Verses five through twelve– In extremely dry areas people are asked not to throw cigarette buts out car windows and to be very careful with barbecue coals. Thousands of square miles of land, hundreds of homes and many lives have been lost to flames caused by the careless treatment of the smallest sources of flame. Many years ago I was burning some twigs and leaves and, thinking that I had extinguished them all, threw them into a metal trash can. I learned shortly thereafter that at least one of the pieces of wood had not been totally extinguished. I neither saw the flame nor smelled it. But that did not keep it from breaking forth into a full fledged fire once paper, etc. was added to the can. That moment of embarrassment caused me to pay more attention in the future.

The tongue differs from fire only in the sense that eternal spiritual life, not physical property or flesh, is at stake when fire, whether actual or symbolic, burns out of control. “The tongue is a fire,” we are told in verse 6. Though small, it can and often does cause much stress, misunderstanding and in some cases physical death. In that same verse the tongue is called a “world of iniquity.” Here we see the tongue in its most evil and sinister mode. The word “iniquity” means lawlessness–refusal to obey the Lord’s Ten Commandment Law. No other negative result of a loose tongue is as deadly as lawlessness. Recall that Jesus told both the rich young man and the lawyer that obedience to the Ten Commandments was absolutely essential in order to receive eternal life (Mat. 19)17-19/Lk. 10:25-27). How many times have you been told from pulpit and podium that the salvation-producing Law was “nailed to the cross.” The tongues that spoke those words have set the “Christian” world aflame. “All that Jewish stuff,” we are told, was destroyed by Jesus at His death. Those tongues, unless used to declare true and permanent repentance will, as the last 8 words of verse 6 assure us, burn in hell.

Man, verses 7 and 8 tell us, can tame most anything. The tongue, however is impossible to tame without direct intervention by the Lord. It is unruly (cannot be ruled by man alone), is evil and “full of deadly poison.” Against all nature, the tongue is used to do both good and evil, to bless and to curse. Can a tree put forth both kinds of fruit? Can a spring bring forth both good and bad water? Neither can a tongue that is controlled by God. Only the most serious of saints will yield their tongues totally to the Lord by facing trials, tests and tribulations with their lips together. Lying, false teaching, gossip, foolish jesting, etc. are all sins committed by church people using the very instrument God designed to bless and bring forth His Truth. May we submit our tongues only for this purpose. As previous teachings have affirmed, all things begin in the mind. Control of the tongue also begins in the mind. For this reason the Apostle Paul tells us that, whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of good report, we are to think on those things (Phil. 4:8), for whatsoever things are in the mind/heart eventually come out the mouth. If those things are evil, they can destroy both the speaker and the hearer. L.J.