When I was a young Christian two inter-related events occurred in the church I attended.Two ladies, a rather staid woman in her mid forties and her equally staid daughter, arrived in the church. Both seemed a bit odd and mildly eccentric. A few months later I was told that both had been asked to leave the church, a sort of mild excommunication I suppose. When I enquired as to the reason for this sudden departure I was told that they had been asked to leave because of their gossip and slander.
It was about this time that the pastor gave a few sermons on the use and abuse of the tongue. I suppose I have listened to thousands of sermons in my lifetime, most of which I have totally forgotten, but these sermons remain in my memory to this day. I still have a very tender conscience whenever I am tempted to pass on a juicy morsel of gossip or to say anything uncharitable about a fellow believer. Unfortunately I must admit that I have been times when I have failed to live up to what I was taught at that time. The urge to gossip is a temptation that bugs everyone of us at times.
The Bible has s surprising amount to say about the use of the tongue. In the Old Testament alone the word is used over 200 times. Its importance can be seen in crucial places in the New Testament as well. Our very salvation is caught up with the use of the tongue, as can be seen in Romans 10:8-15. The passage states "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" for " the "with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Internal assent is not enough; confession with the tongue is essential.
But what I want to deal with is the wrong use of the tongue. The passage dealing with the matter is found in James 3:2-12, the passage my pastor based his sermons on. These verses are worthy of deep study. They are written in passionate elegant Greek worthy of a classic Stoic diatribe.
I shall add comments on the passage in my next post.
