WEEKLY
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An
international Sunday school lesson commentary
For
Sunday February 11, 2018
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A
DISCIPLINED FAITH
(Let
your words reflect and honor GOD)
(James
3)
When JESUS becomes the LORD of our
heart (kardia), HE also automatically becomes the LORD of our thoughts, and our
thoughts control our tongues. Not many people should become teachers in the
Christian Church, because those who teach will be judged by GOD with greater
strictness (James 3:1).
After explaining the Christian
characteristics of “patience” in chapter 1, and of “truth”, in chapter 2,
James, the brother of JESUS, now moves on to the subject of “Christian
maturity” here in chapter 3. Here he endeavors to explain the all-important characteristic
of a Christian being able to “control his or her thoughts and tongues”.
Here James begins by discouraging the
efforts, or ideas of too many people seeking to be teachers in the Church. He
reminds us that teachers are evaluated by GOD in a much stricter manner than
everyone else. To teach GOD’s Word is the most serious of undertakings, and
must by no means be taken lightly. And while it is a great privilege to teach,
such a calling comes with an even greater responsibility and dedication. And perhaps
the greatest responsibility of all is controlling the tongue with which we
teach. In fact, James says that, if we are successful in doing so, we should
also be able to control ourselves in every other area of our lives (v.2).
The mature Christian must “be patient in
troubled times”, “practice the truth”, and, “exercise power over his or her own
tongue” constantly. Our words must always reflect GOD’s wisdom, and not, the
wisdom of the world. Thereby, James is saying that, “controlled talk”, and “cultivated
thought” are both necessary at all times.
As Christians, we must not be prone to
gossip, sarcasm, or trying to hurt or destroy one another with the words that
we speak. The tongue is a small, but powerful instrument, and with it, we have
the power to direct (Vs.1-4), destroy (Vs.5-8), or delight one another
(Vs.9-12). We can use our tongue, to praise GOD, and, to curse. Or, with our
use of foul language, we can even cuss those who are made in the image of GOD.
In verses 3-5a, James uses the examples of
“a horses bit”, which is used to control the horse’s direction, and “a rudder”,
which is used to pilot, or steer a ship in any direction, even in a storm. As
small as these two items are, they are very effective in controlling the
powerful horse on land, and the massive ship in the storm. The human tongue can
be likened to that in its size-to-power ratio. It can be a great director of
GOD’s wisdom as it is taught to others, or, it can be a great destroyer, and do
tremendous damage to mankind if its teachings are false.
In verses 5b-6, James likens the tongue to
a tiny spark that can set off a great forest fire. He tells us that the tongue
can be a flaming fire full of wickedness that can ruin your whole life. It can
turn the course of a person’s life into a blazing flame of destruction that
seems to have been set off by hell itself.
Even a person, who possesses a faith that
produces many works, will still have to meet many challenges along their
Christian walk. Among the first of those challenges is to learn to deal with
the very tongue that has always been with them. The tongue can be
uncontrollable, and it exerts a tremendous amount of influence into the lives
of all people.
The term “Sticks and stones may break my
bones, but words will never hurt me” is a statement that is a classic example
of worldly wisdom, and is in fact, a lie. Words can sometimes cut to the bone,
even more deeply than sticks and stones, and can indeed, be very painful, and
can hurt for a lifetime.
The words of our tongue changes only when
our “thought process” changes. As Christians our thought process must be more
reflective of GOD, and more fixed on the will of GOD, and thereby, our goal
must be to be able to share the mind of CHRIST. Until our hearts, or, thought
processes changes, we won’t ever be able to tame our tongues, or replace “worldly
wisdom” with “the wisdom and knowledge of GOD”.
Another problem that we as humans face in
life, rather Christian or non-Christian, is that of our own “sin nature”, which
causes us to harbor bitterness and ambition in our hearts. Through the
influence of sin nature, we become moved by a worldly wisdom that aids us in
achieving worldly selfish ends, that leaves others in ruin in our wake.
Wisdom from GOD, on the other hand, directs
us into a pure, peace-loving, and submissive way of life and thinking under
GOD, that, we will not, and cannot, find through our dealings in world wisdom. We need to become accustomed to living by the GODly wisdom that
will ultimately bring us a harvest of righteousness through CHRIST JESUS. We
must learn to speak with thoughtful speech, and always let our words reflect
the wisdom that comes from GOD HIMSELF.
However, this does not mean that we won’t
ever offend others while we are defending the Word of GOD (the Gospel), with
our speech, in the world. For, the Word of GOD will often offend those who are
anti-CHRIST in their thinking. And hopefully, we ourselves, as Christians,
won’t be offended on those occasions when we too need to be “rebuked” by others
for intentionally, or, unintentionally straying from the Word of “the GOD we
say we serve and represent”, in this world.
A Sunday school
lesson by,
Larry D.
Alexander
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