Taming the Tongue (3)

Special thanks to Anton Beetge of The Silver Sword for writing this final post.

A man called Frank Tyger once said: “There is no evidence that the tongue is connected to the brain”

And how apt his observation was! Articulating our thoughts is often very difficult, sometimes we just cant bring the right words to mind and other times, the things we blurt out surprise even us! We’ve all had times where we sit there with a mouth full of teeth, unable to break an awkward silence, and I find that especially at night, when I’m tired, my tongue can run away from me so that I dont know where my words are coming from! Its easy to assume then, that the tongue has a mind of its own, doing as it pleases. James says in chapter 3:7-12

“For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.”

After reading this passage, one can only come to the conclusion that, Mr Tyger must have been correct – there is no connection between the tongue and the brain! 

Read the passage again. 

James says: “but no human being can tame the tongue”!!! This is hopeless! Why is James teaching us about the tongue, and implying that it should be brought into submission if no man can control it? Well, comparing scripture with scripture, Paul affirms James’ implied message in 1 Cor 6:19-20 

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 

So then, we are commanded to control/tame our tongues, but according to James, this is something we simply cannot do. “Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.?” Obviously not!  

But as we are commanded to tame our tongues, it is implied that the tongue is indeed connected to something in us. But no amount of willpower, discipline or determination on our part will give us control over this organ which can do so much good and so much bad, justify us, or condemn us at the same time. The tongue is NOT connected to our brains then. 

Surely, this situation is beginning to ring bells in our minds? 

While you strain your ears to hear those bells, remember that God’s Word does tell us what the tongue is connected to!  

Luke 6:45 – “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.” 

I trust that that verse set the bells off, clanging loudly, so that you already know the solution to the problem of taming our tongues. Yes, this requires more than a disciplined mind, because though a disciplined person may ‘override’ his heart with his mind for a time, when push comes to shove the tongue is connected to the heart, not the mind. When all is said and done, “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” 
 

Who then can change his heart, for Jeremiah writes: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”  

The answer, is no one! And the solution is nothing short of regeneration! We need new hearts, and a righteousness that Christ has earned for us, to be able to tame the tongue and have control over it. We need our hearts to be filled with Christ’s merit so that their overflow (the words we pour forth everyday without thinking), “like a spring” will pure, holy and untainted. There is NO other way!  

What is feeding your tongue? Has it been tamed, and next time your tongue runs away from you -  what will it have to say? 

Taming the Tongue (1)

Special thanks to Celeste Daily of Not Conformed for writing this first post:

“Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 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.”  James 3: 1-2(ESV)
 
Praying about this verse has caused me to closely watch the things that I and others around me say. I have discovered that we say things that praise, mock, and hurt people every single day. When we are truly happy for someone we help build them up by rejoicing with them. When we are arguing with someone we say things we don’t really mean. The tongue is a powerful weapon and words are its ammo.
 
Preachers have a responsibility to set an example for their congregation. They are responsible to teaching the word of God in a truthful way. This verse warns of the judgment preachers shall receive because of this God ordained responsibility. Preachers have been given a “power” or influence over others. With this influence comes the great responsibility to honor God with every word they say.
 
Not only preachers but every person needs to learn to bridle his/her tongue. As James says:
 
“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.”
 
If we as Christians are working to follow Christ, the only perfect man, then we need to control the things we say. Only then can we follow the example Christ has set for us.

We Shall Not Be Shaken

 A special thanks to Kaitlin Atmore of Mission Amare for writing this post. Thanks Kait

When I read missionary biographies, I often get discouraged because of the faith they had to follow God anywhere – Amy Carmichael to India , Hudson Taylor to China, Jim Elliot to Ecuador and many others.  To them, following and trusting God seemed to be like breathing.  You just do it.   No questions asked.  If you didn’t do it, you’d die.  For many Christians today though, following God is what you do when you “feel called”.   We send out missionaries who claim they’re God’s “called”.  We support them because they’re “called”. But we forget some things, namely, that all Christians are called to spread the Gospel, not just some, (Mark 16:14-20), and we lose sight of the One who called us.

Why was it so easy for the aforementioned missionaries to follow God so seemingly effortlessly?  How did the men and women featured in Hebrews 11 – The Chapter of Faith – get there?   By seeking and obeying the Lord, that’s how.  If you read the stories of Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joshua and others, you will find why they had such great lives of faith.   It was because they sought the Lord in everything.  When they didn’t seek him, they fell and fell hard.  The Old Testament is full of stories of victories attained only by the Hand of God.   Without Him, there was only failure.

In Psalm 16:8-10, David says,

 “I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.   Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.  For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.”  

In contrast, read what Jeremiah 17:5, 6 says,

“Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.  He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come.  He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.”             

When we trust and seek the Lord, we will not be shaken and our whole being shall rejoice and be glad.   When we trust man and this world, we’re compared to a shrub in the desert – dry and lifeless.  Now I ask you, which sounds more appealing?  Trusting the Lord or man?   Trusting the Lord, of course!  If we all were to trust God as much as we unconsciously trust man (i.e. sit in man-made chairs, etc) think just how much we could accomplish for His glory!  

 When we put all our faith in God there leaves no room for self-glorification too!  

Trials are sent along our way so that our faith may increase.  We have hardships so as to learn to depend on the Lord in all things.   However, it is not by trials alone that our faith increases.  When we seek the Lord in small, daily things our faith begins to grow slowly and surely.   It can be difficult to set the Lord before us always.  It’s hard to wait on Him, because we want things to be done in our time and in our way.   But the Lord’s way is best.  Let us live a life that shows this to be true.  We can because, like the Psalmist said in Psalm 16:8, the Lord is at our right hands and we shall not be shaken!