Let not
many of you become teachers, my
brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. For we all
stumble in many ways. If anyone does not
stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as
well. Now if we put the bits into the horses' mouths so that they will obey us,
we direct their entire body as well. Look at the ships also, though they are so
great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder
wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. So also the tongue is a small
part of the body, and Yet it boasts of
great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And
the tongue is a fire, the very world of
iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire
body, and sets on fire the course of our
life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles
and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no
one can tame the tongue; it is a
restless evil and full of deadly poison.
With it we bless our Lord and Father,
and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the
same mouth come both blessing and
cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain
send out from the same opening both
fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree,
my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.
(James 3:1-12 NASB)
Being Not Too Many Teachers
It might seem strange that James wishes to reduce the number
of teachers. But he is dealing with a known and specific problem in the church
of its time. Many of the Jewish Christians felt themselves quite superior to
the Gentile Christians, because they understood the Old Testament law. They
therefore took up teaching the Gentiles without the gift of the Spirit.
Further, there was a definite difference Between the Way, Jewish Christians
were taught and Gentile Christians were taught. Jewish Christians learned by
the rabbinical method, which involves a great deal of memorization. The student
was expected copy the writings of the Rabbi and thus provide his own textbook. In
Greek society copying was done by professional copiers. Greeks were also
accustomed to the Socratic method of teaching, which involved a good deal of
question and answer between the teacher and the students. As a result, there
was some difficulty in the church caused by all of these Jewish teachers. James
is correcting that difficulty. Of course, he wants only the best teachers to
survive the cut. He therefore stresses the difficulty of being a teacher.
How Do We Recruit Teachers?
As it happens, at this writing our church is in the process
of recruiting a large number of small group leaders to increase the build
community aspect of our church. I leave it as an exercise to the student as to
whether or not we are approaching this the right way; but the first thing we
must realize is that the Scripture clearly specifies the teachers are given the
gift of teaching by the Holy Spirit:
And God
has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers,
then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.
(1 Corinthians 12:28 NASB)
As you can tell, the standard for being a teacher is it must
be a perfect man. What's interesting in here is this: the word format that
James uses is actually the word for husband. The word for perfect, however,
tells us what we need to know. It means to be perfected for a purpose. This
implies that there is a purpose in view, and that the teacher meets it. This
gift is clearly shown to be distinct from other spiritual gifts. This does not
mean that if you have that spiritual gift you are already a perfect teacher; it
means you have the gift that you could be a good teacher. The Holy Spirit
expects you to do your own studying.
Character of the Ideal Teacher
It's interesting that James uses the first person plural
pronoun — "we" — in describing teachers. It's clear that he knows
that judgment is strict are for him. This is important because we are all still
sinners; please don't get the idea that perfect means sinless. It doesn't. It means
perfectly fit for a purpose. James does focus on the use of the tongue as a
measure of the teacher.
·
One reason is fairly obvious: teachers use their tongues in the
process of teaching. If you don't know what you're talking about, or you don't
how to say it, or you add to what you should say with whatever comes to your
mind then the tongue is being misused.
·
The other reason is fairly clear too. If you have control of your
speech it is generally recognized that you have good self-control. If you
don't, then your self-control is lacking. So the tongue is not only a useful
implement for the teacher it is also a measure of the man.
The Tongue
The Power of the Tongue
One reason why teachers get into difficulty with what they
say is that they under estimate the power of their own tongue. How many times
have you heard someone walking out to the despairing tones of the teacher
saying, "All I said was…"? We have a tendency to insist that our
words be taken literally, while we read into other people's words all sorts of
intent. This is neither fair nor fruitful.
Sometimes, however, the teacher says something rather the
shock people. Our reaction is, "he said what?" It's something that
should be avoided as much as possible, but it turns out it seems rather
pleasant at the time.
The tongue does have its proper use: persuasion to
righteousness. If there is a question a teacher should ask himself before he
walks into the classroom, it is this: "what do I want the students to
change in their life to become more righteous?" It's very difficult to
know when you have arrived if you don't know where you're going.
Danger of the Tongue
Most of us recognize the danger of what it is we say as
being a problem with the tongue. But it may not be so obvious to us that what
we don't say — or, more likely, what they really heard — is the real danger.
People tend to draw conclusions from what you say. If you do not allow for this
fact your students may be leaving the classroom with some other idea that the
one you started with. But they'll be thinking that's what you said. This is not
good on a number of levels.
In fact the most obscure part of the danger of the tongue is
"what I should have said." Getting it right the first time is the
great defense against misunderstanding. One of my master teachers told me that
if I ever had a choice as to which lecture to attend, I should always attend
the second one. I asked why, and he explained that the first one is rather
experimental: it's where you make mistakes. The second is when you fix your mistakes,
and from then on out you're bored.
Difficulty in Controlling the Tongue
For those who are not eloquent, it may seem an obscure
problem as to why controlling your tongue is such a difficulty. It is not necessarily a
loose connection in the wiring of the brain. In fact, this drives right to the
core of the nature of sin. Out of the heart the tongue speaks. The issue of
whether or not your tongue is under control is simply an issue of your fight
with sin. If this is not clear to you, I suggest that you read the entire book
of Romans. Paul lays it out very nicely there.
There is another reason, however. It stems from the fact
that all but the brightest of us think entirely in words. If you can't say it
in English, you can't think it. This is why the liberals and American society
and tenderly attempt to redefine words. A good example is marriage. Christians
approve of marriage, and have for 2000 years. So we just change the word
marriage to include homosexual unions, we automatically get the approval of the
church for our homosexual unions. If you can't say it, you can't think it. If
you've ever become proficient enough in a foreign language that you can think
it, you have the experience of knowing that there are some things that can't be
fought in English — but are perfectly clear in, say, French. Bible teachers
have the same problem when they read things that are clear in the Greek and
obscure in the English. You know that St. Paul was thinking of something, but
you might not be able to put it into words. A sense of due humility is
required.
One last thought: the tongue is the thermometer of your
spiritual life. You can fake the thermometer for a while, but if you are really
whole the thermometer will read correctly. Your tongue will give a true picture
of who you are.
How Then Should We Speak?
Permit me to borrow a verse from next week's lesson:
But the
wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of
mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.
(James 3:17 NASB)
Pure
If you're going to be a teacher, this is a first
requirement. It means that there is no hidden agenda in your teaching, that
you're not trying to slip one by your students. With the students that this
particular instructor has, there is no danger of this. Slipping a hidden agenda
past them would be somewhat like slipping a roast past a Great Dane. But there
is a more subtle problem with this. If they respect for you is great enough,
and your tenure long enough, you may be tempted to slip your opinion by as
being something clearly proclaimed by the Bible. Don't do this. State that is
your opinion, tell them why you have concluded this. They should be intelligent
enough to tell the difference, and open-minded enough to living to what you
have to say and consider it carefully. Honesty is the best policy — just
because it is.
Peaceable, Gentle and Reasonable
The word used for peaceable in this verse is related to
"calm." The idea is that your speech should tend to create peace, not
conflict. Do remember that inquiry is not the same thing as conflict. It is
entirely possible to disagree without being disagreeable. That's the sense were
trying to get here; it is speech which tends to solve a problem rather than
create one.
The word used here for gentle is also translated "moderate."
It carries with it the sense of being not too rigid or too exacting. The idea
is that there is a certain amount of flexibility in it. It is well know what
must be insisted upon and what might be considered optional or opinion. It's
usually a good idea to know this before you deliver the lesson — otherwise
we'll find out when it's too late.
The word used for reason means something which is useful for
persuasion. A teacher must remember that he does not have the privilege of
"laying down the law." He must persuade. So his words should be
persuasive, and tending to persuade rather than intimidate. If you are talented
enough, sometimes persuasion sounds like intimidation. You must be aware of
this and avoid it as much as you can.
Full of Mercy and Good Fruits
The test of a teacher's life is not in his instruction but
in his living. The word here used for mercy is the same one which James uses
earlier in cautioning against telling someone to be warm and not providing
anything. It means something of practical help. In short, a teacher's life
should regularly feature the common aspects of Christian charity. These will
often enough be directed towards his students; sometimes he will have the
privilege of organizing the class to deliver such fruits to one of the members
of the class. This is a form of instruction which should not be neglected. The
good fruits in question are related to righteousness and all the other acts of
a solid mature Christian.
Unwavering without Hypocrisy
It comes down to this: that you really believe and practice
what it is you teach. You do it consistently, not just to happen to match a
particular lesson.
Permit me to share with you an observation. If your life
regularly features the practice of what you believe and teach, the work you do
to prepare a lesson is greatly decreased. It is no secret that the teacher must
be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit. In my particular instance, this does
not include blinding flashes from heaven. Rather, things just sort of occurred
to me – things that haven't occurred to me before. But to get this leading from
the Holy Spirit you must not quench the Spirit. If your life matches your
teaching, the Spirit will inform you. If it doesn't, you're wasting your
breath.