“My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.” (James 3:1 KJV)
“…be not many masters…”? “Master” as in doctor, instructor, or professor? Some translations use the term “teachers”. Teaching what? One of the first lessons is what to say, what not to say, when to say what needs said, and who to say it to. Seems like an appropriate opening to a chapter about the tongue. Yet, why, “be not”? Seems like the first thing everyone wants to do when they realize the damage that words can do is to master the tongue. Then verse eight comes along and really makes this perplexing with, “…But the tongue can no man tame…”. Not, only a few will succeed. Not, if you bite your tongue and think happy thoughts”. It simply isn’t going to happen. In fact, the harder you try the more frustrated you get. Still, we don’t want bad language, and we don’t want bridges burned unnecessarily. Sooner or later you’re going to say something albeit in body language or what you choose to continue funding.
So, if our attempts at stopping speech are likely to be futile, what does our speech reveal? Ahhh, now we’re getting somewhere. That’s exactly what our human nature doesn’t want. It’s not necessarily our tongue that we want to tame. It’s what that tongue is likely to reveal. It forces that obvious question that if my speech reveals a salty well a little deeper down, am I willing to confess that? Much less, am I willing to ask forgiveness? Turns out that confessing and asking forgiveness are the very things that Christ is looking for to completely remake that well fresh instead of salty. How much healing do we miss out on trying to manage the very thing that ought to be surrendered? We discover that as long as he is the master, he is what is revealed inside of us. When we take the reins back, it becomes obvious.
“Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.” (James 3:12 KJV)