One of the more useful fields of philosophy that I have studied is an area of contemporary analytical philosophy called ‘speech-act theory’. Speech-act theory rightly recognises that to say something is to do something. Whenever we speak, we are acting and to understand any piece of discourse we must not only understand what is being said but what the speaker is intending to do by saying what he says. This is a very useful idea, and it should help us to think about speaking as I believe James wants us to here in the third chapter of his letter. It highlights the fact that speaking is more than just the utterance of sounds. Speaking is a moral action that has certain effects. Next time you have a conversation with someone, ask yourself, what am I doing by saying these things? Or alternatively: What outcome am I striving to achieve by saying these things? It is a very useful way of examining yourself. You might discover that you are speaking in a certain way so as to make your hearer admire you, perhaps even to make them envious. You might discover that you are speaking about another person so as to make your hearer complicit in judging them. So much speaking is designed to be self-inflating or defamatory of others. It is a fear based, survival instinct that is unbecoming of our dignity as children of God. So much good can be done by speaking but so much evil also. Know yourself by listening to yourself.
Continue to reflect on your speech actions.
Read James 3:1-12 again
