The chile piquin is a small but powerful type of chile pepper. I tried one the other day because my students had told me that they would make an excellent illustration for my sermon on the tongue. They were right. I had to spit it out because I didn’t want it to burn my esophagus.
Today I preached on James 3 at Bethel Church in Xochimilco. My introduction was the chile piquin. We talked about three observations about the tongue: It has power (for good or evil); it is difficult to tame; and controlling it is essential to living out our faith.
It’s a lot easier to preach about taming the tongue than it is to live it. I think part of it has to do with the fact that there are so many ways to slip up with the tongue. It takes only a little moment in time to lose your temper and say something that you will regret for a long time.
I had a good time with a new group of Christians today, and I pray that the sermon will take root in their lives and the life of their church.
