Tag Archives: tongue

The most powerful thing in the world – Power of the tongue

Aim

To challenge pupils to consider the power of the words they speak – to hurt or to help others.

Bible base

Proverbs 10:18; 11:13; 16:28; 18:8; 26:20 – don’t gossip

James 3:1-12 – the power of the tongue

You will need:

  • A tube of toothpaste
  • A place
  • A banana
  • Sellotape
  • Large cards to show Persian proverb and words from the book of Proverbs (See Preparation and Content below)
  • A CD of music and appropriate equipment to play it on.

Preparation

• Prepare large cards in advance, showing words as follows (quotations from Proverbs are taken from the Good News Bible)

Card 1 – ‘An arrow that has left the box never returns’ – a Persian proverb

Card 2 – ‘A man who hides his hatred is a liar. Anyone who spreads gossip is a fool.’ – Proverbs 10:18

Card 3 – ‘No one who gossips can be trusted with a secret, but you can put confidence in someone who is trustworthy’ – Proverbs 11:13

Card 4 – ‘Gossip is spread by wicked people; they stir up trouble and break up friendships’ – Proverbs 16:28

Card 5 – ‘Gossip is so tasty – how we love to swallow it’ – Proverbs 18:8

Card 6 – ‘Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, quarrelling stops’ – Proverbs 26:20

• Work out in advance a thirty second excerpt of music which will act as a timer in the introductory activity. Set up your equipment for playing the music before the assembly begins and check that it works as you intend.

Content

That’s impossible!

  1. Ask for two volunteers. Ask one volunteer to squirt some toothpaste onto the plate. Ask the other volunteer to unpeel the banana.
  2. Then tell them they have thirty seconds to put the toothpaste back in the tube and to seal up the banana with the sellotape. Play an excerpt from a music CD to time them.
  3. At the end of the thirty seconds, show the audience how they’ve got on. After a round of applause, ask them to return to their seats.
  4. Comment that really, that was an impossible task. Then display Card 1 showing the Persian proverb: ‘An arrow that has left the bow never returns.’
  5. Explain that just like the squeezed-out toothpaste, a peeled banana and an arrow that has left the bow, so it is with words, once we’ve said them, we can’t take them back.

Words can hurt

Tell the following funny story to make the serious point about how words can hurt, and the need to think about the effect of our words on others:

There was once a lady on a train with her baby. A man came into the same compartment. He looked at the baby and said, ‘That is the ugliest baby I have ever seen!’ and he started to laugh uncontrollably. He got off the train at the next station. Another man got on and came and sat in the same compartment. There, he found the lady who was obviously very upset. He tried to get her to say what the matter was, but she couldn’t speak because she was crying so much. So, at the next station, he leapt out of the carriage, ran to a shop, and managed to get back just as the train was pulling out. ‘There, there,’ he said, ‘please don’t cry. Here, I’ve bought you a drink and some tissues. And look, I’ve even bought a banana for your monkey!’

Those were not the right words!

Small but powerful

  1. The Bible says that the tongue – that small part of us which plays such a powerful role in producing our words – is a bit like the rudder of a big ship: relatively small but very influential. Or, it is like a little spark in a forest that can cause a huge fire (see James 3:4-6)!
  2. You can use your tongue to discourage others. Demonstrate this by suddenly saying something insulting to someone on the front row. (Try to pick someone who looks as if they won’t be hurt by your ‘insult’ and make sure that the audience understands you are joking!)
  3. You can also use your tongue to encourage (eg: ‘You know, I think you were really good when you did that!’). It costs nothing to use our words to build someone else up – instead of ourselves!

Don’t gossip!

If you’ve ever had any gossip spread about you, you’ll know how hurtful it can be. The Bible has some particularly useful things to say about gossip in a book of wise sayings called The Book of Proverbs. See if you can see the wisdom in these words:

  • Display Card 2: ‘Anyone who spreads gossip is a fool.’ Ask: Is this true?
  • Display Card 3: ‘No one who gossips can be trusted.’ Ask: Is this true? Comment that if it is, then so is the first proverb. People who can’t be trusted end up not having many friends. God warns us against gossip because he wants us to have friends!
  • Display Card 4: ‘Gossip is spread by wicked people; they stir up trouble and break up friendships.’ Ask: Can you think of an occasion when that has happened?
  • Display Card 5: ‘Gossip is so tasty – how we love to swallow it!’ Ask: Is this true? Begin to tell a bit of ‘juicy’ imaginary gossip. Then stop abruptly and draw pupils’ attention to how carefully people are listening all of a sudden!
  • Display Card 6: ‘Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, quarrelling stops.’ Ask: Why not put that to the test?

Three important questions

1. A group of people called the Quakers are renowned for not saying much at all, especially in their church services. But they have a rule of thumb about the way they try to use words when speaking about someone else. They ask themselves these questions before they speak:

  • Is it true?
  • Is it kind?
  • Is it necessary?

2. Challenge pupils to see if they can follow this ‘rule’ today: to remember – before they speak – to ask themselves those three questions.

Application

1. Say that you have spoken enough!

2. Conclude with a few moments of quiet. Explain that you want pupils to use this time to think about the way they have used words in the past, and how they are going to speak, today.

 

Tongue Twister – Think before you speak

Bible Base:

Exodus 20:7; Matthew 12:33–37; James 3:3–12;

Aim:

To help students think about the things they say and reflect on how these can help or hurt others.

Things you’ll need:

  • Two or three ‘tongue twisters’.
  • Display equipment (large pieces of card or PowerPoint and projector).
  • Blindfolds (two or three should be enough)
  • A few different foodstuffs for a taste test. Include contrasting foods: salty, sour, sweet – things the students will like and things they won’t. Avoid any to which people may have common allergies.
  • Suitable containers and spoons.

Preparation

  • Write out your tongue twisters for display on card or PowerPoint.
  • Put the chosen foods into the containers and make sure you have enough spoons as you have volunteers.

Presentation

1 Start with all or some of these interactive ideas to introduce the theme of the tongue and what you say.

Tongue twisters

Get everyone saying one of the tongue twisters you have written up. Let them do it with the words on display at first, then without. If you have the words written on separate pieces of card, you could remove a few words at a time. Depending on the time available and enthusiasm of students, do one or two different ones.

Tongue-tied

Ask the students if any of them can curl their tongues. Can anyone touch their nose with their tongue?

Tongue-taster

Ask for two or three volunteers. Blindfold the students and ask them to taste some food (check first that your volunteers do not have dietary food allergies, eg nuts). Let the audience, but not the volunteers, know what’s being tasted. Ask your volunteers to guess what each foodstuff is.

2 Follow this up by pointing out how important the tongue is for talking. Ask students to think about the things they say.

  • Do their words help others or hurt them?
  • How much of what they say is positive and encouraging?
  • Do they often swear or say negative things?
  • Are they rude to others?

Ask them to think about the kind of words they use in their everyday speech, for example: in the last couple of days have they said words which have hurt or encouraged someone else? Have they been rude to anyone, or sworn at someone?

Reflection

Say that you are going to read some things about the importance of the words we use from the Bible. Use a contemporary version (eg CEV or– the Youth Bible, NCV).

  • Read James 3:3–12. Comment on the passage, giving some examples of how a few words can cause enormous problems. The students might have some examples of their own. Emphasise how we can let good and bad words come out of our mouths. These verses suggest that the words we say have something to do with the kind of people we are on the inside (verse 12).
  • Read Exodus 20:7. How do you use God’s name? As a swear word? The Ten Commandments talk about not misusing God’s name. Even if you don’t believe in God, remember that lots of people do. When you use God’s name in this way you might be offending others.

Response

  1. Ask students to think about how they speak to people. Is it good and positive? Or unkind and often putting others down?
  2. There’s the suggestion in the Bible verses that thinking about God – what he’s like, how he wants us to live – will make a difference to the kind of people we are on the inside. For example, what’s your thought life like? Are there ways in which you need to change on the inside?
  3. Decide to do something positive about the words you use today. You could try today:
  • not to swear;
  • not to use God’s name as a swear word;
  • to say something positive and encouraging to at least one person today.

4 Encourage students to ask God to help them do what they’ve decided.