Tongue Control and Finger Control

In his little letter to the Christians in the 1st Century, the Apostle James had some potent things to say about “tongue control”. What James said then was probably sufficient for the most part. Though written communication had existed for a very long time then, it was much more of a laborious task to write than we think of in our modern day. Back then, most communication between people was verbal. But, times have been changing ever since. And in my lifetime, things have changed drastically.

In the middle of the 15th Century, moveable type printing machines were created for use with western languages. This multiplied the potential to mass-produce written messages for distribution. A mechanical typewriter was first marketed in the 1870’s. In the 1930’s, IBM marketed an electric typewriter, mostly used in business settings. In the mid 1960’s, IBM marketed a new innovation, the Magnetic Tape Selectric Typewriter, which provided a memory of the typing so that corrections could be made without having to re-type an entire document. In the early ’70’s, word processors began to be created to utilize the power of computers. Today, we have very powerful and very fast computers with very powerful word processing programs. Beyond this, cell phones and other portable devices allow us to communicate with others verbally and in print at exceptional speeds.

It seems we are able to communicate faster than we can think in this modern world. At least, a lot of stuff I see posted online (Facebook, etc.) doesn’t seem to have been very well thought out before being blurted out.

Before I go on, let’s look at what James had to say about the tongue.

“We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check. When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. 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, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

"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. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.” (James 3:2-10)

I suggest that we all think about this. Perhaps finger control is needed today as much as tongue control ever was. Let us think about what we are communicating, the appropriateness of our words – not only when we speak, but when we tweet, text, email, post comments on Facebook, etc. Personally, I see so much stuff posted on Facebook that it inappropriate, out-of-line, and damaging.

Recently, an offended dad posted a video online in response to his daughter’s disrespectful Facebook post about her family. The father’s video has been viewed more than 20 million times on Youtube. He talked to his daughter in a very stern manner about her disrespect and ingratitude. He had recently invested $130 in upgrading her laptop computer, and he was incensed that she would publicly complain about her life. He was also justly repulsed that several of her "friends" had clicked “like” to her grossly disrespectful comment. He ended his powerful rebuke by pulling out his 45 cal pistol and shooting nine rounds into her laptop. (This was filmed outside, of course.)

Though I wouldn’t recommend the Dad’s approach, I must admit I enjoyed it and hoped that a lot of young people would be inspired to think about what they post before they post it. When I was growing up, I probably complained about my home-life to a friend or two here and there. What would have been a pretty private conversation out in my yard or on the playground back in my day, winds up being a notification to literally hundreds of “friends” via a Facebook post today. So, I would encourage all of us to cautiously control our tongues, but just as cautiously control our fingers.