The apostle James is an uncomfortably straight talker, but he’s exactly what our easily distracted souls need. His letter is deceptively simple, packed with pithy, hard-hitting proverbs, that challenge the day-to-day indolence of our sinful hearts.
As an example, James 1:26-27 covers the full gamut of our spirituality in just a couple of phrases. Firstly, James calls us to ‘bridle’ our tongues (v.26), like we might do a rebellious horse. Preachers and leaders say a lot of carefully chosen words in the pulpit. It is outside of the pulpit where we need to watch!
An outburst of anger at the end of an exhausting day, words of manipulation to exert our ‘authority’ over a willing deacon, and especially careless chat about church members over Sunday lunch (that our children overhear) are a reminder of how poisonous our tongues can be.
