law is the Gospel of Christ.  He fulfilled every point of God's law  - which we can't do - and, in so doing, He set us free from our inability to keep it.  God counts His perfection as ours...and then He abides within those who believe in Him and transforms us into people who look like Him.  Not immediately, to be sure.  But, little by little, as we obey Him -- being an effectual does and not just a hearer of His Word -- we grow in our likeness to Him.  Blessed in what we do.

It's Nike Time

James 1:21-22


²¹ Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
²² But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves


We spend an awful lot of time trying to fix ourselves.  An awful lot of energy and money, too.  And I don't mean physically (although that's true as well!) but I mean emotionally, relationally, psychologically.  Even though we are slow to admit it, I think deep down we know that much of what's wrong in our lives has to do with the fact that we are broken people.  People that "need fixing".


Trouble is, we don't know how to do it.


I think this verse tells us.


When James uses the phrase "save your souls", I don't believe he is referring to the establishment of a relationship with Christ.  Rather, I think he is explaining the "working out" of our salvation - the sanctification process whereby Christ-followers are transformed (slowly as it may be!) into the image of Christ. 


It's about "fixing ourselves". Making whole and healthy the parts of us that are broken.


Our self-image.  Our relationships.  Our speech.  Our attitudes.  Our priorities. Our treatment of others.  Our use of resources. Our own selves.


Here's what James says:


1. Putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness- Get rid of the wrong stuff.  Take personal responsibility (as in, it's not your parents' fault or your mate's fault or your boss's fault or your circumstances' fault) and get rid of the things in your life that don't line up with holiness. 
2.  In humility - have a correct assessment of yourself.  Not only take personal responsibility but also see yourself in desperate need of God's grace.  That becomes the point at which He showers His favor upon you --- when you realize and acknowledge your need for it.
3. Receive the word implanted - The Word was implanted in you when you trust Christ for salvation.  Now you need to embrace it.  "Receive" means to embrace and accept like an organ transplant.  Let it become part of you.  Mediate on The Word.  Memorize it.  And then,
4. Mind it.  Prove yourselves doers of the word and not merely hearers who delude themselves. As you study the word and learn what God tells you to do, then, well, just do it.  Nike Time.  Just do it.
Obey what He shows you.


That's what transforms you.  Changes you.  Fixes you.  Saves your soul.


It's Nike Time, y'all - just do it!