The book of James is written to a group of Jewish Christians who were under great persecution. They were going through many very difficult trials. That is why in James 1, we are instructed how to respond to trials. Building on that foundation, James 2 teaches how we are to see other people. James drives home the importance of seeing people as God sees them, worth dying for. The key phrase in this chapter is found in James 2:8, "Love your neighbor as yourself". It is very interesting to stop here and consider that James is instructing a group of hurting, suffering Christians to love and serve others! This is so counter culture to what we see today! Today we are told that if you are suffering, then you need to take some time and focus on "me". God has a very different plan for Christians. Though we are pressed from all sides, we have no excuse to stop loving others. The greatest blessing comes from living our faith in spite of our pain.
James 3 almost seems like it's out of place. Why would he teach on the "tongue" to a group of persecuted Christians? The answer is clear and can be seen in our own lives. When we face struggles and trials we are pressed, just as if you pressed on a grape, and what comes out reveals the truth about what is inside. No doubt as these Christians were "pressed", what they said with their tongues was not pleasing to God. You see many of us when going through a difficult situation, begin to lose control of our tongues. We say things we shouldn't and we cause more damage then we realize. James 3:6 compares the tongue to a flame that sets a whole forest on fire, it defiles the whole body, and its words are from Hell itself. We would never ever go set fire to a neighbor's house, yet we set fire spiritually to others with what we say about them. And often we think the damage is contained in one small place, but what we do not realize is the damage the "smoke" does. Often people have small house fires where the fire only damages a small amount and yet the smoke infiltrates and ruins the rest of the house. We need to be very careful of what we say and how we say it.
There is truly death and life in our tongue. And all of this goes right back to James 2. If we truly love our neighbor as ourselves then we will not destroy them with our words. Ask yourself these questions: How many people have gone to Hell because of my tongue? How many people have been kept out of Hell because of my tongue? And if I truly see people as God sees them, then how should my words reflect that?
