Taming the tongue

I awoke this morning with the words of James chapter three echoing in my head:

"Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways.
And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And ithe tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 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.
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."

I have been listening to those who wish to make political capital out of Gordon Brown's comments yesterday and I find myself standing astride an abyss here. For whether or not the words were wounding, if the label 'bigot' was what the man thought was appropriate then he was right to say them. I would rather that those who seek to manage my nation were open and honest, even when I might not like the words or sentiments that were used.

If he subsequently apologised for the gaffe because it was a vote-loser and therefore engaged in what is nothing more than a PR exercise then I am more saddened by the hypocrisy and desperation that caused him to issue an apology which was not based on his true feelings.

But. If he really did misunderstand what the woman said and apologised for that and his therefore misplaced comments then all I can say is that the man's obviously as human as me (and hopefully others too - I'm don't think I'm alone here). I don't want a perfect politician, I merely want an honest one.

We all find our tongue dropping us in it at times for after all it is the mirror of what is going on inside. For as Matthew (12:33 -37) says:

“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

It's a great idea to think before you speak. Doing this will make us look like we're nice, sound and gentle people - problem is, at least for me, that my tongue likes to jump the queue and get in before the brain can think and the nice gene can be activated at times - looks like me and Gordon might still have some work to do - how's about you?