Verse 3 takes a bridle for an illustration, while verse 4 takes a rudder for an illustration. The tongue is like a bridle. It is also like a rudder. It is the smallest thing, yet it can exert the greatest influence. Verse 5 says the smallest fire can ignite a great forest. Verse 6 says, “And the tongue is a fire; the very world of unrighteousness, the tongue is set among our members as that which contaminates the whole body and sets on fire the course of life and is set on fire by Gehenna.” Verse 3 speaks of a bridle. Verse 4 speaks of a rudder. Verse 5 says that the tongue is a little member that boasts great things. Verse 6 shows us that the tongue is a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is a world of its own, a world of unrighteousness. Many people are redeemed; they have experienced God’s mercy, yet their tongues have never been bridled. Everywhere they go, they ignite the fire of Gehenna with this world of unrighteousness.
This is a strong word: The tongue can set on fire the wheel of nature (v. 6, ASV). Life is like a wheel; it is turning all the time. The tongue is like a fire that can set the wheel of life on fire. This means that it can stir up all kinds of fleshly activities. Man’s wrath, flesh, temper, and anger can all be ignited by the tongue. The tongue can ignite the fire of Gehenna. Many troubles flare up through words by God’s children. That is truly something from Gehenna. The tongue is an igniting fire and is a world of unrighteousness.
We must learn to diminish our words. The less words we speak, the better we are. There is transgression in the multitude of words. Proverbs advises us to have few words. Only fools are profuse in words. The more foolish a person is, the more words he has. The more lessons a person has learned before God, the more steadfast he is and the fewer words he has.
James 3:7 says that every living thing can be tamed, while verse 8 says that no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. The tongue cannot be tamed by man. It is full of deadly poison. It is an untamed evil, “a restless evil.” There are evils that can be tamed, but the evil of the tongue cannot be tamed. How foolish it is to loosen one’s tongue! If a man relaxes his tongue, he is a very foolish man indeed.
What follows is clear and obvious. One cannot bless God with his tongue and use the same tongue to curse the man created by God. He cannot bless on the one hand and curse on the other hand. A spring cannot gush out two types of water. A fig tree cannot produce olives, nor can a vine produce figs. Salt water cannot produce sweet water. The fruit reveals the tree. The water reveals the spring. A person whom God uses surely produces sweet water; there should not be any bitter taste to his words.
God’s way of salvation today is to install a new spring and a new tree in us. If I am a fig tree, I will surely not produce olives. If I am a vine, I will surely not produce figs. If God gives me something new, if He places a new life in me, surely I will produce sweet water.
In addressing the matter of speaking, we must not neglect the matter of listening.
Let me speak a frank word to all of you. Many improper words in the church would disappear if all the brothers and sisters learned the lesson of listening. The church has so many improper words because there are many brothers and sisters who want to listen to them. There is the demand; therefore, there is the supply. There are so many defiling words, criticisms, evil speakings, slanders, double-tongued speakings, because many people want to hear them. Man’s heart is deceitful, wicked, and defiled. Because the heart wants to hear these words, someone is always ready to speak them.
If God’s children know the kinds of words they can and cannot speak, they will know the kinds of words they can and cannot hear. One brother put it aptly when he said, “Many people’s ears are like trash cans.” Does anyone ever dump trash into a rice pot? No one would do such a thing. If you accept all kinds of lecherous words and do not consider them harmful, clearly you are a trash can; that is the kind of person you are. Only a certain kind of person will listen to certain kinds of words.
We must learn to listen to healthy words. We should not be led away by those who spread rumors and improper words. We must say, “I do not want to listen to these things.” Many sins will cease and many brothers will be edified if you do this. There is a lust among us for unhealthy words. This is why these words multiply. People find these words tasteful. We must be delivered from these things. If a person is saying something improper to you, perhaps you should walk away quietly and leave the speaker to himself. This will kill his interest in you the next time. Alternatively, we also can testify to him saying, “As Christians we should not speak such words.” This will stop any further speaking. We may even say something stronger, such as, “Brother! What do you think I am? I am not a trash can. Please do not dump all this trash on me.”
Many problems in the church are like Gehenna fire; they need to be quenched as soon as they catch fire. We must not allow them to spread. Many troubles related to words are actually troubles related to listening. The speaker, of course, bears a greater part of the responsibility. But the listener also bears a small part of the responsibility. The listener must learn before God to reject this lust for words. Man has a lust for words; he has a lust to know everything. If we can reject this lust, we will quench much fire from Gehenna. We should say, “I am sorry. I am a Christian, and I cannot take such words.” We will cut short the words of others. If we keep on listening, hoping to learn a little more and to probe a little more, we are fanning the flame, not extinguishing it. Many idle, evil, and deceptive words are prompted by the interest of the listeners.