James 3:2  For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
3  Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.
4  Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.
5  Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

God made man with the ability to communicate. Man did not come from the monkey. There was no such an era as the time of the cavemen. No doubt there were and still are people who live in caves or other primitive housing situations. We have many tent cities in Canada. Some people choose to live in tents or other makeshift accommodations.
In Genesis 11 God confounded the language of man because man had chosen to defy God. Nimrod led the people in trying to build a tower that would reach up to heaven. He would never have succeeded but in his vanity, he led the gullible people to join him in trying to build that tower. God stopped that rebellion by confounding the language of the people. He did not change their heart by that action, but He caused them to scatter because they could not communicate. That was a necessary judgment upon wicked humanity.
James reminds us that it is quite common for us as people to offend others with our tongues. I recall that as a child in school, there was a new family that had moved to town. Their first language was not English and the children were attending the same school I was in. Most of the children in that school were from town. Many of them attended a liberal Baptist church. However, those children knew how to swear. I remember hearing them trying to teach these new children how to swear and then they would laugh at them as they would swear. Those children obviously learned how to swear from their parents. Even though they attended church, it did not teach them the fear of the Lord. Incidentally that was my first impression of Baptists. It was not a good impression. As an adult, I learned that there are many types of Baptists and a few are seeking to follow God, while the majority have their own corrupt brand of religion.
Back in our text, we are reminded of the importance of learning how to communicate properly. James wrote that it is a rare thing not to offend others with our words. God not only gave man the ability to communicate, but He also gave man a brain to be able to think. God taught man how to talk. He created man with the ability to talk with Him and with one another. Adam and Eve could communicate with each other. Eve was able to encourage Adam to eat of the forbidden fruit. Adam knew better but he chose to listen to the bad advice from his wife, rather than the good counsel from God.
We know that the truth will be an offence to those who do not want to know the truth. A child will take offence to getting a red X next to a math question that they answered wrongly. Parents may take offence to seeing many red X’s in their child’s school work. They will sometimes attack the teacher rather than deal with the need of the child.
Bosses and employees can offend one another with their words as well. If we get angry we might say things that we would otherwise not say. However, we actually express what we are really thinking. The key to controlling the tongue is to be saved, and walking in the Spirit.
James wrote that the person who can control his words is a perfect man. The only perfect “man” is Jesus Christ. Our fallen nature interferes with that which is right and good. We see here the discipline it takes to control our words.
James noted the way that man has learned how to control a horse. A bit placed in the mouth of the horse will control that powerful animal. It hurts the horse when the bit is forced back against the opening of the mouth. The horse learns that if he does what his owner wants, that bit does not cause pain. It is a foreign object in the mouth, but the horse can get used to that, as long as it does not hurt. A well trained horse will eventually learn to respond to certain commands from the master. The master will work that bit along with his words, and the horse learns by association what certain commands mean and the master will not need to use the bit as much.
James pointed out that there needs to be some type of external force used to control the mouth of man. In verse 4 he was directed to use the illustration of a ship. A ship can be quite large. Yet a small helm will turn that ship wherever the governor of the ship wants it to go.
In verse 5 James tells us the point he is making is with regard to the tongue of man. We identify who we are by what we say. As I mentioned earlier, my classmates at school showed me who they were by the language they used. I never heard my parents swear. I did not hear swearing at our church either. I certainly heard a lot of that in the playground at school.
James reminds us that the tongue can boast of great things. Goliath boasted of his power. He defied the living God as well as the armies of Israel. He dared them to send out a man who could fight against him. He caused an entire army to shudder in fear of him. Even king Saul was afraid to go up against him. Saul and his men allowed this one man to intimidate them and cripple them as an army. The reason for their irrational fear of Goliath, was because they did not have the proper fear of God in their hearts.
We read of a young man named David who came into the army camp of Israel one day and he heard the boasting of Goliath. He asked who this man was that was mocking God and Israel. David had a different heart than Saul and his men. David had learned the fear of the Lord and his spirit was stirred within him when he heard a man blaspheming his God.
Goliath used his tongue for evil. David’s brothers took offence to his questioning regarding Goliath. His brothers did not walk in the fear of God, and they took offence to him wanting to challenge this big man. They were cowards who were unwilling to stand up to this bully, and they took offence to David suggesting that he would take that man on. David was not boasting. He was not speaking foolishly. It was his brothers that were speaking foolishly.
Our tongues can be an offence in different ways. They can be an offence because we speak the truth. They can be an offence because we speak wrongly. It is important to know when to speak and what to say.
David was taken to the king and he explained to the king how Goliath could be defeated. The king did not want to believe what David said. However, he was in a bind. The Philistines were threatening to defeat Israel. King Saul could have known God would not allow that to happen, but he did not trust in God. David told the king he would be the vessel that God could use to take down that giant.
When David approached Goliath, he reminded him that he was coming against him in the name of the LORD. Goliath did not know the LORD. King Saul had not demonstrated the power of the LORD to the Philistines. Goliath took offence to what David was saying to him. David was not in the wrong. Goliath was in the wrong. David’s heart was stirred in him and he took one smooth stone and put it into his sling and then he ran toward that giant and slung that stone at him.
God directed that stone and it hit Goliath in a vulnerable place on his forehead. Goliath fell to the ground and David ran toward him and took his sword and cut off his head. Goliath’s armour bearer was in such shock that he offered no resistance to David.
David used his tongue for good in that instance. Goliath stirred up the armies of the Philistines. They assumed he was so powerful that no one could stand against him. He also stirred up the armies of Israel and they wrongly assumed they could not win against him. The armies of Israel proved they were not trusting in the LORD and that is why they were afraid of this big man.
Goliath used his tongue as a fire and he was successful against men, but not against the LORD. David acted in accordance with God’s will and he demonstrated the power of God against a formidable enemy.
As we have mentioned, it is important to control the tongue. We cannot do that on our own. There are courses that people can take to learn how to do public speaking. They may learn how to use emphasis at the appropriate place. They may also learn how to use grammar in a better way. They may learn how to interject a joke at a certain place, etc. They will learn the art of compromise but they will not learn how to serve the Lord with their tongue.
James was directed by God to show us the need to be under God’s control. He began in chapter 1 with the need to have our faith in God. Without that in place, man will never know how to use his tongue properly. It is not a matter of being able to make the audience comfortable with what we are saying. It is not a matter of learning how to be subtle and sneak something into the subconscious without the listener even really understanding what is happening. We need to be under God’s control so that little member of our body can be a blessing to others. That is a skill no school can teach us. That is a skill we need to learn from God through the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the saved individual.
Pastor Bartel