The Tongue - James 3:6

James 3:6 - And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. (EVS)

Last month I talked about the need for encouragement in the body of Christ. There is so much hurt and pain out in the world and the church ought to be a safe haven for the weary and worn from the journey and battle of life. Throughout the week you and I experience battles, struggles and storms that come in many forms. The enemy uses these to attempt to discourage, distract and destroy us in the body. Ephesians 6 talks about where this battle comes from and who is behind the attacks hurling those fiery darts at us. We expect the attacks from without but what about from within? How do we deal with it then and what does the Bible have to say about this?

Read James 3:1-12 – I want to focus on James 3:6 - And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. James says the worst thing about the tongue imaginable. “A world of unrighteousness or iniquity” Of course James is referring to the uncontrolled and unsanctified tongue. A little girl asked her mother which was worst; to lie or steal? Her mother explained that they were both sins and they therefore are the some. The little girl then said…”I think to lie is the worst of sins”. Her mother asked why she thought that. “Well if you steal you can take it back unless you have eaten it, and if you have eaten it you can pay for it making it right; but when a lie leaves your lips it is forever.” James says that this tongue is set among our members and defiles or stains the whole body. So one bad tongue in the body can stain the whole body? Yep that’s what James is saying; a dirty tongue make the whole body dirty; an evil tongue makes the whole body evil. James goes on to say that the tongue sets on fire, (meaning out of control) the course of our life and it is set on fire by hell. The Greek word hell here is (ge'-en-nä) this is the only instance outside the gospels were this word is mentioned. This is a Chaldean word, which is the name of a valley southeast of Jerusalem where Moloch, an idol having the form of a bull, dwelt and received children into his fiery arms as they were thrown in the fire as part of a heathen sacrifice. The word actually means “the valley of lamentation.” The Jews abhorred this place and after King Josiah abolished this place (II Kings 23:10) they began to cast all the refuse, garbage and even the corpse of dead animals and unburied criminals who had been executed in this place. Fires were always needed to consume the filth and the fire burned continually; the place soon became known as the “ge'-en-nä of fire”. Jesus himself referred to it ten times as a place future punishment for the wicked. With all that said; James is using some pretty serious words here and a pretty horrific picture as well. The same place where they sacrificed children and burned the corpse of animals, unburied executed criminals and all the garbage of the city is equal to that of gossip, unwholesome words, and unkind words, backbiting, grumbling and complaining. All evil talk James says has its beginning in hell. So the question comes to mind; do I want to be used in that way? Do I want my tongue to cause that much destruction? If not I must bring it under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We will do well to head the warning here and sanctify the tongue using it for righteousness. Think about it.

Pastor Bill

Acts 1:8

Acts 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

Recently FBC has been talking and praying about being Missional. Well; what does that mean to be Missional? It simply means that we here at FBC understand that the mandate of the Father to go in to the entire world and preach the gospel. If we are not Missional in all areas of the Acts 1:8 challenge we fail to fulfill the great commission. Nowhere in all of scripture are we called or commanded, or is it even hinted that we sit idly by and wait for them to come in. We are called to go out to the highways and byways and compel them to come in. As you read through the accounts of the early church you can see the thrust of evangelism and church planting. Let me suggest that work did not cease; it is a work that must continue today. This brings about a wide range of questions and concerns as we embark on this journey to follow the mandate from the Father. “What will it cost us here at FBC?” “What will be required of us?” “Are we ready for such a bold move?”

Let me try and answer these questions briefly –

What will it cost? Let me ask answer a question with a question…”What value do we place on souls?” If we value souls as God values them, then cost should not be a factor at all. In fact it is more a question of obedience. If God is calling us to this and according to Acts 1:8 He is, then we must learn to trust Him. At this stage of our journey we are only asking people to commit to praying and seek God as to the next move; nothing more.

What will be required of us? Commitment to pray and seek God’s leadership; you will be required to exercise faith. Hebrews 11:1 “Faith is the substance of things hoped for yet things not seen”. We obviously don’t see what God will do in all of this, but we must have the faith to believe that He is leading us in this direction. And again; according to Acts1:8 He already is. So we must take God at His word and by faith trust Him in all of this, and follow Him, obedience is all that is required of us.

Are we ready for such a bold move? What would it take for us to be ready? Will it take all the financial resources all the information and all the details already figured out before we commit to embark on this journey? Let me say if that is what it takes then we simply don’t trust God or take Him at His word. The first thing God requires of us is our obedience to follow his word and we must trust enough to leave the result up to God. So I would say since the command and call is clear, that we must take up His cross and follow after Him no matter where that may lead; and that we would trust that He will supply all that we need to accomplish the work He sets before us.

I am so excited about the challenge of taking on the Acts 1:8 call for FBC. Because that means though we may not see it all; or have it all figured out; that we as a church trust God enough to lead us into new territory. It excites me to know that we trust God enough to say we don’t have it all figured out and we certainly don’t have all the resources to accomplish the task…But God You do and we will trust You to provide where You lead us. It also excites me because it says about FBC; we care about souls! We care about seeing people come to Christ, not just in our Jerusalem, Paxton IL but in all Judea, NW Illinois and Samaria, Southern Wisconsin, and the ends of the world which may mean Africa. We certainly can not do this under our own power but as we yield to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to fill us with power we will be His witnesses and make a difference for the King and His Kingdom.

Final question – Are you Kingdom minded; Kingdom focused? Think About It.

Acts 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

John 15:15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command.

In Christ,

Pastor Bill

Pile of Junk?

Years ago my parents went to a garage sale and purchased a pile of wood for just a couple of bucks. When they brought home this pile of wood; which was really nothing but a big pile of junk; my brother, sister and I wondered why in the world they would buy junk wood. What good is it? It’s good only to be used for the fire. They brought it home and took it directly to the basement and there it sat; but soon my parents began to make trips up and down the basement stairs and it was obvious by the noise of power tools they were working on something big. We began to become more and more curious about what was going on. What were they working on? They never said a word, they just continued night after night working in the basement, and we who were not allowed down in the basement remained upstairs waiting and wondering. After several months and many hours of work my parents began to bring up out of the basement and place in our dinning room this beautiful dinning room table and chairs. Formally known as the pile of junk wood; you see my parents saw at this garage sale not a pile of wood to be cast out and burned but something of value and beauty. They saw what it was and what it could again become; beautiful and useful once again, just as it was intended at its creation. Galatians 6:1 says…”Brethren, if any one is caught in a trespass you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness”. I love the word restoration here, it simply means to restore back to its original state. Have you ever messed up in life? I mean blown it big time? The reality is; we all have. Sometimes when we blow it, we feel like that pile of junk wood, we often feel like we are good for nothing, of no value and should be thrown out in the junk pile. But that’s not the heart of God; His heart is and always will be restoration. God sees someone of value, beauty and usefulness. When you think about it; isn’t that why He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die for man kind; to restore man back into a right relationship with the Father? You may have failed in life and may feel broken and wounded because of it. You may even feel like there is no longer any hope for you because you’ve blown too big to be restored. The truth is, you can be restored and God longs to restore you, because he loves you with an everlasting love. The journey down the road to restoration is sometimes long and painful, but it is certainly one worth traveling. After all; the end result may be more beautiful and useful than its original purpose. Think about it.

Burger King Church

“The Burger King Church”

I remember as a kid when Burger King came to town, it was pretty cool; they offered things much different than McDonald's across the street. I can remember one of the early jingles Burger King had. “Have it your way at Burger King”. It was a different concept for fast food restaurants at that time. You could actually go in and order your burger the way you wanted it; and for me as a kid that was pretty cool. I hated pickles and hated taking the time to lift up the bun and then scraping off the ketchup mustard and onion from those nasty pickles as not to lose any of the good stuff. So when Burger King introduced the idea of being able to order it the way you liked it was a huge hit for me. “Hold the pickles please!”…Just the way I like it, made to order.

I wonder if this kind of mentality has crept into the life of the church. “Have it your way” where the church is all about you. We want services that make us feel good or it’s no good, made to order. Not too convicting and certainly not to long. We want the preacher to act a certain way and preach sermons we like, and the songs have to be just the way we want them. Really the list could go on but I think you get the point. So I wonder when the church became a hotel for the saints. You know where you come in and have it your way; where you get your pillow fluffed and a nice mint on your bed; the service is catered around you? Well that’s not the church at all. You have certainly heard the phrase many times already but it is so true…”It’s not about you!”… What is it really all about then? It is all about Him and Them…Knowing Him more deeply, worshiping Him and growing in His grace and then taking what we have gleaned from our relationship with God the Father and making Him known in our world. When the focus is on us, we become less productive in Kingdom work…But when we understand that and place things in the right perspective by placing the focus on Him and not us, we then grasp His heartbeat and His agenda and see the real needs around us; a world of people lost and dying in their sin. While many in the church want to have it their way, many are missing the only way….Jesus.

Do you have a Burger King church mentality?

Pastor Bill