How Dangerous?

 In some instances, the level of danger something poses is subjective. It depends on your comfort level with less-than-ideal circumstances and whether you’re comfortable with a bit of danger as opposed to none. My wife went skydiving a few years back. I’d never consider it. Her tolerance level for risk is much higher than mine, and now that we have the girls, she would not entertain the idea of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane anymore, either.

That said, some things are dangerous regardless of whether or not someone agrees with the conclusion, like live electrical wires, hungry crocodiles, or meddling mothers-in-law. You cannot minimize the danger they pose, nor does ignoring it make them less dangerous.

James insists that the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity; it defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of nature. This isn’t someone burning themselves with McDonald’s coffee and forcing the chain to put ‘contents might be hot’ stickers on everything. This is a danger the likes of which you would do well to avoid at all costs because it’s perilous to no end.

The tongue can make peace or bring about war. An unregenerate tongue is more likely to bring about war than make peace because it is set on fire by hell. Nothing good can come from something wholly evil. A tongue that is set on fire by hell cannot comfort, heal, bring joy, peace, or conciliation. Destruction is its only objective, and it will use any means at its disposal to bring about its desired result.

We’ve all run into those types of people, where you’re trying your best to make rational arguments, you’re finally starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel and think you’re making some headway, then they switch it up on you, put up a straw man, veer the conversation in another direction all so they could keep on their merry way. But you agreed with me thirty seconds ago. Why are we now trying to crank it hard left into the cornfields?

James does not mince words or try to soften the blow of how dangerous the tongue is. He makes it clear so that there is no confusion and that those who read his words would take the bridling of their tongue as a serious matter rather than something they can put off or do at a later date.

Since he does not expect anyone to take his word for it, James then goes on to explain why the tongue is so dangerous a member and why we must do our utmost to ensure that when we speak, it is with wisdom rather than in haste.

James 3:7-8, “For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.”

Once you understand what the tongue is, you take steps to mitigate its influence and its ability to run amuck. The tongue is not full of daisies, puppies, and rainbows; it is full of deadly poison. It’s not just poison that will put you to sleep, give you a tummy ache, and make you throw up in your mouth a bit; it has the potential to kill you. It’s deadly. Whether or not you’re strong enough to get through it, survive it, and come out the other end depends on your constitution, but be aware that many have perished from the poison of the tongue.

This is why I have the utmost respect for those who have either become immune to the poison of the tongue altogether or have built up such a tolerance against it that nothing fazes them. It’s a skill too few possess, and you can see it when someone just doesn’t get bothered by the words thrown at them like so many blazing spears. That sort of constitution is rare and should be highly coveted.

Who’s throwing the spears comes into play more often than not because when a friend rather than an enemy is throwing the spear, it tends to land with greater frequency and hurt a bit more, even though it’s the same spear.

Be wise enough to discern when someone is using their tongue to drip deadly poison into your life and when they are attempting to bring healing. Take every conversation at face value and assess it for what it is, not for what you remember the individual to be, because no man can tame the tongue, and men's loyalty can turn on a dime.

There are moments when something happens between thought and word, between that almost instant journey from inception to verbalization that is baffling and troubling. You thought to say one thing, but something wholly different came out of your mouth. For example, when your wife asks you how she looks, and you think to say she is so radiant that she makes the stars and the moon slink off in envy, but all that comes out is that you look okay.

When we are aware of how dangerous something can be, we are naturally more cautious. Not wanting anyone to be caught unaware of how unpredictable and destructive the tongue can be, James continues hammering the point that it should not be taken lightly or whose danger can be minimized.

If you’ve ever been on the wrong end of a sharp tongue, you understand exactly what James means when he says it is an unruly evil full of poison. If you haven’t, consider yourself fortunate, a rarity among men, someone so sheltered and removed from society as to be compared with the Japanese soldier who spent 29 years in the jungle because he refused to believe the war was over.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.