Size is No Indicator of Power
James 3:3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us,
we guide their whole bodies as well.
we guide their whole bodies as well.
Have you ever ridden a horse? Horses make me nervous. I love dogs, I’m not even going to talk about cats, but horses make me nervous because they’re quiet. You don’t know what they’re thinking, and they’re huge. I wouldn’t ind one of the tiny ones, but the big ones make me nervous. You have to pry its mouth open and shove the bit way back past its teeth all the way into its jaw, and I have no interest in doing that, because horses can bite, and they bite hard. But once you get this little piece of metal in its jaw and you have the reins, the horse will go anywhere you want it to go! Just with that little piece of metal you’re guiding a horse that weighs hundreds of pounds.
James 3:4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds,
they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.
they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.
I have a picture for you. This is the world’s largest ship, unloaded.
This is what it looks like loaded down. (Yes, the name on it is different, but it's the same ship. It's been renamed several times.)
Fully loaded like this, the displacement is 650,000 long tons. Now, I would have loved to be a pirate but I have no idea what the difference is between long tons and short tons. It’s also 100 feet tall, about 10 stories, 225 feet wide, and 1,504 feet long. If you stood it on end, it’s taller than the Patronus Towers in Kuala Lumpur. It’s taller than the Empire State Building and the Sears Tower. 1,500 feet is a long, long way! This ship would be taller than these towers if stood on end.
And this ship is controlled by a rudder that weighs 230 tons. That seems huge, but if you do the math, that rudder is less than 3/100ths of 1% of the size of that ship. It would take 10 more rudders just to get to 1% of the size of the ship.
James 3:5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
Can any of you touch your nose with your tongue? Tongues are small.
James 3:5 How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!
We have firefighters in our audience. I’m the chaplain for the fire department. What does it take to start a forest fire? One cigarette. One match. You could put it out with your finger, but throw it in a dry cornfield and see how fast it takes off. How long does it take for a fire to spread in a house? Seconds.
James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire
Your words can destroy people, or they can speak so much life into people. If I look at my family’s history, I was the first to graduate college, then I got a master’s degree, then another master’s degree from seminary, then started a church. One of the reasons that I’m always thinking big and dreaming of new ideas, and one reason I do is because no one has ever told me “You can’t do that.” What happens when you have an idea and you’re so fired up and tell it to someone who trust, and they say “You can’t. It’ll never work.” You are completely deflated by just a few sentences. You’re now questioning your dreams and everything you did by those words from a trusted friend.
One the other hand, I told the wives in a marriage conference I taught recently, “Ladies, wives, when your husband knows that you are standing by him, and when you speak words of encouragement to him. When you build him up instead of tearing him down, your husband feels like he can go out and conquer the world.” There is great power in your words.
One the other hand, I told the wives in a marriage conference I taught recently, “Ladies, wives, when your husband knows that you are standing by him, and when you speak words of encouragement to him. When you build him up instead of tearing him down, your husband feels like he can go out and conquer the world.” There is great power in your words.
James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.
The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body,
setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.
The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body,
setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.
Words of death can come from your lips. Words of destruction can come from your lips. Words of annihilation can come from your lips. When we’re at war, how do you know when it’s time to drop the bomb? You get a phone call, maybe even from the president, and he says, “Do it.” He gives words, which set off a chain reaction that change lives forever. Your words, that you speak every day, are more powerful that you could ever imagine.
Sometimes we tell jokes, and say we’re just kidding, but there’s always, always a little truth in every joke. Why are there so many mother-in-law jokes?
Sometimes we tell jokes, and say we’re just kidding, but there’s always, always a little truth in every joke. Why are there so many mother-in-law jokes?
James 3:7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature,
can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind,
can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind,
How? By using words! I have a pug named Bubba Gump the Pug. When I tell him to sit, he sits. Just with words.
James 3:8 but no human being can tame the tongue.
It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
“I love you, Jesus! I hate that person!” God created that person! How dare you cast that kind of judgment, have that kind of attitude, that kind of mentality, to think that you can praise Jesus, and then say that person should die. They were created in his image! As a parent, think about this: if you have multiple children and one child comes to you repeatedly saying that they love you, and they’re constantly in battle with their siblings, physically fighting or verbally attacking, but come back and say, “Oh, I love you so much!” DO you? Look what you’re doing to my child! How can you say you love me, and not love my child?
That’s what God the Father is thinking about us right now, because we are so ready and willing to spew hate and nastiness out of our mouths towards others who have maybe harmed us, toward people who may be different than us. They’re different from us, they’re openly in sin! Do they know Jesus? No? Then why would you expect them to act differently? If they claim to know Jesus, then go to them lovingly and talk about it, tell them what they’re doing isn’t right and show them the scripture. But anybody else, don’t expect them to act like Jesus if they don’t know Jesus!
That’s what God the Father is thinking about us right now, because we are so ready and willing to spew hate and nastiness out of our mouths towards others who have maybe harmed us, toward people who may be different than us. They’re different from us, they’re openly in sin! Do they know Jesus? No? Then why would you expect them to act differently? If they claim to know Jesus, then go to them lovingly and talk about it, tell them what they’re doing isn’t right and show them the scripture. But anybody else, don’t expect them to act like Jesus if they don’t know Jesus!