Would You Kiss Your Mother With That Mouth?

When I was a boy, my brothers and I sometimes talked mean and said bad words we picked up at school. My parents let us know in a hurry that was not the way we should talk. They let us know in two specific ways that this manner of speaking was not prohibited. Sometimes, both of these methods were implemented because of a single offense if they deemed it necessary! The two means of course correction were the traditional spanking and the always classic washing the mouth out with soap. There are still debates today on which is worse! Both methods are still reminders to this day of how we ought to speak.

James knew that the tongue is a difficult beast to tame. Because of this, he warns us, “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…” (3:1-2). When we visited the Smokey Mountains, my brother-in-law, Chris, pondered as we were riding horses what it would have been like to be the first person to tame a horse. The animal is so large it could trample a person to death if it wanted to. James described by putting a bit into its mouth, a tamed horse can be rode wherever the rider so desires. He also wrote about large ships being maneuvered by a small rudder wherever the pilot desires (3:3-4). “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” (James 3:5).

James’ point is that what we say has a huge impact on people’s perception of not just us, but Christ. To those self-righteous people who do not care what others think of them and the way they talk, James gives a whole new perspective. To become a Christian means to become a priest (1 Peter 2:9). When you become a priest, you are a teacher. Whether or not your profession is teaching, as Christians, we are teachers by default. As Christian teachers, we have to tame the tongue, the most difficult beast to break. If we do not learn to tame our tongue, our world may be “set ablaze by such a small fire.” So, would you kiss your mother with that mouth?