“So the tongue is a little member and boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire!” (James 3:5)
I can’t read this verse without thinking of a story one of my professors told about his seminary days. At the University of Chicago Divinity School, students regularly preached in the chapel. Outside the chapel (near the lunchroom) was a sign that listed their sermon title and their name right below. My professor was preaching on this passage from James. He kept his sermon title short and sweet. So, there above his name on the sign outside the chapel, was “A Little Member.”
It’s not the first time or the last time any of us have been embarrassed by our little member. Most of the trouble I have gotten in, most of the damage I have done, has been done by my tongue – the little member about which James warns us. A little member with an out-sized influence.
My favorite biblical passage about the dangers of wayward speech is Psalm 39. The author expresses a resolution to “keep a muzzle on my mouth,” but the resolution fizzled out like so many January 1st pledges to go to the gym every day. “I held my peace to no avail… my heart grew hot within me. While I mused, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue.”
No one likes the silent treatment, but I sure wish I was better at giving it. Better to dish out silence than to speak when the fire burns.
It’s axiomatic that preachers are talkers, but there’s a difference between the careful presentation of a sermon and ordinary talk. I’m a talker, especially when I’m trying to figure something out. I talk to hear what I’m thinking. (This kind of talk is often better done without witnesses present, something you would think I would know by now.)
The worst kinds of talk I ever engage in are defensive talking. Feeling scared or threatened is a precarious time to talk.
Psalm 39 goes on to recognize that instead of talking when feeling threatened, the best antidote is trust in God.
Feeling threatened and fearful can lead to self-justifying babbling, or worse, it can lead to verbal attacks on those who are opposing us.
The person who trusts in God — really trusts — doesn’t allow this anxiety to bubble up and spill out into speech. We can trust that God has our back, even when we’re misunderstood or maligned or attacked. Knowing this relieves us of the necessity of battling with our little members.
Prayer: I’m sorry for the thoughtless and harsh words, for throwing a sharp elbow with a snide remark, but it’s my lack of faith that I regret most of all. You have already spoken for me in Christ; I don’t have to answer every challenge. Amen.