Sunday School Lesson: Wise Speakers

After reading and studying this week’s lesson I am almost tempted to say let’s just read the scripture and then meditate in silence for the remainder of our time. I think that would make the most impact.

But, I also realize that the chance of this class sitting in silence is pretty slim….and that’s a good thing.

So…here’s the lesson.

Lesson: Wise Speakers

Purpose: To recognize that God’s wisdom gives us the power to control the tongue and speak true and constructive words.

Scripture: James 3

If you could hear a tape recording of everything you said last week, what would you want to edit out?

Listen to these quotes and tell me what you think of them. I’m not going to tell you who said what, but you can guess if you want to….

"I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that." (This statement made shortly after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast)

"As millions of people anticipate the release of the latest Harry Potter book and film, we're reminded once again of Satan's ongoing attempt to deceive and destroy. The whole purpose of the Potter books is to desensitize readers and introduce them to the occult."

"Maybe we need a very small nuke thrown off on Foggy Bottom (Washington, D. C. neighborhood, home to the U. S. State Dept.) to shake things up"

"I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way -- all of them who have tried to secularize America -- I point the finger in their face and say: "You helped this (Sept. 11) happen."

“God told me: I want you to get this going in one year or I will call you home. It will cost $8 million and I want you to believe you can raise it. "

“I've never seen a man in my life I wanted to marry. And I'm going to be blunt and plain: if one ever looks at me like that, I'm going to kill him and tell God he died.

"The United States must join Israel in a pre-emptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God’s plan for both Israel and the West… a biblically prophesied end-time confrontation with Iran, which will lead to the Rapture, Tribulation, and Second Coming of Christ."

“The world will be destroyed by fire on April 3rd 1843.”

“My observation is that women are merely waiting for their husbands to assume leadership.”

What do all of these statements have in common?

They were all public statements made by prominent Christian leaders. Whether we agree with the statements or disagree, or whether we personally consider these folks “Christian” leaders or not really doesn’t matter. These are the folks that are in the spotlight. They are the ones who are sought out when the news reporters need a “Christian” opinion. They are the ones who the people outside of the Christian faith think of when they think of Christians. They, whether we like it or not, represent us; and, even of even more importance, they represent Jesus.

What overall impression or feeling do you get listening to those statements?

What impression do you think these statements would make on someone outside the Christian faith?

What image of God is projected by statements such as this?

Did the persons I quoted exercise careful and responsible speech?

Did the persons I quoted advance peace and understanding or did the words have the potential for creating confusion and conflict?

Like all of us, religious leaders occasionally fail to exercise the best judgment in speaking. Sometimes the Church and the faith community at large come across as judgmental, harsh, unforgiving, and exclusive because of ill-chosen words of a single religious leader quoted on a particular occasion. At times, a religious leader may promote a teaching that is unclear or unaccepted as truth within the larger faith community. Words that take only seconds to speak can cause damage that may take years to repair.

How do you react when you hear someone cursing and using abusive language or speaking improperly?

Can a person be hurt by the words of others? How?

What can you learn about a person by listening to him or her speak?

Anytime any of us speaks, we have an opportunity to build bridges of understanding, sow seeds of peace, and extend words of grace.


1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. 4 Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.
James 3:1-5a (NRSV)

We often say in our churches, "We need more teachers. Will you please teach? Please help us by teaching a class." Why does this passage suggest people ought not to teach?

What qualifications are required to be a teacher in your church? In ours the only qualification is to be willing or to possess an inability to say “no”.

What does it mean, "will be judged with greater strictness"?
In the New Testament, we get glimpses of teachers who failed in their responsibility. Some teachers tried to turn Christianity into another kind of Judaism by requiring Gentile converts to practice circumcision and follow the law (Acts 15). Some teachers lived lives which were a contradiction of what they taught (Romans 2). Some teachers tried to teach before they had learned (1 Timothy 1). Some teachers only taught what the crowd wanted to hear (2 Timothy 4).

Is James’ caution for teachers just a caution against false teaching?

James seems to think that teaching is a dangerous occupation for anyone.

What unique responsibility does a teacher bear?

There are two dangers which all teachers must avoid. Because of the position, it is very likely that you will get the opportunity to teach either those who are young in years or those who are children in the faith. Teachers must struggle to avoid two things: 1) They must take every care that they are teaching the truth, and not their own opinions or even their own prejudices. It is easy for teachers to distort the truth and to teach not God’s version but their own (see quotes above). 2) They must take great care that they do not contradict their teaching by their living. No “do as I say, not as I do”. A teacher must never get into the position where his students cannot hear what he is saying for listening to what he does.

What is the primary instrument used in teaching? Speech.

What is it’s (speech’s) agent? The tongue.

If we were able to control our tongue perfectly, what else would be true of us?
Verse 2 tells us that one who can control his tongue is totally in control of his or herself.

And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you'd have a perfect person, in perfect control of life.
(Jas 3:2 MSG)

What about the first line of verse 2: For all of us make many mistakes.

Is all sin deliberate? Is sin sometimes the result of a slip-up when we were off our guard?

Other translations use the words “slip up” or “stumble” where the NRSV uses “make many mistakes”. Does it sometimes seem as if all of life is walking on banana peels?

How much of what it means to sin has to do with what we say?

Let's test this. Turn to Exodus 20-the 10 Commandments. How many of these have to do with how you use your tongue?

There is no sin into which it is easier to fall and none which has graver consequences than the sin which is the result of something uttered. This idea was woven into Jewish thought. Jesus warned that we will give account for every word spoken.

36 I tell you, on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter; 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
Matt 12:36-37 (NRSV)

Of all the Jewish writers, Jesus ben Sirach, the writer of the Apocryphal book Ecclesiasticus, had the most to say about the terrifying potential of the tongue.

13 Honor and dishonor come from speaking, and the tongue of mortals may be their downfall.
Sirach 5:13 (NRSV)

11 Be quick to hear, but deliberate in answering. 12 If you know what to say, answer your neighbor; but if not, put your hand over your mouth.
Sirach 5:11-12 (NRSV)

1 Happy are those who do not blunder with their lips, and need not suffer remorse for sin.
Sirach 14:1 (NRSV)

16 A person may make a slip without intending it. Who has not sinned with his tongue?
Sirach 19:16 (NRSV)

The Evil Tongue
12 If you blow on a spark, it will glow; if you spit on it, it will be put out;
yet both come out of your mouth.
13 Curse the gossips and the double-tongued,
for they destroy the peace of many.
14 Slander has shaken many,
and scattered them from nation to nation; it has destroyed strong cities,
and overturned the houses of the great.
15 Slander has driven virtuous women from their homes,
and deprived them of the fruit of their toil.
16 Those who pay heed to slander will not find rest,
nor will they settle down in peace.
17 The blow of a whip raises a welt,
but a blow of the tongue crushes the bones.
18 Many have fallen by the edge of the sword,
but not as many as have fallen because of the tongue.
19 Happy is the one who is protected from it,
who has not been exposed to its anger, who has not borne its yoke,
and has not been bound with its fetters.
20 For its yoke is a yoke of iron,
and its fetters are fetters of bronze;
21 its death is an evil death,
and Hades is preferable to it.
22 It has no power over the godly;
they will not be burned in its flame.
23 Those who forsake the Lord will fall into its power;
it will burn among them and will not be put out. It will be sent out against them like a lion; like a leopard it will mangle them.
24 As you fence in your property with thorns, As you lock up your silver and gold,
25 so make a door and a bolt for your mouth. so make balances and scales for your words. 26 Take care not to err with your tongue,
and fall victim to one lying in wait.
Sirach 28:12-26 (NRSV)

What is the purpose of a bit in the mouth of a horse?

What is the purpose of the rudder of a ship?

What damage can a small spark cause to a great forest?

What similarity does a person’s tongue have to a horse’s bit, a ship’s rudder, and a spark of fire?

How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7 For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, 8 but no one can tame the tongue--a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.
James 3:5b-12 (NRSV)

What damage do our tongues do to us?

What is so difficult about taming the tongue?

Of what inconsistencies are we capable?

In what ways are we inconsistent?

What are the ways we sin with our speech?

Why are sins of speech often overlooked as not serious?

How is our speech influenced by others around us?

What practical advice would you give someone who wanted to control his or her tongue better?

What weaknesses in our lives does our speech often expose?

In what times or places can your tongue be used for good?

Does James call us to practice silence?

Would a life of silence be an improvement over a life of harmful speech?

James does NOT want us to be silent. He is pleading for the control of the tongue, not the silence of the tongue. Aristippus, the Greek philosopher, had a saying: “The conqueror of pleasure is not the man who never uses it. He is the man who uses pleasure as a rider guides a horse, or a steersman directs a ship, and so directs them wherever he wishes” James is pleading not for the silence that comes from a fear of saying something wrong or hurtful but for a wise use of speech.

Respond to this statement: Christian living is mostly about talking right. Is that true or false?

What are some good things we can do with our speech?

Verses 9 - 12 offer some hint as to how we can gain some control over the tongue. What is it?

Let’s look at Matthew 12.33 – 35:
33 "Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure.
Matt 12:33-35 (NRSV)

What do these verses teach about controlling our speech?

Is this saying that if we think bad thoughts about people that those thoughts will eventually make their way out?

Matthew 12.33 says, "make the tree good." How do you do that?

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. 15 Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. 16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.
James 3:13-18 (NRSV)


What is the best way to make a lasting positive impression on others?

What is the difference between earthly wisdom and God’s wisdom?

What life experiences increase our wisdom?

What are the marks of humility in a person?

What damage can bitter envy or selfish ambition do to a person?

How can we get or experience heavenly wisdom?

What are practical ways we can sow seeds of peace during our life?

What godly characteristics are present in our speech when we are pursuing God’s wisdom?

What kind of bitter envy or selfish ambition do you tend to hold in your heart?