James - Behavior - Part 3 - Power and Peril
Date: 5/4/08
Sermon Series: James – Faith, Wisdom and Behavior
Sermon Title: Faith Behavior Pt. 3 – Power and Peril
Text: James 3:1-12
Theme: This message will focus on the way we use our speech as teachers and Christians. We will talk about building people up rather than bringing them down or gossiping about them.
Introduction: It is amazing how much trouble our mouths can get us into.
Transition:
I. Power and Peril of Teaching
a. Power
i. Teaching itself is an integral part of the Church.
1. If you look t the gospel record you will find that the word “teach” and its cognates are used 54 times in the four gospels. Of these 54 times all but one of them are referring to Jesus as teaching or teacher.
a. Jesus taught with authority – Mk. 1:22
b. Taught what was passed on to Him from the Father – John 7:16
c. He taught with purpose – Looking forward to the larger plan of God’s design. – Mt. 4:23, Mk 4:2
d. He proclaimed that the Holy Spirit would replace Him as teacher – John 14:26
e. He taught in synagogues, the temple, and people’s homes, on the plain, on the mountains, by the sea, in the villages and in the cities.
f. Jesus was and is the good teacher.
2. Christians are expected to become teachers as they mature in Christ. – Hebrews 5:12
3. Spirit filled teachers are one of the gifts of Christ to His Church. – Eph. 4 in order to train us all into maturity in Christ.
ii. So let’s try to understand the scope of what James is saying about teaching.
1. The verb that is used here is in the present imperative. That means that this is an action that is going on and needs to stop.
2. As James is writing this letter he is writing to the very early in the Churches history. There is no New Testament yet. Consequently all of the teaching which is taken place is bathed in two things: the apostles teaching and the Old Testament scriptures. So a lot of the Jews who had been raised at the feet of Rabbis were finding themselves an authority on Old Testament scriptures but a lot of them would not yet have the understanding of the completed covenant necessary to be new covenant teachers.
3. So when James says, literally “stop many of you becoming teachers,” he is telling these people that there is a responsibility and consequence to teaching.
b. Peril
i. The peril for teachers lies in the prospect that we do not take seriously the admonitions we expound. In other words because we are more aware of God’s principles we are held to a higher standard to live them out. We are judged by stricter standards.
ii. In the body of Christ we should become teachers when we have learned the self-control necessary to live out God’s principles in our lives.
iii. James goes on to say that if we are able to learn the self control that masters our tongues we can master all of our lives.
iv. James says that one who does not stumble in what he says is a perfect man - The word for perfect here means mature or complete. One of the marks of a more mature Christian is one who can control what they say.
II. Power and Peril of Speech
a. James uses several word pictures here to talk about the power of our speech.
i. It is a dominating power.
1. Like the bit in a horse’s mouth or the little rudder that controls a huge ship, our speech can determine the whole course of our lives.
2. The word which is translated “guide” in the translation I read literally means to turn about or change direction.
ii. The danger of boasting (it boasts of great things)
According to a story in the Grand Rapids Press, the owner of a small foreign car had begun to irritate his friends by bragging incessantly about his gas mileage. So they decided on a way to get some humor out of his tireless boasting, as well as bring it to an end. Every day one of them would sneak into the parking lot where the man kept his car and pour a few gallons of gas into the tank. Soon the braggart was recording absolutely phenomenal mileage. He was boasting of getting as much as 90 miles per gallon, and the pranksters took secret delight in his exasperation as he tried to convince people of the truthfulness of his claims. It was even more fun to watch his reaction when they stopped refilling the tank. The poor fellow couldn’t figure out what had happened to his car.
Grand Rapids Press.
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A sightseeing bus was making the rounds through Washington, D.C., and the driver was pointing out spots of interest. As they passed the Pentagon building, he mentioned that it cost taxpayers millions of dollars and that it took a year and a half to build. While everyone was looking at it, a little old woman piped up: “In Peoria we could have built the same building for less, and it would have been completed even sooner than that!” The next sight on the tour was the Justice Department building. Once again the bus driver said that it cost so many millions to build and took almost two years to complete. The woman repeated: “In Peoria we would have done it for less money, and it would have been finished much sooner.” The tour finally came to the Washington Monument, and the driver just passed slowly by without saying a word. The old woman was curious. “Hey,” she shouted to the driver, “what’s that tall white building back there?” The driver looked out the window, waited a minute and then said, “Search me, lady. It wasn’t there yesterday.”
Source Unknown.
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1. Have you ever noticed that people who spend a lot of time building themselves up are the most insecure people you will ever meet. Our security, our value, needs to be based on who we are in Christ. I have value not because I am so excellently qualified or so amazingly good looking or because of my incredible singing talent. I am valuable because God attaches an incredible price on my life. This understanding should be so freeing. It should out the lives God intends for us to have because we are who He made us to be.
2. This does not, however, justify a lack of self control or over indulgence or sinful lifestyle by saying that I was designed to be that way by God. God does not design people to be sinful. It should instead encourage us to move more fully into the personhood God has determined for us.
iii. It is a developing power.
1. James uses the idea of a fire spreading, or a stain which leeches onto an entire piece of fabric to convey the idea that what comes out of our mouths has the effect of ruining all of our witness and walk.
2. I think that what James might have in mind here is the danger of gossip.
If you don’t say it, they can’t repeat it. Yiddish folklore offers a telling tale about gossip-makers. One such man had told so many malicious untruths about the local rabbi that, overcome by remorse, he begged the rabbi to forgive him. “And, Rabbi, tell me how I can make amends.” The rabbi sighed, “Take two pillows, go to the public square and there cut the pillows open. Wave them in the air. Then come back.” The rumormonger quickly went home, got two pillows and a knife, hastened to the square, cut the pillows open, waved them in the air and hastened back to the rabbi’s chambers. “I did just what you said, Rabbi!” “Good.” The rabbi smiled. “Now, to realize how much harm is done by gossip, go back to the square…” “And?” “And collect all your feathers.”
From Hooray for Yiddish.
3. Gossiping has almost become the sanctified sin in the church. Sometimes we talk about people with mock concern while getting and spreading the latest news we have. Sometimes even our prayer requests are a means of gossip mongering. I think that the yiddish story does a good job of showing the spreading damage of passing along negative remarks about others.
4. Simply put gossiping is any negative remark made about someone else. The rule for the Christian is simple if you need to say something about somebody else’s behavior, tell it to them. If you cannot (with rare exception) don’t say it at all.
iv. It is a distracting power
1. James talks about the springs out of which both brackish and sweet water come from.
2. When we live hypocritical lives, lives that don’t match up with the words we say we are doing damage to the reputation of Jesus as our Lord and the person whom we represent.
Conclusion: While we have talked a lot about the problems that we can get ourselves into with our mouths, let’s not forget how incredibly powerful to build up the spoken word can be as well. Every day each of us is given the opportunity to use our words to encourage and exhort people. There are moments where we can build them up and no one else can.
