Suggestions for leading a study:

• Familiarize yourself with the passage in context, including the book itself.  Who wrote it to whom, and why?
• Read through the study guide a couple times to get the “big idea” as well as the flow of the argument
• Have the group read through the passage in it’s entirety before beginning the study.  One of the goals is to try to get your members to learn how to study Scripture methodically, and this is an important step.
• Be prayed up
• Have fun!
  

Potty Mouth

¹Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. ²We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.
³When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. ⁴Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. ⁵Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. ⁶The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
⁷All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, ⁸but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
⁹With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. ¹⁰Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. ¹¹Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? ¹²My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Discussion Questions

-Verse 1 says that teachers will be judged more severely than others.  What does that say about the importance of that?  Does that motivate you or discourage you in regards to teaching others the word of God?

-Verse 2 gives another reason that the things we say are important.  What is it?

-Have you ever met anyone who is “never at fault in what he says”?  If not, what do you think is James’ point in even mentioning it?

-Read verses 3-5.  What is James trying to say with the images of bits, rudders, and sparks in regards to the things we say?  How do you think the tongue can have that kind of power in our lives?

-In verse 5 James says that the reason the tongue has such power is because it “makes great boasts.” Do you think the problem is that boasting controls our actions, or that boasting reveals a prideful heart?

-What do verses 6 and 7 say about the source of the problems with the tongue?  How can we avoid that influence?

-Verse 8 says that no man can tame the tongue.  If doing so is as important as this passage implies, what is our option?

-According to verses 9 and 10, what are the indicators of an “untamed” tongue?  Does that ever happen to you?

-Verse 11 and 12 offer us our only hope.  What is it, and how do we realize it? 

Leaders' Guide

This lesson reminds us to take seriously how we talk and reminds us that the only way we can truly tame the tongue is by changing our hearts.

-Verse 1 says that teachers will be judged more severely than others.  What does that say about the importance of teaching?  Does that motivate you or discourage you in regards to teaching others the word of God?

            This section on taming the tongue begins with the most important and significant thing we can do with it: teach others, especially the things of God.  It is not meant to discourage people from doing so, but rather to make certain that they take that task very seriously.  Everything about this passage underscores that what comes out of our mouths can have great impact.  But before James gets to the nasty stuff, he makes sure we know that it can have extraordinarily positive influences as well.

-Verse 2 gives another reason that the things we say are important.  What is it?

            Because they indicate the degree to which people have control over the rest of themselves.  This can be both a cause and an effect.  Being mature and self controlled will certainly help in regards to what we say, but on the other hand if we can learn to gain control over our tongues, that will also get us a long way toward learning to control every aspect of what we do.

-Have you ever met anyone who is “never at fault in what he says”?  If not, what do you think is James’ point in even mentioning it?

            Obviously, James is using hyperbole (deliberate exaggeration) here to make a point, which is that everyone has a problem with this.  In other words, despite the sometimes harsh rhetoric in this passage, no-one should feel too bad about this issue—everyone struggles with it.

-Read verses 3-5.  What is James trying to say with the images of bits, rudders, and sparks in regards to the things we say?  How do you think the tongue can have that kind of power in our lives?

            James uses the image of small things that have the ability to control something much larger to reiterate his point that the tongue has much more influence in proportion to the rest of your body than any other part.  Your hands and feet can do some damage (or some good), but not as much as what you say.  How that happens in our lives is a matter of open discussion.  We can hurt people, make promises we shouldn’t, brag, etc.  Many things could be brought up, but the bottom line will usually be the effect they have on relationships—always God’s primary concern.

-In verse 5 James says that the reason the tongue has such power is because it “makes great boasts.” Do you think the problem is that boasting controls our actions, or that boasting reveals a prideful heart?

            This isn’t entirely clear from the text.  Clearly bragging can be something that requires us to have to live up the boasts we make, and hence control what we do.  But the broader context of this passage is mostly about the fact that what we say comes out of who we are. 

-What do verses 6 and 7 say about the source of the problems with the tongue?  How can we avoid that influence?

            This is some very harsh language.  In addition to stating once again the huge power that the tongue has, especially for evil, James make certain we know that the source of evil which the tongue creates is Satan himself, using the image of being set on fire by hell.  Avoiding that, of course, means avoiding Satan.  And avoiding Satan usually means putting our efforts into embracing God and a healthy relationship to him. When we’re busy doing that, Satan doesn’t have room to get his little tricks in.  The next question also addresses this.

-Verse 8 says that no man can tame the tongue.  If doing so is as important as this passage implies, what is our option?

            Since no man can tame the tongue, that may at first glance seem to leave us without an option.  But implied in this as well as in the larger context of the book of James, is the fact that we have another source of power than just ourselves.  If the tongue is as important as this passage says it is, and has such power for good or ill, surely turning to God and asking for his help will not be a call that goes unheeded.

-According to verses 9 and 10, what are the indicators of an “untamed” tongue?  Does that ever happen to you?

            Cursing people with the same tongue that you use to praise God is an indication that something is wrong.  A real understanding of the God we praise and an authentic relationship to him will not result in treating other people poorly, especially using as powerful a weapon as the tongue.  But it happens to everyone (remember verses 2 and 8).  We shouldn’t beat ourselves up over slips we make, but they should certainly be “warning bells” for us. 

-What are verses 11 and 12 trying to say about taming the tongue?  How do these verses offer us our only real hope of victory in this area?

            These verses remind us that the nature of who we are is what will create what comes out of our mouths, in the same way that fresh springs bring forth fresh water and trees and vines produce fruit in keeping with the kind that they are.  Here is our hope of taming a tongue that is in danger of being set on fire by hell:  be transformed.  Let the Spirit of God remake us on the inside, so that what comes out is the product of an inner being that is conformed to his likeness and controlled by his Spirit.  Clearly James was listening to his brother Jesus when he said:

³³"Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. ³⁴You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. ³⁵The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. ³⁶But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. ³⁷For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."  (Matthew 12:33-37)