One of the most popular shows from last season is returning this fall with ads asking potential audiences, “What would you do if your weren’t ‘handicapped’ by sight?”

“The Voice” is a talent show that keeps the judges in the dark, so to speak. It requires them to judge all the contestants only on the quality of their voices. The judges’ backs are turned and they never see the performer. Power, poise, presence, emotion, erudition, excitement — it all has to be conveyed to the judges only by the sound of the voice — not by any see-me-showmanship. The power to convince, convict, and control is not in the contestants own hands. It is in their tongues.

The power of the tongue was of central concern to James in today’s epistle text. And what power it has. Did you know the tongue can lift up to…