James chapter 3

vs 1

Isn't it wonderful to know that those of us who are responsible for others' growth will be condemned all the more harshly if we do our job wrong. But really, the idea of people being judged based on their individual situation is very much a just thing to do, as well as merciful. See, our society constantly feeds us with the absolute baloney that "all people are created equal", that there's a "level playing field" and that we have "equal opportunity". I'm sorry, but that's garbage. Anyone who was born to a single parent, or who was born into an Aboriginal context, can tell you that it's not the same as being born into the family of successful millionares. Anyone who was born with a disability can tell you it's not a "level playing field" with someone who has full use of their body. Anyone who was born in Sierra Leone can tell you that it's not the same as being born in Australia. The world exists with a natural inequality. So God does the righteous, just and merciful thing of judging us individually dependant on our situations. For more in this, read CS Lewis' "Mere Christianity" as he has an excellent chapter on this.

vs 2

Don't get tied up in this verse thinking that it is talking about sinless perfection. To use a modern idiom, James is saying that the tongue is a window to the soul. After all, he says at the beginning of this verse that we all stumble in many ways! So controlling one of them isn't going to make you sinlessly perfect. But what he's talking about here is an efficiency - barring other factors, if you can control your tongue, the rest of your body should follow suit.

Remember what he is saying here, because it becomes very important later on when comparing words and action.

vs 3-4

Two more good illustrations from James to make his point. This must make James really hard to preach from! He's already done all the work for you, which would make it repetitive and hard to put your own spin on things. But positively, it makes it easier to read personally, which suggests its "Christian handbook" type role.

vs 5

Small things can be powerful. Bullets have power way beyond their size, but of course James didn't have any. He did have fire though, which is another great example.

vs 6

Woah James! You make it sound like we should rip these things out and bury them or something! Gee, I wonder where the monks got their idea for vows of silence? But the point he is making is this - if your tongue does something wrong, that wrong thing affects your whole body. And that means that if your tongue is doing something which is worthy of hell, then that doesn't mean you just won't be whistling in heaven - it means that your whole body will be in hell, tongue first.

vs 7-8

So earlier, James says that if we could tame our tongues, we could be perfect. But now he says that's impossible. You might be able to tame an Orca or a parrot, but not a tongue. James really hates tongues (not glossolalia) it would seem, and he's certainly making good on his words earlier that teachers will be judged more harshly. It is full of a "poison of death-dealing", which sounds like some magical D&D poison. So, why is the tongue so evil?

vs 9

Because it is capable of doing the work of God and the work of the devil, and right next to each other! There's certainly nothing wrong with praising God, but there is something wrong with cursing (kataraomai which is like praying, but praying that people will be cursed) other humans! Methinks James might have been on the receiving end of a bit of a tongue-lashing, and he's taking some vengance here. Worse yet, perhaps he has heard that these people are praying to God for other people's destruction.