I was reading a Bible passage the other day that really struck home.
James 3:5
So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness . . .
A longtime friend and I got into a heated exchange of harsh words not long ago and it pretty much destroyed our relationship. Few things in life make me more distraught than losing a friendship. I think we both regret that we came to a parting of the ways, but too much “deadly poison” was injected and I suppose things will never be the same. Our untamable tongues got the best of us.
My good friend C. F. Hazlewood former Director of the Texas state prison system is preaching at our church this Sunday. (You DON’T want to miss it; he preached one of the best messages that I’ve ever heard not long ago and we are lucky to get him to come to Honey Lake Church.)
C.F. used to be full of hate and anger and was far from the Lord. He was formerly in the Marine Corps and tough as nails and after serving in Iraq he left the Corps and became a correctional officer. He quickly became known for extreme brutality to prisoners.
Then he turned to the Lord and it changed him forever. He went to seminary and became a pastor and now ministers to those whom he used to viciously beat up. Not long ago I went into death row in Huntsville with him along a couple of other people and we led nine men to the Lord that day.
He told me that he’s been a preacher for 30 years and a correctional officer for the same. He told me that the meanest people he ever encountered were in churches and not in prisons.
Make no mistake about it that untamable tongue defiles churches all over America.
Actually this dilemma is not confined to just churches. I was thinking of a news clip I saw of Anthony Weiner being harassed by some Jewish men at a restaurant in New York City. You will remember him as the United States Legislator who was married with a pregnant wife who sent lewd photographs of his anatomy to several young women. He resigned from the House in disgrace for about a year and then resurfaced and ran for mayor of NYC. Soon it was discovered by the NYC press that he was up to his old tricks again and still sending photos of his private parts to pretty much any girl that showed an interest in them.
Some Jewish men were calling him a pervert, scumbag, and various other names and he asked one of them, “Who are you to judge me?”
Hmmm . . . Seems like I remember someone by the name of Jesus Christ asking that same question to some Jewish men who wanted to stone a woman caught in the very act of adultery.
I didn’t hear anyone screaming: “Anthony I’m praying for you son”. But I think Jesus would have liked that . . .
There is no question that Jesus hates sin, but make no mistake, He loves the sinner and that includes not only Anthony Weiner, but those incarcerated on death row or otherwise, those who are panhandling on the street, those caught in adultery, those who lie, steal, cheat on their taxes, the proud, those who covet, those who don’t honor their mother and father, those who murder, those who lust, perverts, creeps, and you and me.
His desire is for us to turn to Him, forego our sins, and allow Him to heal us of our infirmities, and we should emulate that attitude towards others with our tongues and deeds.
We can never win an argument or solve a problem by resorting to name calling.
I heard the President attack those congressmen who do not want to increase the spending limits for our 17 trillion dollar debt and/or fund his massive ObamaCare program during what seemed like his millionth news conference yesterday. He derisively called those opposed to him, radicals, extortionists, terrorists, and the like.
The folks on the other side responded by calling him an incompetent, inept boob, narcissist, who is as far from being a leader as the earth is to the outermost star in the Universe.
So now both sides hate each other even more, (if that’s possible), and the country suffers more while the name calling and problems escalate. Ironically the one word absent from every tongue is compromise . . . And of course that is the key that will unlock the door that is so tightly closed.
A new hire at Honey Lake told me that he ran into a former employee of mine who hasn’t worked for me in years. This guy told our new employee to remind me of something I told him years ago that has stuck with him all of these years. I’d told him that the good Lord designed the human body with purpose and it was no accident that He gave us two eyes, two ears, and just one mouth. I’d told my former employee that I interpreted this to mean that God wants us to look and listen four times as much as we speak.
Thank God we only have one mouth – Imagine how bad it would be if we had four . . .
Proverbs 17:28
Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.
October 9, 2013 – Click here to listen