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| JAMES LESSON #52 Controlling the tongue is a matter of the heart. Remember- the fountain only has one source. When the cup is jarred � what spills out, is what�s in it. So far we�ve looked at how the tongue can change the course of a person�s life and a person�s faith. I want to look at how the tongue can also redirect or hinder the work of God. Huh? I want to pick up where we left off because if you will work at getting your heart right, you can, just with your tongue be an �asset� to the kingdom of God rather than a �destructive force.� The way that you talk � if you murmur, if you complain, can actually change the course of God�s work. You can stop something from happening in your church that might have been from God. Recently I did a New Year�s Eve concert. The evening was so filled with God�s presence. The room was lit with candlelight, - there was quietness that only God can bring. Following the concert the pastor was to present a brief message which would then lead into communion at the 12:00 hour. He began to share his message. In the middle of the message a woman stood and began to argue with him. He tried to reason with her in love and invited her to the front because he could not hear her well. She came to the front and began swearing at him and accusing him of saying things he had not been saying. He continued to respond to her in love. Elders in the congregation simply stood and began to sing praise and worship songs, quietly. Soon the entire room began to join in � in quiet but steady praise and worship. The woman grew restless, then began to sob uncontrollably � at which point, other women and the elders began to work with her. Her tongue could have disrupted what God had intended for that service � and so could the tongue of the pastor in his response to her. Instead, because the pastor exhibited such love for her, the communion service held more meaning than it would have without the event � and the healing that happened throughout the congregation was incredible. What intensified the evening was that this particular event was this pastor�s FIRST service in that church. We need to be careful. The tongue is very powerful. READ James 3:5-6 This very world of �iniquity� means that the tongue is a world of sin �in� and �of� itself. The tongue is so powerful that it can change the course of a person�s life. It can change the course of a person�s faith by leading a person into wrong or proper doctrines. It can change the course of a person�s faith in that it can redirect or hinder the work of God. And, it can change an individual�s life. In the next couple of days I want to cover several areas. We�ve already seen that the tongue can change a person�s faith. I want to take the time to look at 1) the fact that the tongue can change the course of God�s work 2) Then �how the tongue can change an individual�s life 3) And finally, how the tongue reveals what�s in the heart. James 3:7 When this was written man was proud because man had tamed so many beasts. Man had the animal kingdom under his control James is saying, �Okay- you can tame many beasts � but what about your own mouth?� Hello? In verse 8 �deadly� means �death bearing.� READ ON through verse 18. With that last verse I want to look at how the children of Israel did not create peace but created chaos that changed the direction to God�s work. First of all, flip over to Phillipians 2:14-15. READ verse 14 only. Grumbling: blah blah yeah yeah..Have you ever told your kids to do something and you got �blah blah yeah yeah� back? And you said- �Excuse me � what did you say?� And they said, �Oh nothing.� They WERE saying something. What they WERE saying was not good. They were answering back to a command that you had given them � something that you had said that ticked them off. Instead of coming back at you with full throttle, they began to murmur and grumble. God says to you and me that we are to do ALL things without �grumbling,� or without �murmuring� and without �disputing. What�s all that mean? Ok � let�s look at it for a minute. Murmur: a low continuous sound � not audible to all � continuous Grumble: to rumble as thunder with discontent: to complain in low unintelligible sounds Disputing: to argue, to question the truth of, doubt, refuse- God says you�re not to do that. Read Phillipians 2:15 � that you may be what? �blameless and innocent.� You want to be �blameless and innocent?� Close your mouth when things aren�t falling into place the way you want them to. Don�t murmur � and don�t get into it with somebody. Have you ever been complaining or grumbling about someone � maybe the Sunday morning message � (lunch conversation) � or the youth group (did you see what they were wearing? How stupid was that?) � or a boss at work � or a relative � a mom, dad, sister or brother..and all of a sudden They Walk By? What do you want to know IMMEDIATELY? Did they hear what I said? You want to know that? �hmmm..doesn�t sound to me like you�re feeling real �innocent.� Wrong- you�re guilty as all get out and you�re feeling it like crazy. God says � �If you want to be blameless- if you want to be innocent-� Do all things without murmuring and disputing. James 3:13 Here he talks about the �wisdom� that is expressed in �Gentleness� � Gentleness and Meekness: The reason you can do all things without murmuring and disputing is because you are going to walk in meekness. The definition of �meekness:� accepting everything without murmuring, complaining or disputing � (�meekness� is submission to God) Meekness was a word that was used for taming animals � for house breaking an animal- or like the breaking of a horse: when they are broken they submit to their master. When you walk in �meekness� you will not murmur, complain or dispute because you are in submission to God. �How? You�re placing the focus of your faith in the love of His heart for you. Does this mean that you can not correct or confront someone in a situation? No No No- Does this mean that you can�t disagree with someone? No. Does this mean you can�t try to talk something through and pray about it? No. James is talking about murmuring and disputing. Listen to your conversations. I dare you to try to make it three days without complaining �once.� Try making it three days without �disputing� over something �once.� Think back over your last week � what were the conversations at dinner time like? What was the conversation before school like? What was the conversation over lunch at the office like? Who�d you have for lunch? Who�d you have for dinner? Who�d you have over a cup of coffee? How many pieces of your pastor did you remove on your way home from church? What about your Sunday school class leader or your boss? How many pieces are left of them after you�re done talking? What about your husband? Your wife? Get this: As you murmur, complain and dispute about people and issues that you don�t particularly like � things that are going on in the office � things that are going on at home � things that are going on in the youth group � things that are going on at church- sparks can fall off of that conversation and those sparks can drop on very very dry wood � dry wood that can burn down the office � destroy the home � fry the youth group � and burn down the church � stopping the work of God. Your words can actually change the course of ministry that�s happening. As you go through the next couple of days I want you to pay careful attention to your mouth � spend time �listening to your words� � how much of what you say falls into the �complaining� box? How much of what you say falls into the �grumbling� box? How much of what you say falls into the �dispute� category? Question: Are you �counting it all joy?� � How do you get a handle on all this stuff? Hang on � we�re going to go deeper! Loving you, Robin � copyright 2001 Jim and Robin Hibschman |
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