Concord Minute: Speech therapy for unbridled tongues

“So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 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 3:5-6 ESV

James speaks the truth, as harsh as the truth might seem. How often have you or I been hurt by someone’s gossipping of us? How often does our reputation get undermined by the whispers and murmurings of those around us? On the one hand, the community (whether church, town or home) needs to talk about others to know how to handle or respond to their situations.

On the other hand, the community needs to bridle the tongue to prevent undue destruction. James invites his readers to engage in some speech therapy to bridle their tongues.

By way of analogy, James compares the unbridled tongue to a forest set on fire by a small flame. How very true! Once the gossip starts, there is no turning back. Once you have spoken negatively about someone else, you have lost control of that information. You can only control one person in this world: yourself. In choosing to gossip about someone, you and I cause a worldof hurt not just for others but ourselves. The whole forest is set ablaze. All life is affected by our words. That is the grave danger and misunderstanding about gossip: the entire community is at risk of devastation, not just the person you or I are talking about with our confidant.

Gossip and slander destroys the reputation of our fellow man. Both ruin communities (whether of faith or secular). How quickly are our leaders in church or state brought to nothing by allegations and gossip! How quickly are families torn apart by the murmurs of the few. How quickly is the whole body corrupted by such a small member!

What to do? We all need some speech therapy. This type of speech therapy restores our tongues. This type of speech therapy replaces our tongues of poison with the tongue of the perfect one: Jesus Christ. When the church is made anew by God’s grace in hearing the Gospel, her tongue is loosened to speak as Christ spoke and still speaks today. With Her Lord, the church’s tongue sings His praises and speaks well of those around her. By Her Lord’s sacrificial death at the cross and with His own tongue murmuring “it is finished,” the church’s tongue is restored. Jesus at His cross and tomb overcame our unbridled tongues caused by our sinful hearts.

Thanks be to God that Jesus lives and reigns today. Blessed be Jesus who teaches His church how to speak by His Word and Sacraments. Through James, Jesus offers speech therapy for unbridled tongues. Through James, Jesus invites you and me to engage in some speech therapy.

May you and I continue to bridle our tongues in order that we would sing His praises and speak beneficially of all whom we encounter!

The Rev. Matthew Berry is pastor of Concordia Lutheran Church in Sikeston, Missouri. Based in Sikeston’s Historic North End, Concordia is a member congregation of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), a theologically conservative, biblically sound, Christ-centered church.