Inconsistent Speech

“With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.”

(James 3:9-12 ESV)

As a pastor, one of my greatest pet-peeves is when people alter their behavior once they discover my position. I’ve been around those who consistently curse and engage in course joking. Then, they ask me what I do for a living. And, upon learning that I’m a pastor, they apologize and try to talk in a clean manner.



I appreciate the gesture. I appreciate that they’re doing their best to keep from offending me. However, I am uncomfortable with the fake personality they then adopt. Even if I don’t like their way of speaking, I would almost prefer them to be real.



That being said, as Christians, we tend to behave in a similar manner. When we’re at church, we talk in a dignified manner. But, away from the church, our speech is full of cursing and lewd dialogue.



In one sense, because we are sinners, we will always have slips of the tongue. As James pointed out in verse 8, no human being can tame the tongue. However, we also can’t use this as an excuse for our ongoing, willful behavior. We cannot use it as an excuse for our habitual behavior. With the empowering of the Holy Spirit, there is a control that can be exercised.



James makes it clear that, just as spring cannot produce both salt and fresh water, and just as a fig tree cannot produce both figs and olives, our mouths should not produce both blessing and cursing. We should recognize it as a problem when we praise God one moment, and curse someone the next. As he tells us, these things ought not to be so.



Let us, then, confess our sin to the Lord. Let us repent of the inappropriate words that we use. And let us seek, by the power of the Spirit, to speak in a consistent manner. Let us seek to praise God and to speak to others in a dignified manner.