Friday, September 15, 2023

Today’s Scripture Reading
James 3:1–12

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet 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 exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no one can tame the tongue — a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh. (NRSV)

Reflection
James is what’s known as a “general epistle,” addressed to Christians and churches across a wide geographical area. It is addressed to “the twelve tribes who are scattered outside the land of Israel” (Common English Bible). This means it lacks the community-specific instructions that characterize many of the New Testament epistles in favor of more broadly applicable advice and instructions (albeit to an audience presumed, it seems, to be entirely Jewish). It is often compared to Jewish wisdom literature, and it was likely written by James the brother of Jesus.

In this passage of the letter, a caution to would-be teachers yields to a screed against the human tongue as an instrument of evil and deadly poison. Whoa. The language feels extreme, and it misses a chance to praise the good things speech can accomplish (doesn’t Proverbs say that “the speech of the upright delivers them?”). Still, I suspect all of us have direct experience of speech — our own or someone else’s — that fits James’s description of the tongue as a menace to society. Especially since technology has extended the reach of speech to printed text, broadcast media (radio and TV), and, perhaps especially, online digital media like YouTube or TikTok, Facebook, or Twitter. No one seems able to tame their tongue online.

So what is to be done? A monastic vow of silence would certainly curb the problem, yet the counsel of James is not to disable speech as an instrument but rather to guide and tame it. In some settings, this will require silence (perhaps Thanksgiving with the relatives who can’t restrain themselves from discussing politics). But in other situations we might be called upon to exercise special care and caution in our word choice. Prudence and discretion seem to me to be the values we should seek in perfecting our speech.

It’s helpful to call upon the Hebrew wisdom literature that some see reflected in the letter of James here. A smattering of proverbs related to speech offer quite direct and useful guidance for how we talk:

When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but the prudent are restrained in speech. (Proverbs 10:9)

Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. (Proverbs 4:24)

The words of the wicked are a deadly ambush, but the speech of the upright delivers them. (Proverbs 12:6)

The wise of heart is called perceptive, and pleasant speech increases persuasiveness. (Proverbs 16:21)

Do you see someone who is hasty in speech? There is more hope for a fool than for anyone like that. (Provberbs 29:20).

And also this, from Ecclesiastes: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: ... a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.”

Prayer
In the beginning was the Word, O God, with you, as ... you. You are the Word that creates us and redeems us, the Word that calls us and sends us. May our words (as well as our restraint) extend welcome and grace, hope and healing, to all who hear us. Amen.

Written by Rocky Supinger, Associate Pastor for Youth Ministry and Worship

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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