Train to Live on Mission – Week 22
Battle Drill #22:
Keep Control of the Rudder of Your Life!
Proverbs 15:1-7 (NAS95)
Today, we are going to walk through the four action steps of a soldier’s training routine to learn the next battle drill – “Keep Control of the Rudder of Your Life!”
I was a soldier, once upon a time, but I have never served as a sailor. I do know that the rudder is one of the most important components of any boat. The rudder allows the pilot to steer, control, and direct the vessel when out on the water. In a small sailboat, the rudder is controlled by a tiller, a long rod that allows the pilot to turn the rudder directly. It’s simple, reliable, and effective, all you must do is keep control of the rudder. If you want to get from point A to point B, then you must keep control of the rudder of your ship. That may not be hard when there are calm waters, but it can be incredibly difficult during storms.
The same is true in life! As a Christian, you are not who you once were (Point A) and you are not yet who God desires you to be (Point B), you are sailing to the destination, on the journey of life. Along the way there are calm waters and there are stormy seas, and in every circumstance, we must train ourselves to keep control of the rudder of our lives. We will now look at the first action step of a soldier’s training routine to live on mission.
Action Step #1) Know the Field Manual.
The battle drill we are going to learn and apply this week is from Proverbs 15:1-7:
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable, but the mouth of fools spouts folly. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good. A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but perversion in it crushes the spirit. A fool rejects his father’s discipline, but he who regards reproof is sensible. Great wealth is in the house of the righteous, but trouble is in the income of the wicked. The lips of the wise spread knowledge, but the hearts of fools are not so.
This is what the Field Manual says, let’s now take the second action step to learn how to apply today’s battle drill to our everyday lives as good soldiers of Jesus Christ.
Action Step #2) Train together as one unit.
The long slow obedience of daily decision making to become like Christ, through both the calm waters and stormy seas of life, requires you to have control of the rudder of your life, which is your tongue! We must keep control of our tongue if we are to fulfill God’s good pleasure for our lives. We learn that from Proverbs 15:1-7, which states three times in quick succession:
- “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise make knowledge acceptable, but the mouth of fools spouts folly” (1-2).
- “A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but perversion in it crushes the spirit” (4).
- “The lips of the wise spread knowledge, but the hearts of fools are not so” (7).
“Tongue” and “lips” in these passages, as well as in other passages, is referring to our spoken words, what we say. In today’s world, that will also include the words we text, post on social media, etc. Proverbs 18:21 teaches us the power of our words, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” It is not the actual fleshly tongue that is the rudder, but the spoken word that flows from our hearts. As Jesus said in Matthew 12:33-37:
Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless word[1] that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.
Your spoken words reveal your heart! It is an everyday reality that we talk and write about what is important to us. It is also true that our idle and thoughtless words reflect what is hidden in our hearts, sometimes even from ourselves. Do your words reveal that your heart belongs to Jesus Christ? Who or what rules your heart? Your tongue has the power of life or death, so train yourself to submit your tongue to the lordship of Christ and be vigilant in what you say – “be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger” (James 1:19). Let’s take the third action step.
Action Step #3) Seek the Commander’s approval.
Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well. Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.
When you yoke together Jesus’ teaching about our words proceeding from our hearts and James’ teaching about our tongues and hear them through the lens of the ancient wisdom of Proverbs, then you know that it is all about whether you are a wise person or a fool. Jesus made it very clear in Matthew 7:24, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Your tongue, your spoken and written words, reveal the truth about whether you are wise or foolish, and whether or not Christ rules in your heart.
If you want to do a heart check, then check your tongue! Paul taught us this, as the fourth example of the new life we have in Christ, found in Ephesians 4:29-32:
Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
Again, Paul said in Ephesians 5:1:
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
In one last example, Paul exhorted in Colossians 3:8-11:
But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him – a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.
There is no contradiction between the teaching of Paul and James. Paul’s exhortations of how we are and are not to use our tongue agree with James’ teaching that no one can tame the tongue and that it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. It is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives when Christ takes His rightful place on the throne of our hearts. Our words are transformed for the work of the gospel – to build up others and praise God.
When we live on mission for God, then our tongues come under His dominion, and are no longer our own. This is not automatic, it requires training! We must train ourselves to use words surgically, effectively, and productively with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. A well-timed word can transform a person’s attitude, actions, or even the course of the person’s life. Paul explained in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” A temple is place of making right sacrifices unto God. This is a daily choice; a daily sacrifice so that you can know what God expects of you as you live your life on mission. God calls us to do the work, and sacrifice our own emotions and agendas to give Him dominion over what we say. This is the action item of Romans 12:1-2:
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Your life, including your tongue, coming under the Lordship of Christ to be a spiritual house of worship through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit brings us to the final action step.
Action Step #4) Live on mission.
Each of us is being challenged to set sail on the next leg of the course, which is your life mission while you are here on Earth. Paul testified near the end of his journey in 2 Timothy 4:7-8, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” The only way to get to Point B is to undock yourself from whatever is paralyzing you, let the sail out, and allow the Holy Spirit to propel you forward. You must be vigilant with the rudder when your sails are full and you are on mission on the way to the destination of God’s good pleasure for your life, which is your Christlikeness!
Have you gotten comfortable sitting at the dock? You’ve got one hand on the tiller with a drink in the other hand telling tales of your days out at open sea. Maybe you’ve had too many storms and you just don’t think your boat can handle another one. Until you arrive at the destination of your life’s end, you are called to CM until the race is finished. Just as Paul testified of his own life as he was having to sail directly into a storm in Acts 20:24, “But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.” Never forget that while it may feel safe to sit on the dock, in a safe harbor, but that is not the life God created and saved you for – you have enlisted to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ, to live on mission for His glory and your good (2 Timothy 2:3-4)!