444: No One Can Tame It! ! +Quigg Lawrence

Introduction

Alright. I'm gonna take a risk today. These are my notes. This is a Bible and we are in James three. We'll see what I really know and believe. Page 1,012.

Now, just to give you a context, we're in the book of James. James is basically saying, hey, you can talk about your faith all day long, but if there's not some fruit of the Spirit in your life, if there aren't some good works, then your profession of faith is a lie. It's not true. And he gives very practical advice. Today, he's gonna be talking about the taming of the tongue.

The Taming of the Tongue

I need to read this. I need to read this. I have some issues with tongues. Some bad experiences, if you will. Kinda like when you get a wet willy, nobody likes that. You know, kids do crazy things. But I remember at Vacation Bible School, Slip doesn't know this yet, but every year at Vacation Bible School, we try to raise money for missions, and the pastors put through some humiliating act to get the kids encouraged so they will bring money to bless somebody in Jesus' name. One year, I had to kiss a fish and that was gross. A big fish with teeth. Another year, they brought a cow tongue. Now we're not talking a delicacy cooked by a culinary institute of America chef here. They took a big old cow tongue. It was huge. It had stiff hairs on it. Had moles on the top of the tongue. It's thick, nasty thing. And they threw it in a pot of boiling water, sliced it open, and made me eat it in front of the kids. I did that because I love Jesus.

But the tongue thing is rough. Can I just tell you one more and then we'll get to our scripture? Because we're all friends here. So, you never want to tell stories about people that are alive. But there was a gentleman about two decades ago that came into our church. He was a big man and he was peculiar. Like, you would think he was peculiar and he would come to the rail, and I don't know if he's like half elephant, half man, or what, but his tongue was like the size of a cow tongue and he was a chain smoker. I mean, like, think like 60 cigarettes a day, just drank coffee all day long, and that tongue did not look like yours. It was dark brown and massive. It was a beastly, wretched beastly tongue. He would come to the communion rail and he would stick it out like, and I'm like, Dave Dave Fuller was on staff and I'm like, Dave, why don't you take that rail? I don't I ain't I ain't going there. Every time you would put the bread or the host in his mouth, somehow, it ended up his tongue would move and it would touch your hand. I just felt sorry for everybody else in the rail. That was pretty rough. So tongues. Today, we're going to talk about taming the tongue.

The Problem with the Tongue

Now, I'm a smart guy sometimes and I thought, well, we'll just solve this. Let's just cut out our tongues. Like if, if that is, if the tongue is what it says, restless evil filled with poison, sets on fire, you know, it's the fire of hell coming through your tongue. But then I realized your tongue isn't inanimate. I mean, it doesn't have a spirit, it doesn't have a brain. The tongue is a device. Right? And much like if your hand offends me, you cut it off, that's really not going to solve the problem, is it? Because I can sing with my other hand. But even if I didn't have any hands, I could still do bad things without my hands. And it's the same with the tongue. Where does all this come from? It's in my notes. I can't reference them. But it says, out of the overflow of the heart, a man speaketh.

The problem is actually, so I'm not disagreeing with James, I just think he didn't think this through as maybe. But it's from the inside. The bitterness, the slander, the gossip, the things that we do that hurt people and hurt them deeply. It actually comes by way of your tongue, but it's buried much deeper. It's here. It's the heart. The heart is deceptive above all things, the Bible says. And so, yes, we want to tame the tongue, but if we're going to tame the tongue, we have to do what Saint Augustine says. We have to run to Jesus because we are unable to clean our own hearts out. And therefore, our tongue will never be tamed if it's left up to us. We're going to gossip. We're going to slander. And also, James did not know about social media. And so, like you might go, Quigg, I don't use my tongue as a weapon very often. Well, how about your fingers? I know I've written some scorchers. Could I tell you all a secret? I have a fake Twitter. Because I don't want to say anything bad on Twitter and be nailed as a pastor, but I like to read what y'all write. Friends, we have a problem. We have a problem.

Biblical Examples and Analogies

So let's go to the scriptures here. Starts out, James is gonna tell us to tame the tongue, tame the tongue. And he says, no one can do it. So that's pretty depressing. But he gives us the same advice really that Saint Augustine said. When you realize that you cannot tame your tongue and that as hard as you try to use your tongue as a thing of blessing, sin, the devil, and your flesh will cause you to use your tongue in a way that hurts people. And it's not funny but let's start, let's start reading the text. James three, page 1,012.

Says this, not many of you should become teachers, my brothers. Now, what does a teacher use? What is his instrument, if you will? Tongue. So you see, I was like, why is this in here? Because it involves the tongue. And he says, not many of you should become teachers, my brothers. For you know, we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

Well, that seems pretty unfair. I mean, if your gifts are evangelism or hospitality or administration or mercy or helps, but they're saying, if your gift is teaching, you're going to be judged more strictly. There are a lot of requirements for those who would teach God's word. Titus, Timothy, so on. The requirements are tough. They're tough. But the problem is this: when you have a man or a woman who's teaching or preaching, and they use their tongue in an ungodly way while they're teaching or preaching, you're gonna hurt the whole body, the whole body. And so it's fitting that James puts that in here. I'll just tell you the truth. A lot of people, especially when I was going through seminary, they didn't know what else to do. You know, they didn't pass pre-med. They didn't do well in their LSATs, and they're like, what can I do? Oh, I'll go to seminary.

Do you know why? Just like in Jesus' day, the rabbi is esteemed, and so, honestly, especially in the old days, a little bit less now, but if you're a Catholic or Anglican, oh, father or pastor, and so people wanted to get in that role to get the applause of men. And he's saying, look, no, no, no, no, no. Only if God calls you. If he's given you this gift, then step into it boldly. But not many of you are actually called to be teachers. You're called to use other gifts. And those who teach, they're going to be judged strictly because the way that we teach and preach can either build up and edify the people or it can tear them down.

On social media, and I'm trying to use it less, but there's some weird accounts. I will just text me. I'll tell them to you. Biblical and reformed, prostaglia or something, and they have these clips every week of pastors just uttering pure heresy, ridiculous things. I saw one the other day in the middle of the sermon vaping. I don't even know what that's about, but the point is, the point is teachers, we're gonna be held accountable. And when you get a fool in the pulpit, when you get a fool using his flesh to speak, you hurt the whole body. And so he's saying, look, you're going to be held accountable. And all of us, when we step in this pulpit, we gotta realize that we speak on behalf of the Lord. We speak his word and we need to be prayed up and we need to think carefully about what we say.

The Power and Danger of the Tongue

Okay. So, not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. And then I love this. We all stumble in many ways. Can anybody say amen? Amen. I mean, it's just true. It's not like we're beating ourselves. It's just true. We all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he's a perfect man. I don't know about you, but I've never met a perfect man except for the man Christ Jesus. He's the only perfect man. Why do you call me good? Jesus said, no one's good but God alone. God himself is good. Jesus is good.

He says, but we put a bridle. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he's a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. And it gives two examples. It says, if we put bits in the mouth of horses so that they will obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.

Now, I don't know about you, but when I first saw people putting these metal things in the mouth of a horse, I thought that's cruel. That's cruel. Apparently, horses don't mind it too much. Is that right, horse people? But what happens when you're on a horse and you go left? Well, I don't know if you're English or western, but whatever. You get the point. So, if you go this way, the horses go this way. If you go this way, the horse will go that way. You have control over the horse because he's got a bit in his mouth. He probably doesn't want it jacking on him. Okay. So he's giving that example. A bit in the mouth will control a horse. How big is a horse? Fifteen, sixteen hands tall, a thousand, twelve hundred pounds. And yet, that little bit will stir that massive horse wherever you want them to go.

So that's one example of a small thing that moves a large thing. Let's go to the next example. Verse four. It says this, look at ships also. They are so large, driven by strong winds, and guided by a very small rudder. Wherever the will of the pilot directs, the boat's gonna go because this little tiny thing, a rudder. You know what a rudder is? You've seen the rudder? That thing will move a massive ship. And so a small thing moves a big thing. And then he goes down to verse five, and he's making a connection. He says, so also, the tongue is a small thing. It's a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire. What he's saying here, just like the bit in the horse's mouth, just like the rudder on a huge ship, that small thing moves a big thing. Also, our tongue, it's small. It's small. Okay. Yeah. It's small. But it can do incredible damage.

Are you guys aware, since social media came, that people say things to classmates that are so painful, so hurtful, that kids kill themselves? Are you aware of this? Happens like, I bet weekly, you could Google it. I'm sure it's weekly. And not just kids but other people using their tongue as a weapon. And so, he's making this analogy: a bit in a horse's mouth, a rudder on a ship, and then a tongue can set a fire, a huge fire. It can set a forest ablaze. That made me think of what? Fire, blaze. California.

And so I looked it up, and so far, and I'm sure it's going to grow, two hundred and eighty-five billion dollars. Now, I don't really understand how much money that is, kind of like Congress left and right. They don't really grasp this money they're just throwing out everywhere. I don't understand 285 billion dollars, but I do understand this: 16,000 houses, businesses, or other structures destroyed. I remember when the fire happened, I knew JJ Reddick, former church member. The Reddicks were in our church. JJ Reddick, coach of the Lakers, lives in Palisades. So I didn't want to bother him, but I texted his brother, David Reddick. And I'm like, David, how's JJ? Are they okay? Are they okay? And he sent me back a video. And the video his wife took because JJ was out of town coaching. In the video, it just showed some bricks and blocks, and everything in their house was just ashes. It was all burned up. 16,000 homes, 29 people died.

And then I had to think about this. Well, what caused that fire? Was it a little boy playing with matches somewhere? Was it a telephone wire? The truth is, I don't think they know. I don't think they know. But I know this: when I was a kid, we'd go in the woods and play, and some little boy would bring out a pack of matches, and he'd light it. Next thing you know, there'd be a fire in the woods. And then the fire department would have to come.

What he's saying is, just as you've seen this amazing amount of damage done by one match or one wire falling down, so the tongue can do incredible damage. I have seen churches torn asunder because of the way people use their tongues. Torn asunder. I've seen marriages torn apart by the way people speak to one another—not blessing, but cursing, manipulating, slandering, painting in a bad light.

The Uncontrollability of the Tongue

So let's continue with what James has. It says this: 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. This isn't exactly what's that little thing everybody reads? It's kind of like Christianity light. What's a little devotional? Yeah, our daily bread. Like, I don't find this easy reading, right? They're saying this is a matter of life and death—how we use our tongue. It can be used for blessing and encouragement. I love that. When I see parents and grandparents encouraging children and grandchildren, I'm like, good job, you guys. Great job.

But also, I've seen, like, just one comment can wound somebody so deeply. And basically, what he's saying is, brothers, this ought not to be. Says, for every kind of beast and bird, reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no human being can tame the tongue. You know why we can't tame the tongue? Because it's really not about the tongue. You could literally— we could have a guy out there right now— he can cut your tongue off and cauterize it. And you know what? Nothing would change because it's not about a little thing of flesh called a tongue. It's what comes from the overflow of the heart. It's what's in our heart that causes us to use our tongue as a weapon, not as an instrument of blessing.

No human can tame the tongue. It's a restless evil. It's full of deadly poison. Maybe you've been on the receiving end of that, have you? You'd have to raise your hand, but I'm guessing you have. You're human. It says, it's a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it, we bless our Lord and Father, and with it, we curse people made in the likeness of God.

The Power of the Tongue in Action

From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. With it, we bless our Lord and Father, but we also curse people made in the likeness of God. Now, can I share a story from about 1998, Church of the Holy Spirit? So, I remember Dave Fuller, who worked here from around '96 to February. He is one of the funniest people. Nobody makes me laugh more than David Fuller. If you don't know him, you should get to know him. He's very funny.

But he was recounting a story when he was a missionary in a drug-infested area—I call it ghetto, I don't know what the appropriate politically correct word is, but you get the idea. And he was down there, and, you know, like a lot of communities, the women are strong in faith and the men are kind of off doing their own thing. He was with a bunch of women in this area, praying in a circle. And I called Dave last night to make sure I had the details right. And he said they were going, like, oh yes, Lord, Jesus. Jesus. How we praise you, Lord? You are high and lifted up. Oh, we love you. Praise you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus.

And he said, in the middle of all these women doing this, one lady spied her kid, little Jessica, doing something she didn't like. And she said, you get down here right now. I'm going to spank your honey. And then she went back to her prayer: Oh, we thank you, Lord. We praise you, Jesus. And just like that, it's in Congress—it it, yeah—and so they were basically saying, with our tongue, we bless the Lord but we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.

I won't ever forget that story because it fleshes it out, and then it goes from the same mouth come blessing and cursing. That's not just those people. That's me. That's me. And I may be a little more creative— like, I know how to put English on the ball so it doesn't really feel like I'm sinning, but I am. And I can lie to myself. But the truth is, I use this tongue for cursing and for blessing. And as James says, this thing— this ought not to be. You could set the woods on fire, but you can hurt a lot of people. You could do incredible damage.

Conclusion

Alright. So, it says, no one can tame the tongue. And it says, from the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. And then here it asks a question: does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?

Like today, if you went to the bagel area, which I love, you go to the bagel area, these little plastic things, and you're gonna put your cup under there. What are you expecting to get out of that? You know, the clear one with clear stuff in it—water. Water. Water. Right. Water.

Now, again, I go back to my friend Dave Fuller. I told him, I'm like, Dave, we're gonna tell two Dave Fuller stories today. We were about fifteen, twenty years ago. We're in my office, laughing, strategizing, praying, doing brother stuff. And I had a nice cold can of Coke. Now, it's been probably twenty years since I had a can of Coke. I mean, just don't drink that because it's pure sugar. But that day, I was drinking a can of Coke. I was happy. I was with Dave, and I had to answer the call. So sorry, Dave— that was for you.

And then I leave, I leave the room, my office, and go to the bathroom. I come back, and y’all, just like right now, I am so thirsty. So I grab my can of Coke, and I do this—boom—expecting nice, cool, delicious Coca-Cola to run down my throat. But apparently, when I was in the bathroom, Dave switched cans. I got his dip can, his tobacco spit can. True story. I'm just expecting a nice cold thing of Coca-Cola, and I inhaled it. That's just the way I roll, y'all. I inhale. And I had about six ounces of his dip spit come down.

The point here is not to make fun of Dave. The point is that when you're looking for fresh water, you want fresh water, not salt water. That's the point. You're not gonna forget that story, are you? And so, now I'm discombobulated. It says, but does a spring pour forth both from the same opening, both fresh and salt water? What the Lord is trying to say is, look, guys, you're not able. Sorry, but you're not able to tame your tongue. And the reason you cannot tame your tongue is because you cannot clean out your own heart. And so, like Saint Augustine says, after reading James three, the only thing we can do is run to Jesus. Run to Jesus and say, Lord, would you clean out my heart? Because there's some wicked stuff in there, and I may try to hide it pretty well, but my heart is deceptive above all things. Lord, would you do this?

And practically, it looks like this: when you wake up in the morning, it'd be awesome if we had videos of everybody waking up in the morning. I'll just leave it there. But I'm grumpy when I wake up. I'm disoriented. I can't see. I was just like, oh, no, no, oh, I'm just so sore. But what I'm trying to do every morning is say, God, you are the Lord. Yours is the kingdom. And I'm going to want to live for myself and be selfish and do all kinds of things. But Lord, I want to live for you and your kingdom. And PS, Lord, could you circumcise my tongue? It's not only don't use your tongue for evil—for cursing and slander and gossip—but could you use my tongue for blessing?

Could you use it for blessing? It's a practical thing every morning. And you know what? We're never gonna get it perfect, but we're putting the monkey on Jesus' shoulders, and we're saying, Lord, you help us. Clean out our hearts. Use our tongue as you intended to praise God and to bless people.

In the name of Jesus, that is our call according to James three. Amen and amen.