Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. [James 1:26 NIV]
James provides a litmus test to apply to our behaviour to assess whether we are following a pure religion or, as he describes it, 'a worthless religion.' He is taking about whether there is an inward change in our hearts or are we following an outward religion which has a whole set of rules and expectations all relating to how people perceive us. To bring it up to the present day, here are some examples of what might be included in this set of outward expectations.
Attending church - this is usually the starter. Church attendance is seen as a sign of religion.
Dress - how we dress when we attend church is still seen in some churches as a mark of religion (I have a memory of a preacher once telling us that it was wrong for men to wear what he described as fancy shoes - they had to be black, lacing and round-toed).
Attending places such as cinema or theatre was condemned so a religious person was not expected to attend such places
At one time, having a television was condemned - so a 'religious' person would not have a television.
Strict Sunday observance - treating the Sunday as a day of complete rest where there are many activities which we would not do.
The point is that we could keep all of these but still not have any inward spiritual experience. We could keep all the above rules and many, many more but still be totally carnal in our attitude and conduct. James goes for the jugular. He focuses on an outward manifestation that there is an inner problem. He mentions a very relevant test to apply to our lives. Are we able to control our tongues? Ouch! The tongue features prominently in James's letter. Are we gossips? Do we enjoy maligning other people? Do we take great delight in 'muck spreading' - and I am not talking about the farmers who add a country fragrance to our walks and cycles? We have heard a story about a fellow Christian and we wait for the chance to tell other people the story. Sometimes, we fail to check the accuracy or veracity (truth) of the story.
I pause as I am word-processing this blog and I am embarrassed to continue. I have to confess that I have taken part in gossip. I have also been the subject of gossip and have been offended and hurt by malicious stories about me being told which were distorted or unfounded. I would have liked the opportunity to defend myself - but that was never provided. So James is bang up to date. I am going to be blunt. Our churches are often places of gossip and slander. Our homes can be too when we have fellowship with other Christians and we indulge in gossip.
I am looking at this verse and starting with myself I need to apply a tight rein or a bridle to my tongue. I need to hold back from gossip which can be so destructive and harmful. Of course, we perceive that there is an injustice and unfairness and we feel that we need to try to sort this out. I believe that the desire for justice is God-given - it is part of being made in God's image. But we need to remember that God is a God of justice and we must leave matters in God's hands. In a church, there will be leaders or elders or pastors who have the responsibility for caring for the flock in their church. They need to discuss matters relating to members of the church. They must act in wisdom and prayerfully. But it is so easy to allow such concern to degenerate into destructive, malicious gossip. One way to filter such conversation is to pray about the person involved. The act of bringing the topic to God in prayer reduces the heat and bitterness. It forces us to present it to God in a way that will please him.
And so we need to 'keep a tight rein on our tongues.' The Greek word is only used by James and it means to lead by a bridle and so it comes to mean to hold in check or to restrain. In other words, just as a rider controls the horse and keep in in check by using a bridle which is fixed to the horse's mouth, so we as Christians have to keep our tongues under control. By nature, they are like a wild animal wanting but we must constantly keep them in check under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
James tells us that there are two consequences of not keeping our tongue in check. Firstly, we are suffering from self-deception. We are kidding ourselves that we are living a godly life but we are doing the exact opposite. Secondly, our religion is worthless. What a condemnation! I am reminded of Paul's letter to the Corinthians where he talks about fire testing the quality of each person's life work. He talks about someone's work surviving the fire and he also talks about a person's work being burned up. Though the individual is saved, their whole life work is shown to be worthless - wood, hay and stubble which will not survive the testing of fire. (See 1 Corinthians 3:12 - 15) [See also previous Day Share entitled, "Building Materials" 31/08/2021]
Photo by Violeta Pencheva on Unsplash
Comentarios