"For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison."
Submission is a topic most commonly referred to within the context of marriage, but James expands how we typically view submission by relating it to our tongue and its correlation to our personal will. For proper context, Webster's 1828 Dictionary defines submission as "an obedient resignation...yielding/surrendering one's will to the will or appointment of a superior without murmuring...acknowledging inferiority or dependence through humble or suppliant behavior." Therefore, if we have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, in humility we have relinquished control of our life's trajectory and aligned our personal will with the will of the Father, understanding that He is our identity and final authority rather than ourselves.
The importance of this truth is imperative to James' perspective, because we cannot continue to blindly live and assume that our tongues submit to our personal authority. It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we have the ability to exude any shred of self-control, which is unique in the sphere of Biblical Christianity. Conversely, our society would never claim such audacity that a man is completely helpless to administer self-control is his own life, because it would defy cultural ideology that says a man needs to pull himself up by his own bootstraps. But that is exactly what separates a follower of Christ from the world! Our source of strength is our differentiation, and we must be bold enough to live that truth out in application of Scripture.
Most of us have visited a zoo and witnessed a demonstration of some sort where perhaps an eagle or dolphin is obeying the instruction of a handler. It is an amazing feat because we see wild, living creatures taken from their natural habitat and trained to submit and obey a human being's authority rather than their own will and instinct. It would seem illogical that they would submit to authority completely foreign from their species, but they do. Yet James argues that the tongue is so uncontrollable that a man cannot tame it despite it being part of his own body, even if he exhausted all his time, energy and resources.
James further warns that the tongue is a restless evil, meaning it is not content being quiet or at peace. It does not shield itself from negativity, but instigates it due to its foundation of self. Moreover, it is full of poison in that it has devastating effects when used as a weapon or self-defense mechanism. A poisonous snake is a good metaphor for the tongue, striking its prey with deadly force when hungry or self-protecting by releasing venom when threatened or attacked. We simply cannot ignore what we are truly capable of when we live wild and free with no submission to authority other than our flesh. And those closest to us can attest to the poison with which we speak, for they are typically the innocent victims whose forgiveness we take for granted.
Bottom-line, if we are unwilling to submit our tongues under God's authority, we are boldly declaring with great pride that we will not obey anyone other than our flesh. We also discredit the saving work of Christ because we believe the Holy Spirit is not sufficient enough to help us practice self-control. Sadly though, that is the plight of many self-proclaimed Christians, because relinquishing control and submitting to the Father's will and not our own in obedience to Scripture is where we truly gauge whether our faith is genuine or void of Christ altogether. Make no mistake, the tongue is a great spiritual thermometer for those who wonder how truly righteous they believe themselves to be, and a great measuring stick of how disciplined or undisciplined we are in our faith application.
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