Chapter #14
J A M E S
BIG AND LITTLE MOUTHS
WE ALL HAVE LOTS OF THINGS TO
SAY, SO LETS LOOK AT WHAT GOD HAS TO SAY ABOUT WHAT WE SAY.
3:1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater
condemnation.
2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word,
the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
3 Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn
about their whole body.
4 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce
winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor
listeth.
5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great
things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue
among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of
nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the
sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly
poison.
9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are
made after the similitude of God.
10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet
water and bitter?
12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries?
either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him show out of a
good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not
against the truth.
15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion
and every evil work.
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure,
then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without
partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace
of them that make peace.
The Bottom Line Of The Above Passage Is This !
St. Matthew 12:37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
Always, try to think before you say anything! Sometimes mistaken statements can be harmless and even funny, other times they can cause a lot of damage and are sinful. Here are a few examples of how miscommunication can happen, taken from "Bible Illustrator". Please read the Scripture references that go with each story. Thanks and Enjoy!
On a few rare occasions, a mistake is "corrected" by an even
greater mistake. The following comedy of errors actually appeared in a newspaper several
years ago.
First Day:
FOR SALE -- R.D. Jones has one sewing machine for sale. Phone
958-3030 after 7 p.m. and ask for Mrs. Kelly who lives with him cheap.
Next day the ad was "corrected" to read:
NOTICE -- We regret having erred in R.D. Jones' ad yesterday. It
should have read: One sewing machine for sale. Cheap. Phone 958-3030 and ask for Mrs.
Kelly who lives with him after 7 p.m.
That correction was "corrected" the day after. It read:
R.D. Jones has informed us that he has received several anonymous telephone calls because
of the error we made in his classified ad yesterday. His ad stands corrected as follows:
FOR SALE -- R.D. Jones has one sewing machine for sale. Cheap. Phone
958-3030 after 7 p.m. and ask for Mrs. Kelly who loves with him.
Finally, the day after, Mr. Jones "corrected" the ad himself with a second
ad:
NOTICE -- I, R.D. Jones, have no sewing machine for sale. I
SMASHED IT. Don't call 958-3030 as the telephone has been taken out. I have not
been carrying on with Mrs. Kelly. Until
yesterday she was my housekeeper, but SHE QUIT!
See: Prov 20:19; John 16:26; 2 Cor 12:20; James 1:19
There was a nice little old lady who was slightly
incontinent. She was planning a week's vacation in Florida at a particular campground, but
she wanted to make sure of the accommodations first.
Uppermost in her mind were toilet facilities, for having a problem with urinary control
she was fearful others might know and she could not bring herself to write
"toilet" in her letter. After considerable deliberation, she settled on
"bathroom commode", but when she wrote that down it still sounded too
suspicious, so she wrote the letter to the campground and referred to the bathroom commode
as the "BC."
"Does the campground have its own BC?" is what she actually
wrote.
The campground owner was baffled by the initials so he showed the
letter around to several campers, but they could not decipher it either. Finally the owner
figured she must be referring to the location of the local Baptist Church, so he sat down
and wrote:
Dear Madam,
I regret very much the delay in answering your letter, but I now take
pleasure in informing you that a "BC" is located nine miles north of the
campground and is capable of seating 250 people at one time. I admit it is quite a
distance away if you are in the habit of going regularly, but no doubt you will be pleased
to know that a great number of people take their lunches along and make a day of it.
They usually arrive early and stay late.
The last time my wife and I went was six years ago, and it was so
crowded we had to stand up the whole time we were there.
I would like to say it pains me very much not to be able to go more
regularly but it is surely no lack of desire on my part. As we grow older it seems to be
more of an effort, particularly in cold weather.
If you do decide to come down to our campground, perhaps I could go
with you the first time, sit with you and introduce you to all the other folks. Remember,
this is a friendly community.
See: Prov 14:13; Prov 17:21
Consider this: The Lord's Prayer contains 56 words; the Gettysburg
Address, 266; the Ten Commandments, 297; the Declaration of Independence, 300; and a
recent U.S. government order setting the price of cabbage, 26,911.
It's not how long we talk, it's what we say that is so important.
-- From the Book Positioning
See: Prov 10:19; Eccl 5:3,6-7; Matt 6:7
In America, General Motors marketed a new auto model under the name
"Nova." No problem until they tried to sell that model south of the border. In
Spanish, the term no va means "does not go". Not the kind of image you want to
hang on a multi-million dollar car launch. We look at these sophisticated companies and
wonder how they could have misjudged their market so badly. We guffaw at their
insensitivity, amazed that they would be so out-of-touch with their audience that they
would use language which was inappropriate. But the American Church is often no
different. We have created a language that the insiders speak fluently, but which
bewilders and scares off the very people the church hopes to attract. -- Ministry
Currents, Jan-Mar 1994, Vl. 4:1, p. 5.
See: Neh 8:1-8; Acts 21:37-22:2; 1 Cor 9:19-22
Real life messages lost in translation:
* In a Paris hotel elevator: Please leave your values at the front desk.
* In a Bucharest hotel lobby: The lift is being fixed for the next day. During
that time we regret that you will be unbearable.
* In a Hotel in Athens: Visitors are expected to complain at the office between
the hours of 9 and 11 am daily.
* Outside a Hong Kong tailor shop: Ladies may have a fit upstairs.
* On the menu of a Swiss restaurant: Our wines leave you nothing to hope for.
See: Gen 11:1-7; Eccl 5:3; Neh 8:2-8
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