James 3:1-12: a reflection

1Let not many of you be teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment. 2For we all stumble in many things. Anyone who doesn’t stumble in word is a perfect person, able to bridle the whole body also. 3Indeed, we put bits into the horses’ mouths so that they may obey us, and we guide their whole body. 4Behold, the ships also, though they are so big and are driven by fierce winds, are yet guided by a very small rudder, wherever the pilot desires. 5So the tongue is also a little member, and boasts great things. See how a small fire can spread to a large forest! 6And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by Gehenna. 7For every kind of animal, bird, creeping thing, and sea creature is tamed, and has been tamed by mankind; 8but nobody can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men who are made in the image of God. 10Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11Does a spring send out from the same opening fresh and bitter water? 12Can a fig tree, my brothers, yield olives, or a vine figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh water.

James gives a searching meditation on the tongue, that small member with outsized power. It is like a bit that steers a horse, or a small rudder that turns a great ship; small, yet it directs the whole. It is like a tiny spark that sets a great forest ablaze. The tongue is a little thing, James says, but it can accomplish enormous good or enormous harm. And he names a particular inconsistency: With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people made in God's image. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

Notice two things James presses. First, the outsized power of the tongue: a small member that can set great fires, do great damage or great good. And second, the inconsistency he calls us to correct: the same mouth blessing God and cursing people, praising in one moment and tearing down in the next. A spring, he notes, does not pour out both fresh and bitter water; yet our mouths do exactly that, and it should not be so.

Both are worth taking to heart. The tongue is small but immensely consequential; a careless word can start a fire, wound deeply, do lasting harm, and a good word can build up and heal. So it must be watched and governed. And our speech should be consistent: if we bless God, we should not with the same mouth curse the people he made in his image. Examine your speech for that inconsistency, praising God and tearing down people. Guard your tongue, small as it is, for its power is great; and let the same mouth that blesses God also bless, rather than curse, those made in his image.

Lord, James shows me the outsized power of the tongue, small as a spark yet able to set a great fire, and the inconsistency of blessing you with the same mouth that curses people made in your image. Guard my tongue, for its power is great; help me watch my words, knowing a careless one can wound and do lasting harm. And make my speech consistent: let the mouth that blesses you also bless, not curse, those you have made. Tame my restless tongue, which I cannot tame myself, and let my words build up rather than tear down.