The devil’s mailbag

Pastor Pat Duffin

An old Welsh proverb reads, “Lord, remind us that a gossip’s mouth is the devil’s mailbag”. A Jewish Proverb says, “Gossip can estrange the closest friends.” In the Bible, the Apostle James, the Lord’s brother, warns us in James chapter 3 and verse 8 that the tongue is unruly and full of deadly poison. He saw first-hand what lies and gossip can do to a person when he saw his own brother, Jesus Christ, crucified. He also later witnessed some of his own fellow apostles tortured and killed. It doesn’t take long before a rumour, spread by gossip, kindles a kind of wild fire that quickly goes out of control. Churches have been split, families have been splintered and lives have been shattered, even entire communities have been torn apart, all because of gossip. The Bible tells us in the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 10, that it is the devil’s plan to disrupt and destroy both the believer, and the non-believer. The wagging tongue is one of his favorite tools, because it is so devastatingly effective. We live in a culture that’s inundated with tabloids and dirty laundry. There is all sorts of stuff flying around. There is gossip in our workplaces. People talk about other people. We spread hearsay and rumours. The rumour mill churns 24/7 grinding out its purulent poison. Even as it grinds, people are the grist in its ravenous maw. We are all changed by it. We are all polluted by the gossip we hear and by the things we say. Rick Warren (Purpose Driven Life) gave a great definition of gossip and how we know when we are gossiping. He said this, “When we are talking about a situation with somebody who is neither part of the problem nor part of the solution, then we are probably gossiping.” Statistics say we speak about one-fifth of our entire lives. The average person has over 30 conversations a day. That would fill up in a year 66 books at 800 pages a book - each year. Therefore, there are lots of opportunities to make mistakes. James talks about the tongue more than any other writer in the New Testament. In chapter 3, verse 3 he gives us a couple of examples on how the tongue directs your life. First, he says it’s like a 1,200-pound horse. It’s a huge, beautiful, muscular animal. But, if you put a bit in a horse’s mouth, this little piece of metal right over the tongue, and then you add a 90-pound jockey on the back of that powerful animal, the jockey can steer that horse wherever he wants it to go. The principle works similarly with ships. Although they are large and driven by strong winds they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Even the humungous, modern ocean liners, tankers and aircraft carriers of today are all steered by a small rudder. James says that’s what the tongue is like. You have this little muscle with a huge impact on you life. It can make you or break you. It can open doors for you into the future. It can close doors for you. It can help other people. It can hurt other people. It can, and will, determine the direction of your life. In chapter 3, verse 5 he gives us the uncensored, straight up, no holds barred truth about the power of the tongue and how it, like a small fire, can start a rampaging inferno. “Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire. A world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person. It sets the whole course of his life on fire and is itself set on fire by hell.” Verse seven: “All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil full of deadly poison.” When you go to the doctor because you’re sick, one of the first things the doctor asks you to do is, “Stick out your tongue.” Why? Because your tongue reveals something about what’s going on inside of you. Jesus said, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45-46) James says in our own lives our tongue is so significant because it steers our lives and it reveals deep internal things that are happening. The first thing he says is the tongue directs your life. If you want to know the direction your life is moving, look at your conversations. Look at the words that are coming out of your mouth. We shape our words, but our words also shape us. Our words shape our character, and our character shapes our destiny. Therefore, our words shape our world. This small muscle has such a huge impact on our lives. It can make you or break you. It can open doors for you into the future. It can close doors to you forever. It can help other people. It can hurt other people. It either speaks life, or it speaks death. It can, and will, determine the direction of your life. What is your mouth mostly speaking, blessing or cursing? Don’t let your mouth be the devil’s mailbag.