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"CHECK YOUR TONGUE!"
JAMES 3:2-9

A BRIEF MEDITATION BY PASTOR DAVE RING
LOS ALAMOS FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
SUNDAY MORNING, JULY 29, 2007

Epistle Scripture Text: 2We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check. 3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. (James 3:2-9, New International Version)
Meditation: Shortly after I was appointed pastor of Harwood United Methodist Church in Albuquerque, which was my first full-time senior pastoral appointment, the choir director came to me with a lament. "We just don't have enough men in our choir to perform the music properly. Can you come to choir practice Wednesday night and help us out? We're really hurting!" I said I would come.
Wednesday evening arrived and as promised I attended choir practice, adding my bass voice to the group. After practice the choir director came over and patted me on the shoulder. With that, he said, "Dave, we're really hurting, but we're not desperate."
I'm a preacher, and you have to be pretty thick-skinned to stay in my line of work. But I have to admit, that choir director's callous remark really got to me. Fifteen years and four congregations would pass through my life before I again dared to sing in any church choir.
The apostle James, in the Biblical letter which bears his name, sternly warns us to keep our tongues in check, lest we give offense. Hurtful words, like toothpaste once the tube has been squeezed, can't easily be taken back.
A year-plus into my service here, I've discovered that there are more than a few individuals in this congregation who can be less than careful with their words. By now, decades after that Harwood experience, I've personally developed a genuine turtle-shell in regard to callous remarks. So I'm not saying this on my own behalf. I'm paid staff; I expect to be abused. But most of the folks who serve this church are volunteers - ordinary laypersons. And a hard-working volunteer doesn't deserve to be criticized, especially by someone else who's not lifting a finger to do anything.
Instead of criticism the people of God are admonished, in Hebrews 10:25, to "encourage one another." Early this year, on a mid-January Sunday, I pointedly asked everyone present to speak naught but affirmation among one another for the following six months. Those six months have passed, so I now renew that same appeal. Let's check our tongues and make sure we're lifting up, rather than putting down, our fellow followers of Christ. Amen.

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