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It’s a line from one of Hong Kong-born actor, Jackie Chan’s movies. Simply stated, I am talking, but you are not understanding me.
The recent global turmoil and civil unrest in America have prompted me to reflect on those words; Do you not understand the words coming out of my mouth?
Words play such a vital role in daily human life. We must develop a mindset of understanding what people are saying.
I came across a quote (and I do not know who to attribute it to) that powerfully speaks about this,
“People don’t listen to understand, they listen to respond.”
Those words could not be more true (especially in today’s hostile climate).
As Christ-followers, we are supposed to be different. However, being different does not come without its challenges.
The Apostle James explains in his letter to New Testament believers.
“Don’t be in any rush to become a teacher, my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards.
And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you’d have a perfect person, in perfect control of life.
A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse.
A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds.
A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything – or destroy it!
A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.
This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue – it’s never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer.”
James 3:1-8 The Message.
The first verse speaks to teachers, and that is a story for another time. But the following verses help us understand the challenge of saying the right words.
The Apostle is saying, (Evans paraphrase) If this describes you, don’t worry, it describes nearly all of us.
We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths, which is another way of saying we are listening to respond rather than to understand. He continues by saying only a perfect person can get it perfectly right.
In other words, apart from Christ, we are programmed to listen to respond instead of to understand.
This should be encouraging, because as a Christ-follower, Jesus (the perfect one) can move through me to say the right words at the right time, to the right people.
Do you see how important this is?
In the Jackie Chan movie, the problem was a language barrier because his English was not very good.
As Christ-followers, we do not need to speak the language of the people around us perfectly (and we do not need to speak a foreign language either), but we need to hear the words of Jesus (the one who always listens to understand) and say those words.
I know it doesn’t sound very easy, but the Apostle James continues.
He offers two explanations: a horse and a ship.
The bit in the mouth of the horse controls the horse because pulling on it is uncomfortable in its mouth.
The bit is like the word of God for the Christ-follower. The reins that control the bit are in the hands of the perfect one, who pulls back on the bit to control your tongue.
What a powerful analogy.
In a close personal relationship with the Godhead, the Christ-follower is surrendered to Christ. Because of the importance of words, he uses the Word of God to pull on the bit to silence our tongues before they can speak something harmful.
Remember, Jesus (the perfect one) is listening to the words so he can understand. We are listening to the words so we can respond.
I had to bite my tongue, which is an expression used when someone holds back from “responding” to something they heard someone say.
I don’t want to delve too deeply into this, and I hope you understand the point, so let me try it this way.
What if that was the Lord pulling the reins to silence your tongue so you wouldn’t say something that could destroy that person?
James says it this way:
A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything – or destroy it!
James 3:5 The Message
As we mature in our relationship with the Lord, the second explanation of James is offered.
The Apostle uses the rudder of a ship. The captain controls the wheel that turns the rudder in the direction the ship is to go.
As our close personal relationship with the Lord grows, Jesus can direct us to the right people to offer the right words at the right time.
He directs us because he is always listening to understand, and your willingness to obey him positions you (like a ship) to go in the direction he needs you to go to help someone who has cried out to the Lord.
Why does it matter?
” A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.
This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue – it’s never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer.”
James 3:6-8 The Message
It matters because:
A careless or wrongly placed word can destroy someone’s life.
The words from your mouth can:
*
- Ruin the world
- Turn harmony to chaos
- Throw mud on a reputation
- Send the world up in smoke
It matters because Jesus said,
“For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost.”
Luke 19:10 The Message
It matters because Jesus tells us
Then he said, “Go into the world. Go everywhere and announce the Message of God’s good news to one and all.
Mark 16:15 The Message
The call of the Spirit is going out across the land for light bearers and (wisdom-speaking) truth givers to bring the words of life to a lost and dying world—one person at a time.
The journey is exciting and scary, and I am grateful to everyone willing to follow along as I take it.