TONGUE TROUBLES

Tongue Troubles

Ah, the trouble we cause when we open our mouths! We can sometimes bring so many troubles upon us with our own tongue, we want to cut it out during our most miserable consequences! We should be using it to edify one another in Christ, we should be using it to glorify God, to confess Jesus, to sing glory, honor and praise to Him, and what do some of us do? Some use it to poison relationships, to hurt people's feelings, to even drive a person to murder another, in some cases! We could do so much good with this mouth muscle, but some of us make many mistakes with it, and many of them have great consequences. Let's look at some of the evils people use their tongues for...

1. Gossip - This has to be one of the worst uses of the tongues. The bible warns about it so often, and though women are famous for doing it, men are not immune to its trappings, either! "Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD." (Lev. 19:16) Here, anything by slander is forbidden, but there's an earlier commandment from the Lord about gossiping; "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour." (Exod. 20:16) Yes, the 9th Commandment; gossip is so often slanderous in nature, and slander against someone is false witness! It is also lying about someone, and we know what happens to people who habitually lie about someone all their lives. "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." (Rev. 21:8) Again it is written, "Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness." (Exod. 23:1)

2. Rebellious Speech - Num. 13 - 14:24 tells the story of the Lord telling the Israelites to spy on the land of the children of Anak, and all the spies came back saying the Anak people were too big and many, and disenchanting the people to go fight for the land, except for Caleb and Joshua. Now here the trouble with the tongue was the fact the spies, save Caleb and Joshua, spoke without faith, even agaisnt what God was telling them, that He would give the Anak people into their hands. We all know disagreeing with God is sin!

3, Rumor Mongering - "And when they came unto the borders of Jordan, that are in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by Jordan, a great altar to see to. And the children of Israel heard say, Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar over against the land of Canaan, in the borders of Jordan, at the passage of the children of Israel. And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up to war against them. And the children of Israel sent unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and with him ten princes, of each chief house a prince throughout all the tribes of Israel; and each one was an head of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel." (Josh. 22:10 - 14) If you know the rest of the story, the 2 1/2 tribes had to explain their way out of being slaughtered by the rest of Israel's tribes from the other side of the Jordan, but here in this passage I have printed let us examine what went on here. The other children of Israel heard of it. That's right; third party information; let the assumptions begin! Not wanting the wrath of God to fall on all Israel, the rest of the tribes rumored amongst themselves that the 2 1/2 tribes on the other side of the Jordan must have already fallen into idolatry, and so they went to investigate armed for war, in case it was so. Spreading rumors like this can cause division in a congregation, and would we be any different in response than they?

3. Quarrels & Divisions - "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple." (Rom. 16:17 - 18) As Christians, we should have the same doctrine, but it is not so. As it is, there are a number of denominations because of the service of pride, which here Paul addresses as "the serving of their own belly". Here the tongue exposes the evil of the heart, for it lets out the defilement of the person uttering what causes the division. Pride is demonstrated in two ways: behavior, and speech. Jesus Himself said it. "And He called the multitude, and said unto them, 'Hear, and understand: Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.'" (Matt. 15:10 - 11)

4. Corrupt Communication - Oh, this is a wide coverage of what comes off the tongue! I know someone who can't get a job because of the foul language they use every time they speak. Even worse, they weren't even phased when a woman said to them upon hearing their words, "Do you eat with that mouth, too?" Foul language is considered by the educated to be a lack of education. It is also considered poor upbringing. Who wants to hire a "potty mouth"? Such language drives away business, so the individual with this verbiage as stock daily speech will never have a service-oriented job, if ever any job at all. "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." (Eph. 4:29) Besides foul language, corrupt communication covers habitual lying, rabble-rousing, and all manner of diction that causes negative consequences. "Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:" (Rom. 3:13 - 14)

5. Lying - Of all the people one might think I would use in an example of lying, I will use this one: "And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, 'Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon: Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, "This is his wife": and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.' And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair. The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels. And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife. And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, 'What is this that thou hast done unto me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? Why saidst thou, "She is my sister?" So I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way." (Gen. 12:11 - 19) Abraham told this lie not once, but twice! In Genesis, chapter 20, he tells this half-truth to another king, Abimelech, and is rebuked for it by the monarch! While Sarah was indeed his half-sister, yet still, she was also his wife! Look at what consequences this lie brought about; the pharaoh received great plagues on his household, and in king Abimelech's case, all the wombs of his household were sealed up, that they could not bear children! Now this is in biblical passage, but in the here and now, there are still consequnces for telling lies. Think back on if you ever told a lie, and you got caught, or even if you didn't. There were consequences! There will always be consequences for lying, besides the fact it is a sin. First, the lie causes misbelief. Either the hearer(s) believe it, and act in response; or they recognize it for what it is, and then whoever told the lie is held in contempt, and they gain an immediate reputation not to be trusted for what they say. How about that story of the little boy who cried "wolf"? They believed him until he proved false so many times, that when there really was a wolf, nobody listened to his cries, so the wolf was free to do what he would. "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." (Rev. 21:8) Now this isn't to say that people who have done this only a few times will inherit the lake of fire, but rather those who practiced this all their lives, being unbelievers and rebels against God, it will be those who inherit everlasting hellfire.

While none of us are completely immune to committing a sin with our tongue, try as we might, let us strive to control this rather small but mighty member and use it to the glory of God and the edification of our family of believers! I leave you with a passage James wrote concerning our tongues, that we consider well each time we use them, what shall we allow them to utter! "Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. 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. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! 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. 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: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? Either a vine, figs? So can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh." (James 3:3 - 12)