The Small Tongue Causes Great Evil
Pastor Tan Thai · Jul 23, 2022
This sermon analyzes the power of the human tongue through six images in James 3, emphasizing three forces: controlling, destroying, and nourishing. Words can bring life or cause deep suffering, and every believer needs to ask God to guard their tongue.
This sermon was delivered at Albuquerque Baptist Evangelical Church on April 14, 2013, with the primary passage taken from James 3:1-8. The pastor opens by describing the heartbreaking consequences of the tongue's sin: pillows soaked with tears, hearts silently broken, friendships destroyed, and lives darkened by misunderstanding. James warns that anyone who does not stumble in word is a perfect man, yet no one can tame the tongue on their own.
The sermon is structured around six images in James 3 and three corresponding powers of the tongue. The first is the controlling power: a small bit controls a horse, and a small rudder steers a great ship. In the same way, the tongue steers the whole course of a person's life. Ephesians 4:29 calls believers to let no corrupt word proceed from their mouth, and Psalm 141:3-4 directs them to pray that God would set a guard over their mouth.
The second is the destructive power of the tongue: James compares it to a fire that burns down an entire forest and calls it a world of iniquity. Proverbs 26 describes how a gossip keeps conflict alive, and Matthew 12:34-35 affirms that words directly reflect what fills the heart. Proverbs 6:16-20 lists a lying tongue and one who sows discord among brothers as things God hates.
The third is the nourishing power of the tongue: the mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, and the tongue of the wise brings healing (Proverbs 10:11; 12:17-18). Kind words can build up, heal, and bring life to those who hear them. The sermon closes with a solemn warning from Matthew 12:36-37: on the day of judgment, every person will give account for every idle word spoken, for by their words they will be justified or condemned.
The practical application invites every believer to recognize that the tongue cannot be tamed by personal effort alone. The only solution is to continually pray for God to guard the mouth and transform the heart from within, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. James 1:26 reminds us that faith unaccompanied by control of the tongue is a useless faith.