IS YOUR RELIGION ANY GOOD?

(James 1:26)

Introduction:

A.               Last week the Sunday Morning Auditorium class completed a study of the book of James.  I had the opportunity to sit in on a portion of the classes for two weeks.  What a wonderful study!  The book of James gets to the heart of Christianity.  It deals with the question of how to make your religion a practical matter that is lived out in everyday life.  In essence it confronts us with the question, “Is your religion any good?”

B.               Without hesitation or delay in chapter one and verse 26 James sets forth a basic premise which he develops in the following chapters of the book, “If anyone among you seems to be religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.”  We are going to pursue that thought this morning as we study together about the importance of bridling our tongues.

C.               Have you ever entertained the thought that YOUR religion might be useless?  Yes, it is true, the value of your religion is tested by your ability to control your tongue!  Regardless of how religious you may seem to be, if you have never learned to bridle your tongue, the Bible says your religion is useless.  All of the devotions we offer to God, all the prayers we pray, all the songs we sing, all the Bibles we read, and all the good works we do are of ABSOLUTELY NO value, if we cannot control our tongues.

D.               

1.         The Bible says, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold, in settings of silver” (Prov. 25:11).

2.         But on the other hand, “A fool’s lips enter into contention, and his mouth calls for blows.  A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul” (Prov. 18:6-7).

3.         We need to consider the impact of our words that are often used as a tool to inflict pain and cause hurt, to tear down and destroy rather than to build up and encourage.  

E.               The tongue is one of the body’s most important and effective members when it is used properly.  With the tongue we can encourage and edify, comfort and console, counsel and correct, praise and pray, give thanks and teach.  We are made better by all these things.  Others are helped and good is accomplished.  “The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, given by One Shepherd” (Ecc. 12:11).

F.                But when the tongue is used improperly and words are spoken which ought to be withheld, it causes hurt feelings, bitterness, anger, contention, strife, violence of various sorts and, broken relationships. 

G.              The children sing, “Oh be careful little mouth what you say” and the adults sing, “Angry words oh let them never from the tongue unbridled slip, brightest links of life are broken by a single angry word.”  And both are right!  It is so important that we learn to put a bridle on our tongues.

H.              We are going to use the book of James as our text as we consider three important points that demonstrate how the tongue can make our religion useless. 

I.                   THE TONGUE, ALTHOUGH SMALL, IS VERY POWERFUL.

A.       “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.  For we stumble in many things.  If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.  Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body.  Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires.  Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.  See how great a forest a little fire kindles!  And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.  The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.  For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind.  But no man can tame the tongue.  It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.  With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God.  Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing.   My brethren, these things ought not to be so.  Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?  Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives or a grapevine bear figs?  Thus no spring can yield both salt water and fresh” (James 3:1-12).

B.       James illustrates the power of the tongue using the bits in the horses’ mouths and the rudders of the large ships.

1.       I remember as a child, learning to ride a horse, that I was taught the importance of the bridle and bits.  While a halter was sufficient for some horses, others had to have a special set bits to control them.

2.      I have also seen how beautiful sailboats are can be gracefully and accurately maneuvered by a very small rudder.

C.       More pointedly, James reminds us that a little fire can kindle a great forest fire.

1.      I have seen how much destruction can be caused a careless smoker who thoughtlessly tosses his cigarette butt out on the side of the highway.  

2.      But more powerful in its potential for either good or evil, to make peace or create strife, is the tongue of man.  “Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; and where there is no talebearer, strife ceases.  As charcoal is to burning coals, and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife” (Prov. 26:20-21).

3.      “My souls is among lions; I lie among the sons of men who are set on fire, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword” (Psa. 57:4).

a. Here David speaks of men men set on fire (probably stirred up and provoked by the words of others) whose own words are described as spears, arrows and a sharp sword.  Certainly our words can pierce and cut and destroy just as powerfully as these implements of war.

b. Again, David describes the power of words in similar terms, saying, ““Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked, from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity, who sharpen their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows – bitter words, that they may shoot in secret at the blameless; suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear” (Psa. 64:2-4).

D.       “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Prov. 18:21). 

1.      The story was told of a little boy who caught a beautiful butterfly in his hands.  He thought he would play a trick on his mother so he said to himself, “I will ask her if this butterfly is alive or dead.  If she says ‘alive’ I will crush it in my hands.  If she says, ‘dead’ I will open my hands and let it fly away.”  So he did.  But his mother replied with great wisdom.  She said, “In your hands you hold the power of life or death.” 

2.      So also, in the words of our tongues, we hold the power of life or death.

II.                SLANDER IS A SERIOUS SIN OF THE TONGUE.

A.        “Do not speak evil of one another, brethren.  He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law.  But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge” (Jas.4:11-12).

1.      C. Leslie Mitton in his commentary, The Epistle of James, (p 164), has written:  The Greek word here translated “Speak Evil Against” (katalaleo) means literally “to talk someone down,” “to disparage.”  It means speaking of others in a way that is calculated to lower them in other people’s estimation, and speaking of them in their absence, where they have no opportunity to defend themselves or correct untrue statements.  That is why in the older translations this word was often translated “backbite,” with its suggestion of a hurtful injury inflicted on a man behind his back.”

2.      I remember as a child having a shetland pony like that!  You didn’t dare turn your back on in for fear it would bite your shoulder. 

3.      “Whoever hides hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool” (Prov. 10:18).

4.      Speaking of both elders and deacons and their wives the Bible says, “Likewise their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things” (2 Tim. 3:11).

B.       Talebearing and gossip is the same thing and falls right into the same condemnation.  

1.      The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles” (Prov. 18:8; 26:22).  Everyone likes to hear a little gossip.  The talebearer has no trouble finding an audience!

2.      Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; and where there is no talebearer, strife ceases (Prov. 26:20).

3.      “A talebearer reveals secrets, but he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter” (Prov. 11:13).

4.      “A bag of feathers.”

5.      Trouble in the church! 

a. Men were gathering for breakfast each morning and gossiping.

b. A woman’s study group had to be disbanded because of the gossip.

c. A preacher’s wife was spreading gossip!

C.       There is so much bad in the best of us,/And so much good in the worst of us,/That it hardly behooves any of us,/To talk about the rest of us.

D.       Rotary International’s “Four –Way Test” for deciding whether to repeat something:

1)      Is it the truth?

2)      Is it fair to all concerned?

3)      Will it bring good will and better friendship?

4)      Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

E.        Another useful acronym is THINK:

1.      T is it Truthful?

2.      H is it Helpful?

3.      I is it Inspiring?

4.      N is it Necessary?

5.      K is it Kind?

F.        Too often the only test we apply before repeating what we have heard is this: “Is it juicy?”  Even if it is “true” we may have no right to repeat it!  A lady came to me one time with a bit of juicy gossip.  She said, “Before I went and repeated it, I wanted to know if it was true!”  She had no business repeating it either way!

G.       “He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.  Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; when he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive” (Prov. 17:27-28). 

III.             WE WILL BE JUDGED BY THE WORDS WE SPEAK.

A.       “Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of his mouth, this defiles a man” (Matt. 15:11).

B.       “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.  But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.  For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matt. 12:35-37).

C.       God cares not only about what we DO but what we SAY.  What we SAY may hurt or help more than anything that we DO. 

Conclusion:

A.    “Therefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;” (Jas. 1:19).

B.    “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.  And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you” (Eph. 4:29-32).

C.     “For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults” (2 Cor 12:20).