Bridling
the Tongue
Posted 5-25-2009
“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak,
slow to wrath: 20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. 21
Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive
with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.” (Jas 1:19-21
AV)
James has been talking about trials that come and the reason they come: to
prove and purify our faith, as fire does the gold and silver. Now comes an
exhortation and warning: shut up and listen.
In the midst of trial the temptation is to speak first, listen second, think
last. Result, a bad thing is made far worse. This is especially true in church.
Every church worth its salt has some method for solving problems and working
out disputes. None of them include running from house to house, complaining and
describing our hurt feelings.
In those circumstances our words take on the character of filthiness and
superfluity of naughtiness. The word "naughtiness" used in the King
James perfectly describes the meaning of the Greek. "Naughtiness" is
derived for the word "naught' which means "nothing" or "of
no value." The basket of very naughty figs that Jeremiah saw were so
rotten they were worth nothing, or worse than nothing. A naughty child is one
whose behavior is worthless and rotten.
The phrase "superfluity of naughtiness" then is paradoxical,
"overflowing with nothingness" or possessing a great deal of negative
value. A perfect description of the things we say under stress if we do not
remember to "be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath."
We will never accomplish the work of God by the wrath of man. The wrath of man
is deadly, destructive, deadly to the Christian and the church.
The elders of the church must be sensitive to the destructive character of the
wrath of man, and not yield to it. They must be careful not to provoke it, and
to teach people how to solve disputes, using the methods described in the bible
and church constitutions. By no means must they allow people to bypass the
constitutions.
The rule of Christ in the church is through those elders and deacons and
ministers appointed by Him and chosen by the consent of the people. When people
despise these elders and deacons and ministers and bypass their government and
rule, they attack the very structure of the church and the rule of Christ in
the church. This must not be allowed, for bullies then usurp the government of
the church. In well regulated churches, there are lawful means to removed or
suspend officers who misbehave, but no individual has the right to unilaterally
resist the authority.
A person who drives through a stop sign, may not have seen the sign, and may be
convinced that he is innocent of any wrong. However, if he refuses to stop when
pursued by a policeman watching the intersection and tries to flee, he becomes
guilty of a greater offense. If he then refuses to obey a summons to come to
court and resists the officer who is sent with orders to arrest him, he has
become guilty of a great many very serious offenses and be subject to a heavy
fine and imprisonment. If he still refuses to submit in prison, his very life
may be placed in jeopardy.
If the courts and the officers, however, refuse to enforce the provisions of
the law, the very life of the society is placed in danger. The stop sign is
there for a reason to protect the life of the innocent. If the rebellious
person is allowed to run the sign with impunity, he endangers his own life as
well as the lives of others.
Thus it is with the tongue. James is going to write a long essay on the evils
of a lawless tongue [Chapter 3], but he sums up this section by saying, James
1:26 "If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his
tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain."
His religion is as empty and as rotten as the "superfluity of
naughtiness" that comes from his mouth. Men speak out of the abundance of
the heart, and will give account for ever idle [vain] word that they say.
