The Alternative

Guest (Male): Many of us need to bring our tongues to the altar.

Host (Male): Dr. Tony Evans says before God can build into our lives, we must learn to control what comes out of our mouths.

Guest (Male): Because this rudder controls your whole life ship.

Host (Male): This is the Alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans.

The words we speak can bring healing, hope, and encouragement. But they can also be incredibly destructive. Today, Dr. Evans explores the importance of maintaining control of what we say. Let's join him in James chapter 3 as he begins.

Tony Evans: James has some very hard things to say to me and to you about the tongue. Because for James, that was hitting at the heart of a vibrant, growing Christian faith. How you use your tongue will have everything to do with how God uses your life.

He starts off by discussing the problem of the tongue. Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, verse 1 says, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. Did you know that many of the things going wrong in your life is because of what you said with your tongue about somebody else that God has boomeranged back to you?

And the higher you go on the leadership level, the worse the boomerang. He says, be not many teachers, be not many divine spokespersons, because you will receive the stricter judgment. It will be worse for you than it will be for the person who did not take the post because of the higher responsibility.

We see this all through scripture. For example, false teachers, we're told in the book of Jude, will get more hell in hell than non-teacher sinners. And because he or she used their tongue to lead others astray, their punishment will be greater in hell. So it is in the church. When you use your tongue speaking on God's behalf, and it leads others astray, because you have damaged others in the name of God, you get the stricter judgment.

Moses is told in Numbers chapter 20 to give water to the complaining people of Israel. This was a congregation where every member had a viewpoint and every member had a complaint. This is a congregation who always talked about how things ought to be but never did much to make it that way.

God told Moses in verse 8, take the rod, you and your brother Aaron, assemble the congregation, and speak to the rock before their eyes that it may yield its water. You shall bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.

So Moses took the rod from before the Lord, just as He had commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock and he said to them, listen now, you rebels, shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock? Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod, and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank.

And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, because you have not believed me, to treat me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them. Moses decided, God, Your way of dealing with this is not good enough.

These are some hard-headed folk, and I've got to do this my way. I've got to tell them what I think about them. I've got to give them my two cents. I've got to let them know who they are and who I am. So God, I'm going to take matters into my own hands. I'm going to use my own tongue and I'm going to let my tongue dictate my own message.

So he walks up to the people and he says, you no-good congregation. You rebels. How long do we have to deal with you? And so he takes the rod and hits the rock twice. Out comes water, and along with it comes judgment. And this man who had led the people this far only gets to see the promised land. He doesn't get to go in it.

Psalm 106 verse 33 says, because he spoke presumptuously. He used his tongue illegitimately to act as God. There is only one God, and you are not He. That is why the Bible says, vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, I will repay. And when you and I use our tongues to act like deity, then we become candidates for the very judgment that we inflicted on others when we sought to play God.

That leads to a second thing in verses 2 to 4, where he talks about the power of the tongue. He says to start off with that none of us is perfect. Verse 2, we all stumble in many ways. You'll be hard-pressed to go through the scriptures and find even God's choicest servants who didn't mess up along the way.

That doesn't excuse them messing up, it just says it's a reality that the best of people are all just people. And James includes himself. He said, yeah, I've got weaknesses in my life, and I, like you saints, stumble in many ways. But then he throws me a curveball because he says, even though everyone has weaknesses, and even though everyone has failures tripping up in life, if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a mature, or perfect, perfect meaning mature, man, able to bridle the whole body as well.

That is a powerful verse. He says even though you have weaknesses in your life, you stumble, I stumble, in many ways. If you ever get a hold of your tongue, if you ever take that little piece of meat in your mouth and learn to use it right, there is no other problem in your life that you can't handle.

Now this is deep. He is saying your biggest problem is in your mouth. Did you know, watch this, that some of the reasons you can't fix other things in your life is because you haven't fixed the first thing in your life, which he says is the tongue, because a man or woman who controls their tongue can control anything else that's out of kilter in their life. That's what verse 2 says.

He gives two very powerful illustrations. He says if you put a bit into a horse's mouth so that they obey us, we direct their entire body, verse 3. And look at a ship, he says in verse 4, great and driven by strong winds, yet they are still directed by a small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires.

I remember one day at Pine Cove where we would all go every year to take our family to camp when the kids were small. And so after many seasons, we finally talked my wife into going horseback riding. She wasn't keen on this, but I talked her into it and I assured her, just put your horse behind mine and you follow me.

Well, the guy leading the trail ride said if you want to, you can gallop. Well, you know I'm always in for a challenge. I didn't want to gallop, I wanted to run. And I forgot that my wife's horse was the one directly behind mine. So I gave the reins now and I said, let's go.

This horse took off. My wife's horse, taking a cue from my horse, took off right behind me and I mean I was flying. I mean, I was doing my Lone Ranger thing. I was into it. I heard this screaming in the back. It dawned on me that I had forgotten Lois was back there and she was screaming.

She was saying stop! And I'm trying to turn back and holler, pull back the reins. Because I'd gotten way in front so this horse was... pull back the reins. The horse didn't care about no screaming. Didn't care that it was the pastor's wife. Had no respect at all. That horse was only accustomed to respond to one thing, that's the bit in its mouth.

When my wife finally pulled back on the reins, the rest of the horse came under control. The horse has been so constructed that when you control its mouth with the bit, the rest of it must conform. He says you look at a ship in water, this big massive multi-tonned entity made of steel and iron can all be turned around by a little rudder.

He says compare the bit and compare the rudder to your mouth. What the bit is to the horse and the rudder is to the ship, the tongue is to the saint. And just like a horse can be turned around by a bit, a ship can be maneuvered by a rudder, a saint can be guided by his tongue.

That if you want to fix what looks like a bigger problem, start with the smaller problem because God has so constructed you that if you fix the smaller problem, the bigger problem will move. That it is in control of the tongue that you gain control of everything else that is wrong, he says.

Host (Male): Dr. Evans will have more on the destructive power of an uncontrolled tongue when he returns in a moment. Don't go away.

Guest (Female): What if your next week felt restored? A chance to slow down, breathe deeply, and reconnect through worship and community? Join Dr. Tony Evans with special guest Priscilla Shirer for a powerful journey of faith at sea.

Experience the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, and the Dominican Republic aboard the new Statendam, February 28th through March 7th, 2027. Reserve your spot at tonyevans.org.

Host (Male): Before we return to today's message, I want to tell you about a special package that can help you put the truths we're learning into practice. Tony's two-volume series, James: Time to Grow Up, contains 16 full-length messages addressing the everyday challenges of becoming the kind of believer whose faith is evident in the way you live.

And if you request this audio collection right now, we'll also send you Dr. Evans' 30-day devotional book, Trusting God in Turbulent Times. Each day offers scripture, encouragement, and practical challenges to help you trust God and keep growing through difficult circumstances.

We'd like you to have this complete package as our thank-you gift when you make a contribution to support the Alternative. Just visit tonyevans.org or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222 for all the details. That's 1-800-800-3222. And now, let's get back to Dr. Evans and James chapter 3 with more of today's message on the incredible power behind the words we speak.

Tony Evans: That leads to a third thing, and that is the perverseness of the tongue. Again, back to verse 5, the tongue is small and yet it boasts great things. Behold how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire.

He now uses the imagery of a fire. On October 8th, 1871, Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over the lantern at 8:30 PM, and that led to the great Chicago fire where 100,000 people were homeless, 17,500 buildings were destroyed, 300 people died, and 40 million dollars' worth of damage was done because the cow kicked over the lantern.

The tongue boasts great things. It says a lot. But this great thing sets forests afire. How bad is this tongue problem? Verse 7, every species of beast and bird and reptile and creatures of the sea is tamed and has been tamed by human race. But no one can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.

You've got seals that clap, dolphins that do flips, birds that talk, snakes that charm, and dogs that jump through hoops. You can tame an animal. Only God can tame the tongue. Let me show you how important this is. Hold your finger here, turn to Ephesians 4.

Verse 29 says, let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification, that means to build up, according to the need of the moment, make the word appropriate to the situation, that it may give grace. Don't give what people deserve, but give grace to those who hear.

Now here's the key verse, verse 30. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit whom you were sealed by the day of redemption. Now let me tell you what those verses mean. Verse 29 says watch your mouth. Verse 30 says don't grieve the Holy Spirit. How do you grieve the Holy Spirit? By disobeying verse 29, not watching your mouth.

When you just say what you think, even when it's the inappropriate thing to say, you grieve the Holy Spirit. So what's that got to do with the price of tomatoes? Everything. Because it's the Holy Spirit that gives you the power to live the Christian life.

So to have inappropriate words is to put corrosion like around the battery of your car. And when you get enough corrosion around the battery of your car, then the signal, the certain power to the engine of the car, will not come because there's too much corrosion around the battery.

Many of us have got too much corrosion in the mouth. And because we've got too much corrosion in the mouth, there's no power in the engine called life. If you want power in the engine called life, you must remove corrosion around the battery of the mouth because when you remove corrosion around the battery of the mouth, it makes the electrical Holy Ghost connection between the battery of the mouth to the engine of the life so that there's power in the life to live out the victorious Christian life.

We have no power in our lives because we have too much corrosion in our mouth. And many of us have got to go to God and confess the profanity that we use all day, to confess the criticism and the gossiping and the mouthing of judgment rather than mouthing of help.

We spend all day tearing down, destroying, criticizing, gossiping. Now there's nothing wrong with legitimate criticism, as long as the criticism is designed to help and not just to hurt. We go down and we tear each other to shreds, and we wonder why there is no life in the relationship. The Bible says because you've dismissed the Holy Spirit. You have grieved Him, and so there is no power.

He likens it to a poisonous snake. Have you ever been on one of them safari things you have to drive through, where they have all the animals roaming free? There's one sign you'll always see. Keep your doors locked and your windows up.

If you want to make it in this environment, keep your doors locked and your windows up. If you want to make it as a victorious Christian, keep your mouth shut unless it is in keeping with a biblical way of communicating. A biblical way of communicating and God says it will affect your whole life.

Because then God can enter into it through the Holy Spirit and empower you and use you. We love to hang out with people who tear other people apart, and we give conversational aids as we destroy character rather than being a community of help.

He says it's like a viper. It's poison. Do you know, if a snake poisons you, you only get in you what was in them? And let me tell you, if you hang out with snaky people, then you're going to get what's in them. I'm not a gossiper, she's a gossiper. Yeah, but if you allow her gossip to bite you, her poison becomes your poison. If you allow his gossip to bite you, his poison becomes your poison. That's why you want to be around biblically thinking and biblically communicating, in this case, people so that your lives are being transformed by one another.

Finally, he says the tongue not only is perverse, but in verses 9 to 12, it is polluted. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who have been made in the image of God. From the same mouth comes both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.

He's talking to Christians, my brethren. He says you come in here on Sunday morning, sing songs of praise to God. You bless God. Glory to His name. You are worthy to be praised. You clap. Amen. Hallelujah. You bless the Lord.

Some of you on your way out of the parking lot, some of you on your way to the car that's on the parking lot, some of you on your way outside of the sanctuary to the foyer are going to cuss somebody. That is, tear them down, either through profanity or through what you say.

Some of you wives are going to tear down your husbands before you ever got off the church property. Some of you husbands are going to reduce your wives or children to nothing before you get off. He says and you just came from blessing God.

You just came from singing the Hallelujah Chorus. You just came from talking about how great Thou art. You just sang Great is Thy Faithfulness, oh God my Father. He says you bless God and then you curse man. Well, at least you say I didn't curse God. Oh yeah, you did.

Because the verse says in James chapter 3, he says when you curse man after having blessed God, verse 9, who has been made in the image of God, the Bible says that is an attack against God. Because that man that you just cussed out has the stamp of God on him. He has been made in the image of God.

You said I would never do that to God. But whenever you do that to one of His human creations, you have attacked the image of God. He says to curse man is to curse God who has been made in His likeness. That doesn't mean you don't criticize wrong that people do, but that is different than tearing down a person.

How many times have husbands and wives gotten in a fight about a problem and then you lost sight of the problem that you were disagreeing on and now the person isn't any good. The person is worthless. No, he says that's an attack on God.

Now look at the connection. If you are attacking God by attacking man, then the net result of that attack is no fellowship with God. Proverbs 10 verses 11 and 21, chapter 13 verse 14, chapter 18 verse 4, all of this says that the tongue is to be a fountain of refreshment that gives life.

The difference between the right word and the wrong word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. All the difference in the world. He then comes to a close here and he says, does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? We have water fountains in the foyer. Will you go and turn on the water and get fresh and saltwater? No, you'll get one or the other but you will not get both.

And many Christians are contradictory because they give both. Bless God, curse men. Can a fig tree my brethren produce olives or a vine tree figs? Neither can salt water produce fresh. What is he saying? He is saying what Matthew 12:34 says, and that is out of the heart the mouth speaks.

Do you know why you use profanity? It wasn't because of what that person did to you. It's because of your own heart. Do you know why you're always criticizing and gossiping? It's not because of what that person did, it's because you got a wicked heart and they just gave you the opportunity to show how wicked it was by the words that you used.

See, the problem is not what they did. The problem is wickedness in the heart that produces verbiage from the mouth. Psalm 1 says that if you want to get what's outward working, you got to get the root changed within. So many of us need to confess our tongues to God. Many of us need to bring our tongues to the altar.

Lady came to her pastor and said, pastor, your sermon convicted me. I want to put my tongue on the altar this morning. He said, this altar ain't that big. Some of you would have trouble getting your tongues on this altar. And you know why a lot of negative things are happening in your life? Because God has not got your tongue. And until He gets your tongue, He won't deal with anything else because this rudder controls your whole life ship.

Host (Male): Dr. Tony Evans, talking about the power, both good and bad, of the words we speak. Now, if you'd like to dig deeper into this subject and other growth areas we've been dealing with in our current series, you can continue your study with Tony's complete 16-message collection called James: Time to Grow Up.

You'll get all of the full-length lessons, including plenty of material we won't have time to bring you on the air. And as I mentioned earlier, when you make a contribution to support Tony's ministry, we'll send you the entire audio series along with his 30-day devotional book, Trusting God in Turbulent Times.

It's a practical combination of biblical teaching and daily encouragement to help you grow stronger in your faith. Get your copy of this unique package today by visiting tonyevans.org or by calling the resource request line at 1-800-800-3222, where one of our friendly team members is ready to help with your request. Again, that's tonyevans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222.

Wisdom is more than knowledge. It's understanding how to apply what you know to real-life situations. Tomorrow, Dr. Evans takes a look at how to find true wisdom and the refreshing perspective that comes along with it. I hope you'll join us.