As I read
this familiar passage about taming the tongue it brought to mind the character
of Mrs. Oleson in the series, The Little House on the Prairie. Joshua and Zara have been going through some
of the episodes of this series and it brings up some interesting discussions in
our family. For those who have never
watched this series or seen the character Mrs. Oleson then I had better
explain. She and her husband own the
village store and she thinks she is better than most people who live in the
town. She is quick with her tongue
which, in turn, causes great angst for many of the people living there but
especially for the Ingalls family. Her
children are no different to her in many ways with their nasty comments and
uppity and spoilt behavior. When you
watch an episode whereby Mrs. Oleson is up to her tricks you want justice to
prevail. You desire for her to get what
is coming to her because of the rude comments and meanness that often comes out
of her mouth which then guides her behaviour. However,
it got me thinking as to whether or not we are much different than Mrs. Oleson
at times. It is not always fun to look
in the mirror but very necessary.
In looking
at this issue of taming the tongue it made me realize how our tongues are
slippery little trouble makers. Once the
words are out there is no pulling them back in.
If the words are unkind or unsavoury the only recourse we have is damage
control. The damage that Mrs. Oleson's
words have on the people she comes in contact with can be devastating. This is, of course, a fictitious story but we
have all been there when people have said mean things or we have watched the
effect of our mean words on someone else.
It is not a pretty sight. I am
sure all of us have heard stories of people who have had things said to them in
childhood that still affects them today in adulthood. That comment even said in jest can have distressing
and long lasting effects.
James
starts of this passage by saying that not all people should presume to be
teachers, meaning teachers of God’s Word because those who are will be judged
more severely. What a sobering
thought. Just think of the influence a
teaching Pastor has over his congregation or anyone who is teaching God’s
Word. It would make you want to run in
the opposite direction if you were not sure that was what God was calling you
too. We also need to be obedient to what
God has called us to and how we use the gifts and talents He has given us. However, it is good not to go into such a role
flippantly.
James goes
onto say that we all stumble. Not just
some of us but ALL of us. If we were
perfect then we wouldn’t have an issue with taming our tongue. It is amazing to think that man has put
people on the moon, found cures for diseases that once were incurable,
technology has increased in mind-blowing proportions over the last 100 years
and yet the little fleshy organ inside our mouth has never been able to be
tamed since man was created. James uses
the examples that animals can be tamed, a ship can be steered by a small rudder
and a forest of woodland can be destroyed in no time by a small spark. Our tongues are small in relation to most
parts of our body but that small part of the body affects the whole. Our tongues direct our lives. Our tongues direct our behavior. Our tongues direct how people treat us. One of the characters in the series Little
House on the Prairie will, on occasion, say “…do I really have to deal with Mrs.
Oleson?” “Do I really have to talk with
her?” If our tongues are not tamed if affects our
relationships with each other. We desire
to have close relationships and yet we get the opposite of what we desire. We can push people away.
One Pastor
said that the only person that can tame our tongue is God. He is the only one that can change our
hearts, tame our tongues and correct our behavior. Have a look at Proverbs 10:19-21. How many of us are talkers? How many of us can keep talking without
hardly taking a breath? What does Proverbs
10:19 say? We need to be careful. Sometimes the best option is to barricade
that little organ behind your God given cage (set of teeth and lips) and be
quiet. Even if you are thought not to be
wise you will be seen wise just because you can keep your mouth shut.
It is
amazing that one minute we can be sitting in church, prayer meeting or Bible
study singing God’s praises and saying Amen and Amen to what a Pastor has said and
yet 5 minutes outside of those meetings and we are talking negatively about somebody
who has been made in the image of God.
We do it over and over again.
James uses the analogy of fresh and salt water and then also the idea of
a fig tree and a grapevine. We would
not expect those things to give the opposite of what they were created for and
yet we accept it in our lives. If we call ourselves to be Christ followers
then our speech should be different.
Sadly, this is not always the case.
Sometimes I
think we would be more careful about what and how we say something if we were
the one on the receiving end of our tongue.
Just recently I heard someone say that they couldn’t believe the
horrible things that were said about another person on social media. It is incredible how much more we will say
about someone else when we don’t have to tell it to their face. Our tongues can do irrevocable damage so we
need the wisdom of God to know when to speak and when to keep silent. One Pastor commented that if we need wisdom
we only need to turn to the Book of Proverbs.
There are some real gold nuggets in there. Proverbs 4:20-27 talks about guarding our
hearts for it is the wellspring of life and keeping corrupt talk from our
lips. Having the knowledge about what to
do is not enough. We need to be putting
it into action. It is amazing how we try
and teach our children to say and do the right thing and yet who is correcting
us? We need to be sensitive to the Holy
Spirit’s leading as we walk through each day as the flesh and the Spirit are
constantly at war within us. Hopefully
there is also someone in our lives who can gently correct us when needed as we
all need it.
Challenge
Think back
over your day and the conversations you have had with people. Then read Colossians 3:12-17 and Colossian
4:6. How well did you do?
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