These things ought not so to be

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 yields both salt water and fresh. – James 3.7-12

Man has tamed all kinds of animals. You can go to shows and see all kind of tamed lions and tigers and bears (oh my), dogs, cats, seal, whales, rats, and so on and so on. But, as James puts it, no one can tame the tongue. 

And why is that? Because it is an ‘unruly evil.’ It is full of deadly poison. Poison is so destructive because it spoils everything it comes in contact with. James uses the illustration of a water spring that gives pure clear sparkling water and bitter poisonous water at the same time. It just can’t happen. It makes no more sense than a grapevine that bears figs. It is not natural. 

How does Paul illustrate this sin? ‘With the same mouth we bless God and curse men who are made in the image of God.’ 

What a horrible thing to think about. And yet it is one of those things we see all the time and of which we have all been guilty at one time or another. I don’t know, maybe it is me just getting soft in my old age, but it seems like there is more mean talk among believers than I have ever seen. It seems like some believers are always in ‘sic ‘em’ mode when it comes to each other. We go to church and praise God and say amen and all that, and yet at the same time it seems like we have a hard time saying anything nice about each other. 

James puts it perfectly – ‘me brethren, these things ought not so to be.’

We need to watch our mouth, or as the psalmist put it – ‘Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;

Keep watch over the door of my lips.’

We spread enough poison. Let’s turn our words into holy, pure, and edifying words so the poisonn cannot spread.