I have titled my blog tonight, out of the mouth, and yes you can already imagine what it's about. But my question to you, is what does that really mean to us? Do we really understand what God is trying to tell us, or do we hear the words, and just not understand, or do we just not care?
In the first 12 verses of James Chapter 3, the writer says " 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. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 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. 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! 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. 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." (James 3:1-12 ESV) Now I ask you after reading those few verses, what do you come up with. Well let me tell you why I chose this portion of scripture, and then what I feel God is saying in it
Most of you know I work in a car dealership, and I deal with all types of people. I deal with men and women who make a million dollars a year, to those who make less than $20,000.00 a year. I deal with the well educated to the uneducated. I deal with those who have great credit and those who have damaged credit. I deal with the soft spoken individual,and the one who is loud and obnoxious. I deal with all types of people, from every walk of life and every race there is on a daily basis. And the one thing I have found is that, for the most part, people in general are not bad. Most people just want to be treated fairly and feel like they can trust you. In other words, I work with the same people a preacher does in the church. From the uneducated to the wealthy, from the ditch digger to the CEO of a major corporation, preachers and car salesmen deal with everyone. The only difference is how those people act when I deal with them, versus how they act when they deal with the preacher. The sad thing is, both the preacher and the car salesman, deal with one group of people that are far worse than your everyday Joe off the street. You see for the most part, everyone I deal with is pretty nice, except one group, and that is the ones who claim to be Christians!!!! Shocked? Well don't be. I could get 10 pastors from 10 different area's, and ask them what is the worst group of people they have to deal with, and I can almost guarantee they would say the body of believers they pastor.For you see, a sinner doesn't pretend to be someone they aren't. They are the same individual outside the church as they are inside the church. But there are a lot of church members out there who inside the church they are the most saved, sanctified, God fearing individual you ever want to meet. But outside the walls they can be the most foul mouthed, dirty joke telling, cursing and screaming, alcohol drinking, judgmental individual you will ever meet. One guy in the dealership I work at says " well if I call someone and get their voicemail, and it says "have a blessed day" anywheres on the message, I know I am dealing with either bad attitudes or a trouble maker"! Now I don't know about you, but that statement floored me. Until I realized he was right. And then you come to church and you hear Deacons cursing in the sanctuary, or you go to a committee meeting and all you hear is negativity, or a deacons meeting and there is more fighting and cursing going on in that meeting than there would be at the local night club on Saturday Night. What are we thinking folks? What are we thinking? Evidently we aren't thinking at all, otherwise James 3:1-12 would be ringing in our ears.
We as Christians, should be more aware of what we say and do than anyone else on the planet. We should be above reproach. Especially for those in leadership positions within the church. Deacons, do you hear me? Pastors, do you hear me? Sunday School Teachers, do you hear me? Youth leader/pastor, do you hear me? Nursery worker, do you hear me? Children's church staff, do you hear me? LAYMEN, do you hear me. CHURCH, DO YOU HEAR ME? Better yet, DO YOU HEAR WHAT JAMES 3:1-12 IS SAYING TO YOU? The tongue is a weapon, not to be wielded lightly. The tongue is an a fire that rages out of control, needing to be extinguished. We will never be able to totally put out the fire in the mouth, but with discipline, and prayer, and accountability to God, we can prevent a lot of the damage the tongue causes.
My prayer this night is that we all would learn how to "bridle" the tongue. For like James 3:10 says " From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so." These things ought not to be so, No truer words were spoke. I leave you tonight with a challenge, which is this. For 30 days, every time you feel a curse or swear word about to come out of the mouth, ask yourself " would I say those words with Jesus standing in front of me?" If the answer is yes, then by all means go right ahead and roll on, but my hunch is the answer will be no, which means you won't say it since he is always right there with us. If you would not want your daughter or son to say it, then you don't say it. Have a good night all and God Bless.
In Christ's Love,
Bill
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