We’re continuing this week to read from James’ letter. We now know that James is writing his letter to help Christians understand what true religion is about. James opposes true religion to a “shallow” or “empty” religion. We have seen that to James, true religion is not just a matter of beliefs, or rites, but true faith is the practice of our belief. Faith is revealed in what we do, in the way we behave – and mostly in the way we treat each other in our daily lives. This is what James calls the “mirror”, the “spiritual mirror”: if we look in the spiritual mirror, that is the concrete ways we act towards each other, then we will know what our faith is really about.
In this sense, we talked last week extensively about how James is warning Christians about not showing favoritism. Quite the opposite, James encourages us to treat rich and poor alike, because all men and women are equal in the eyes of God. And so not only Christians aren’t to show partiality but if they ever are to take sides, they should actually be on the side of the poor, as God is, as a way to re-balance power that is always in the hands of the most wealthy in human societies.
It is interesting at this point to notice that, although James’ tone could be described as “moralistic” (We have seen that James is not interested in in-depth theology or details about worship) James is not a moralist either – at least not in the classical sense of the term. James’ letter is not a treatise on virtue, James is not interested in making Christians “good people”, in the sense of “reasonable” or even “virtuous” people. James is not interested in building personal respectability, if you will, rather he is interested in the dynamics or our interactions. What James wants for Christians is that they may be able to act towards each other with respect and fairness.
What is worth paying attention to though, is that in James’ thinking, “the way we act” is not limited to our tangible actions – this week, as we move in the third Chapter of the letter, James asks us to pay attention first to the way we speak. And again, it’s not about us showing ourselves educated or even polite as we speak, but it’s about the way we treat each others when we use words. James is not so much interested in our choice of words, rather what he wants us to be aware of is what our words accomplish. Again, we are drawn from the surface to a much deeper understanding of what true Christianity is truly about: lifting up each other and all people and beholding in them the likeness of God.
At this point I realize I could write pages on gossip (or speak for hours about it) – but I don’t think you would want that or that it’s even necessary. I guess that we have all gossiped and we have all been on the other end of gossip. And we know what gossip does to us – James compares it to a “fire”. It’s impossible to control, it burns, and it destroys relationships. When we gossip, we don’t even know what we are saying! If you have ever been overheard by somebody you were gossiping about, you may know what I am saying: It feels terrible and the first thing you want to tell them is that you didn’t mean it, because indeed you were just rambling, and not thinking! If you have ever heard people talking being your back, you also know the kind of special pain it is. Rejection and judgment can bring deep feelings of shame, self loathing and despair. Not only does it destroys relationships, sometimes it even destroys people themselves. And of course, it’s not only about gossip – I guess we also all carry in our hearts harsh words that have been spoken to us, maybe by a tough teacher or by the bully at school, or even words from a sibling or a friend, and it does not matter if it was 40 or 50 years ago – it still hurts. Or maybe we still regret having said something terrible to somebody! Deep down, we know that words aren’t just words, they are are actions too, would it be only because they can hurt as much as a slap in the face.
There is a very strange passage in the book “The human search of meaning” by Viktor Frankl. As you may know, Frankl spent several years in concentration camps. But he says at some point that what was the worst to him wasn’t the hunger, the nakedness, the freezing, the harsh work and the constant fear of death, he says that the worst thing was the way the nazis talked to them, like they weren’t human beings, like they didn’t really exist.
Words have power and I think what James is asking us to realize is how we often underestimate this power. We think that words don’t matter – when they really do. We can use our words to promote the likeness of God in people, we can also use them to deny their humanity. Blasphemy isn’t about saying a profanity when you drop something on the floor! (and we are so obsessed with “language”, aren’t we?) but if we open the Scriptures, we may understand that blasphemy is really about denying the likeness of God in our neighbors.
I told you several time that James was a very practical and down to earth person. And I think we really can see that in this passage. The spiritual mirror is very close to us. James is not asking us to become very respectable or virtuous people and James is not asking us either to take heroic actions for our faith or to make a big fuss about the charity we practice. At least for today, James is asking us to be mindful of the words we utter every day, in our daily circumstances and how we treat each other as we speak – whether we speak to someone or whether we speak about someone. Not only because it will end up impacting them, but it will also impact ourselves. If we use poisonous words, they will end up poisoning our own hearts.
So what are we to do?
Well, what is surprising is that James concludes that it is almost impossible to do, it’s impossible to “tame the tongue”! James seems to think that there is no remedy! So maybe it’s a call to silence. Which is not always that bad. We saw that in the first chapter, James asks that “everybody should be slow to speak and quick to listen”. Being able to keep silence and to listen is certainly the beginning of wisdom. Yet, and maybe more specifically in our passage, it’s also about awareness: Awareness of the impact of our words. And it can be spoken words but also written words. Maybe we can ask ourselves from time to time: Will I be happy to have written this email or this comment on Facebook in three weeks or three days or even three hours? What good are my words supposed to accomplish in that very situation?
Yet above all of that, what I also hear in James’ letter is that if our words are powerful. In what seems a very practical matter, we have a glimpse of a profound theology: Throughout the Bible, we see that the word of God has the power to create, to bless and to curse – God’s word is action, God’s word moves the world and in Jesus, God’s word came into the world. Our words are powerful too. If words are divine they can create, build up or tear down. James call us to use our words rightly. It does not have a lot to do with niceties – you know like paying everybody a little compliment when you arrive at work. If we were to do that, or to do that only, it would still be taking the surface – being merely polite – for the depths – honoring each other. Rather, it’s a call to be respectful, to encourage, to comfort and it’s also a call to say the truth – not using our words to deceive, manipulate others or just to bring them to like us. This passage is really about power, as power was the center of our previous passage when James asks Christians not to show partiality to the wealthy. In the same way here, James asks teachers to be very careful about their own authority. It’s not only about people whose job is to teach or preach, but for all when we are given authority when we speak. What do we do when we speak? Do we try to assert our own power, or do we try to share the power, do we try to promote our own agenda or do we offer tools to try to seek God’s will together?
If we really believe in the word made flesh, our words should be in the likeness of the God revealed in Jesus Christ: words meant to create, to redeem at our own level. Our words should be life giving. And so maybe to know better how to use our words, we can look at the way James speaks to his people: We do not have to do brilliant philosophy or theology – and it’s quite clear that James does not spend a lot of time philosophizing! It’s about showing love and affirming each other as we speak. It’s not about “walking on egg shells” – most of the time, when we “walk on egg shells” we do that to preserve ourselves, not those we talk to. Loving words often requires simplicity and brevity and directness. Sometimes it’s about having the courage to start a much needed conversation, instead of rambling. And maybe then we can see the changes starting to happen for the best. Remember, for James, true religion is also all about change – changing our hearts and the world around us. Certainly our words can do a lot when we mean what we say.