Reading from James, chapter 3 tonight. Interesting thoughts…
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
I’ve written before about avoiding “Checklist” Christianity — that is, if you just follow these rules, you’re good. In this example, one would think, “OK, control my tongue…check.” But of course, the tongue is hardly controllable. James says as much.
So what do I do with this? Rather than strive to achieve some level of control on my own, I use it to provoke thoughtfulness (and no — being more thoughtful [check] doesn’t make me a Christian either).
The Bible is filled with directions on how to live. But following them “religiously” doesn’t make you Christian. It only makes you a [probably much] better person. In light of tonight’s passage, I can be as polite as anyone. I can speak kindly, say “please” and “thank you,” and even complement you on your beautiful dress…but that would make me no different than the plethora of polite people in the world who in their hearts hate God.
So reading James here doesn’t really help me, does it?
Well, of course it does. But only in light of how I read it (no — still not a checklist item). Am I reading it with humility in my love for God, or am I just reading it to make myself a better person?
Here’s the thing: reading it for the first will make you the second…but not the other way around. That still takes a kick from the Holy Spirit to bring you over to the first way.
Getting back to my point though — to use the passages like this that I read in the Bible to provoke thoughtfulness. Repeating myself: the Bible is filled with directions on how to live. And I can’t do them. I mean, yeah, I can [hopefully] make it through life without murdering anyone. But let’s go back a chapter in James to where he says, “whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it [my emphasis].” It’s pure foolishness to think I can get by piling up my good deeds against my bad. We all know if I can get away with that, I come out winning every time. Face it, people: I’m a great guy…in the eyes of the world. Nice enough most of the time (I say “please” and “thank you” all of the time). But if I’m honest with myself, I don’t have to look too far to see the occasional law-breaker at work. And this tongue thing…well, there’s James again: “…no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” The end.
But if I read this scripture with a mind toward God, it does work for me…by provoking that thoughtfulness (it got me writing tonight, didn’t it?). It doesn’t clean me up entirely, but it has me considering not the generic swell guy “what I’m saying is not a very nice thing to say,” but rather the much more serious, “How does what I’m saying honor God?” Because (and again, here’s James), “With [the tongue] we bless our Lord and Father, and with [the tongue] we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.” Really. “Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree…bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs?”
A salt pond cannot yield fresh water. But a heart bent on the peace of God with others can. And while at times of exhaustion and impatience (or plain old “jerkness”) I may fall, I should also be provoked in meditating on these words to think more and more first of God. Not to chalk my actions up to my noble efforts to be good, but to please the father whom I love.
Am I a Christian? Check. (Check?). I think it’s worth the read.