James 3:5-6—Fire-starter
…the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. James 3:5-6
The human tongue. It’s as potentially lethal as a can of gas and a lighter in the hands of an arsonist. Let’s break these two verses down to take a closer look.
- The tongue is a small part of the body.
- Despite its tiny size, it boasts of great things.
- A huge forest can be set aflame by a tiny spark.
- The tongue is a fire.
- The tongue is a world of iniquity.
- The tongue is positioned in the body as something that can defile the whole thing.
- The tongue can set the course of your life on fire.
- That fire is set by hell.
The tongue is small, but boasts of great things. “…the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches” (NLT). If you talk big, can you follow-through big? This reminds me of what Jesus said: “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’” (Luke 14:28-30).
A huge forest fire can be started with a tiny spark. This is Smokey Bear’s mantra. A tossed cigarette butt, a smoldering campfire, an errant firecracker, a small spark created when a dangling chain on a speeding semi strikes the concrete—each event has created massive forest fires. Often innocent but neglectful actions can create disorder, destruction, and death.
The tongue is a fire. Have you ever tossed out your words like a discarded cigarette butt? Do you sometimes leave relationships smoldering like partially-doused campfires by the words you’ve said, figuring “It’s all good—I don’t have the time to hassle with it now, anyway”? Have you ever set off fireworks with snippy or snarky remarks? Do you allow the dangling, partially broken-off, metallic baggage and bondages of your life to strike the highway as you speed along your way, setting fires by the sparks created in your wake?
The tongue is a world of iniquity. “It is a whole world of wickedness…” (NLT). Yes, this is talking about your tongue. And mine. Makes you think, doesn’t it?
The tongue placed in your body can defile the whole thing. What can the tongue—or your words—defile? Your whole body; your entire life. Some synonyms from other Bible versions for the word defile are “poison”, “corrupt”, and “contaminate”.
It’s safe to say, then, that your words can defile, poison, corrupt, and contaminate your whole life.
The tongue can set the course of your life on fire. Watching news coverage of some of the huge wildfires which consumed vast regions in recent years, you know that once a fire starts, it becomes treacherously difficult to put out. Your words—whether throw-away, angry, or intentionally demeaning—also have the power to ignite the course of your life—or someone else’s—on fire.
The fire is set by hell itself. The Phillips version has a different interpretation of this thought which is worth noting. It reads, “…it can make the whole of life a blazing hell.” Think of all the young people tormented—many to the point of suicide—through the words of careless peers on social media. However, most other Bible versions simply express that the fire which is started by words is set, ignited, and master-minded by hell itself. Makes me wonder: What—or who—really directs the tongue much of the time?
Your tongue, though it is small, has incredible potential to destroy your life or someone else’s. Your words are intensely powerful whether you believe it or not; controlling horses and ships is a walk in the park compared to managing your own tongue (see http://www.firstofallpray.com/?p=6072 ).
Peter, another apostle like James, understood this as well. He quoted the Psalms when he wrote, “…the one who desires life, to love and see good days, must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit” (1 Peter 3:10, emphasis added).
The Message Bible pulls no punches. It interprets James 3:5-6 this way:
A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.
May God grant us the grace, wisdom, and restraint we need to manage our words wisely!
Dorothy