From the Pulpit: Only you can prevent non-forest fires
It’s fall and you know what that means Besides trips to the apple orchard and fall color road trips, it’s time to watch out for fires. Dry leaves and grass can catch on fire, as I recently witnessed firsthand at a fall pastor’s conference in Rapid City, where a grass fire several miles north of our meeting place destroyed over a thousand acres and caused home evacuations. It seems like every fall our brave local firefighters are called on to handle both grass fires and crop stubble fires. Some are caused by sparks from farm equipment or by mufflers, but many are caused by plain old-fashioned human carelessness. Since 1950, Smokey the Bear has been warning us that “Only you can prevent forest fires.”
But what about the non-forest fires that burn around us year-round? What can be done to stop them? First, we have to recognize the source of these fires, and it is found inside of us. James 3: 5-8 says, “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.”
Wow! And you thought prairie fires were bad! They are nothing compared to the fires set by the tongue. Of course, the tongue isn’t acting on its own. It is connected to our brain, and that is why it is dangerous. We like to boast and brag, and pride goes before a fall. Pride is the enemy of humility, which is being aware of our constant need to repent of our sins and ask God daily for forgiveness. Pride foolishly says, “I don’t need God or anyone else.” Humility says, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence, or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation,” (Ps. 51:10-12a).
A fire needs three things to keep going: heat, fuel, and oxygen. A fire started by the tongue, such as gossip or a quarrel, needs the same three things. First tempers or pride has to flare up. Firefighters not only drown fires with water, the water is also a cooling element. That’s why James 1:19-20 says, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”
Fires also go out if deprived of fuel. Proverbs 19:11 says, “A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.” In other words, don’t add fuel to the fire, but rather hold your tongue.
And the most important way of putting out a fire is depriving it of oxygen. Eph. 4:31-32 says, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.”
Faith in God is the real spiritual firefighter. It knows how to compliment, build other people up, and forgive others. Make our local firefighters and Smokey the Bear happy by not throwing anything on fire out your car window. Make your Savior happy by applying the same grace and mercy God has shown you to others, and you will be preventing the worst kind of fires around.
