DON’T RUSH TO BE A TEACHER!
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on June 12, 2024 under AM Bible Study |
AM Bible Study Group: June 12, 2024 from James 3:1
Theme: Because of the stricter judgment for the use of our tongues, we must not rush hastily to become ‘ many teachers’.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
In a time of great personal concern, King David wrote these words:
Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
Keep watch over the door of my lips (Psalm 141:3).
He knew that—in times of trouble or distress—our mouths can easily get out of hand and get us into trouble. But the danger of our tongues doesn’t just arise in times of trouble. Our own tongue is a constant threat—even in times of seemingly calm church life. That’s why Pastor James wrote a whole section of his letter about it. In James 3:1-12, he wrote;
My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh (James 3:1-12).
* * * * * * * * * *
The use of our tongues is a big subject in Scripture. And James deals with the danger of the tongue more than any other individual New Testament writer. In James 1:19, he urged his readers; “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath (1:19). In verse 26, he spoke of how essential it is to our faith that we control our tongues; warning, “If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless” (v. 26). In 4:11-12, he warned that we must not dare to take the place of God in our use of the tongue; exhorting us,
Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another? (4:11-12).
He even warned us in 5:12 not to use our tongues carelessly in taking oaths; writing, “But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No,’ lest you fall into judgment” (5:12). And then, of course, there is this extended treatment of the subject in Chapter 3. That’s quite a lot, in just one relatively small New Testament letter, about the potential danger of the tongue! The fact that Pastor James wrote so much about it should be a signal to us, from the Holy Spirit, of how crucial it is that we be on our guard against it.
In all of this, James reflects the attitude of our Lord. People sometimes say that ‘talk is cheap’. But it’s certainly not if you consider what the Lord Jesus said about its potential cost:
“But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:36-37).
All of us, who are followers of Jesus have great reason to be grateful for His amazing grace to us. Just think of how many idle words we have already spoken! But as James very specifically shows us at the beginning of his treatment on the use of our tongues, those of us who serve in the role of ‘teacher’ in the church have an even greater reason to cast ourselves upon the grace of the Lord Jesus. As James tells us in verse 1;
My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment (James 3:1).
According to James, those who occupy the role of teacher bear an even greater accountability before God than the average follower of Jesus. As Dr. Harry Ironside has put it;
To be recognized as an instructor of other people is to be in a place of great responsibility. If the teaching given out be faulty or misleading, none but God Himself can estimate the harm that may accrue to those who receive it. It is a serious thing indeed to attempt to influence men either for good or for evil. He to whom such a ministry is committed needs to be much before God as to how he fulfills it. Far greater condemnation than that to which his listeners are exposed will be his portion if he fails to teach the truth as God has revealed it in His Word. No man should therefore presume to take the place of a teacher who has not been called by the Lord to this work and gifted by the Holy Spirit in order that he may minister to edification (Harry Ironside, James [Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, 1932], pp. 33-34).
The warnings that James gives concerning the danger of the tongue are applicable to all who are followers of Jesus. But before getting into the general warnings, James begins by giving special warning to those who—either legitimately or illegitimately—have taken on the title of ‘teacher’ in our Lord’s household. James warns us that, because of the stricter judgment for the use of our tongues, we must not rush hastily to become ‘ many teachers’.
Note how James warns us of …
1. THE TEMPTATION TO BECOME A ‘TEACHER’ (v. 1a).
James begins by saying, “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers …” (or, as it is in the King James Version, “many masters”). This has always been an important warning; but it’s a particularly relevant warning in this present time of the history of the church. We live in the so-called ‘information’ age. And thanks to the many different means of communication that have now become available to them, many people today feel free to say as many things on as many different subjects as they wish while a multitude of people listen. Our day is very much like what the Bible said about the people of the ancient city of Athens; when people would “spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new” (Acts 17:21). The temptation for people to become “many teachers” is very great today … and so is the danger.
Now; James’ use of this word ‘teachers’, of course, doesn’t necessarily mean that every person who desires to be a teacher—or who presents themselves as a teacher—is legitimately qualified to be a teacher. Rather, the descriptive word ‘teacher’ can be a figure of speech for anyone who says, “My ideas are worthy to be heard. I have more knowledge or experience than others; and my ideas are as valid as anyone else’s. Therefore, I will declare them authoritatively.”
But James’s concern is particularly about the church. He calls the readers of his letter, “my brethren”; and so, his particular burden is for those who seek to be ‘teachers’ within the household of faith. His warning is about how the temptation to become ‘many teachers’—a temptation that’s very common among the people of this world—will particularly manifest itself among the people of God within the church.
There is a legitimate sense, of course, in which God blesses the church by gifting it with “teachers”. In Ephesians 4:11—in writing about the gifts that the Lord Jesus gave His church—the apostle Paul said, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers …” Such teachers are used by God to search-out truth from His word and to set it before His people in such a way as to inform them, or instruct them, or exhort them to action. They know how to lead edifying discussions on God’s word. They may even be able to write books that bless the church. Those who fulfill that role rightly do so by the Lord’s own appointment; and in such a way as to provide a very authoritative role in the church’s spiritual health and well-being. As it says in 1 Corinthians 12:28; “And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers …” The elders of a church who legitimately fulfill the specific role of teacher (that is, as a ‘teaching elder’) are worthy of being respected and supported in their work. As Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 5:17, “Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.” And what’s more, it’s even something that a mature Christian ought to aspire to be able to do to some degree. The writer of Hebrews said in Hebrews 5:12 that certain Christians—who were behaving immaturely and needed to be taught again the basics of the faith—”ought to” by that time “be teachers”. Older saints are even exhorted to teach the younger saints in the household of God (Titus 2:3-5).
All of this is true. But recognizing the truth of it also highlights the danger inherent in it. Someone can easily try to rush into that important role in the church apart from God’s clear call, and apart from sufficient qualifications and preparation. Many in fact do so; and for all kinds of wrong reasons. Jesus said, for example, that some want to be called teachers because they
love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi’ (Matthew 23-6-7) …
that is, to be called ‘Teacher, Teacher’. Some desire to have a platform from which to talk about their own unique spins and twists on doctrine, theology, or philosophy. Paul warned about such people in 1 Timothy 1:3-7; telling Pastor Timothy,
As I urged you when I went into Macedonia—remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith. Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm (1 Timothy 1:3-7).
And some even seek to be teachers simply in order to get money. Paul warned in Titus 1:11 about such teachers, “whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain.”
Now; we ought to praise God for those Holy Spirit-appointed ‘teachers’ in the church who, out of a genuine love for God and compassion for His people, carefully teach from the Bible and accurately interpret and apply the Word of God for practical Christian living. We ought to praise Him for those teachers who do battle on the front lines and work to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints” (Jude 3).
But still, no one should ever rush into that role recklessly. It would be a very dangerous thing to do because of …
2. THE HAZARDS OF BEING A ‘TEACHER’ (v. 1b).
James says, “let not many of you become teachers …” He doesn’t say “let not any”, but simply “let not many”. This is because—as we’ve seen—there’s a legitimate call for some to be teachers in the church. But even in the case of those who are legitimately placed by the Holy Spirit in the role of ‘teacher’ in the things of God, the hazards are serious! We should be hesitant to become teachers, “knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.”
Consider how the Bible teaches us that a teacher could incur serious guilt before God because of the misuse of their tongue:
– From not saying what God wants said. When sinful and rebellious people don’t want to hear hard things from God’s word, it’s tempting for a teacher of the word to be quiet. But as God once told the prophet Ezekiel:
“So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand” (Ezekiel 33:7-8).
The apostle Paul was probably thinking of that passage when he told the Ephesian pastors; “Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:26-27).
– From telling people what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear. The apostle Paul once warned Timothy to faithfully preach the word;
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
What dreadful judgment awaits a so-called ‘teacher’ in the church who actually turns God’s people away from the truth!
– From compromising the truth. A teacher in the church is accountable before God for teaching the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. As Jesus said;
“For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:18-19).
A teacher who emphasizes certain aspects of the truth and minimizes others for the sake of mere human expediency must one day give an account before the God of truth.
– From living in a way that is inconsistent with what is taught. As Paul asked in Romans 2;
You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? (Romans 2:21-23).
To presume to teach God’s truth to others—but then live hypocritically against it—is a dreadful thing to have to give an account for. Therefore, as Paul urged Timothy, “Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1 Timothy 4:16).
– From being careless or lazy in the work of a teacher. Paul wrote to Timothy and told him;
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 3:15).
Those who presume to teach God’s truth to God’s people—and yet who are reckless in their study and work, will have cause to be ashamed before their Master.
Those are the hazards of being a teacher in God’s household. And they can put someone in severe danger of a “stricter judgment” from God. In the case of a genuine believer, it wouldn’t be the judgment of God’s eternal wrath; because Jesus has already taken that wrath upon Himself for us on the cross. Rather, it will be a judgment for unfaithfulness in conduct and in belief as the people of God. Those in the body of Christ who presume to be teachers of the things of God in a careless, reckless way—not being certain that God has, indeed, called them into that role, or not fulfilling that role with all diligence and earnestness and with full reliance on God’s empowering strength and guidance, or not doing so in a way that recognizes the authority of the appointed leadership structure of the church, or daring to use the church as a platform from which to present their own personal views—put themselves at risk of the discipline of God for the use of their tongues; and for the harm their tongues might cause to others.
* * * * * * * * * *
A great Greek philosopher once said, “Either be silent, or say something that is better than silence.” Someone who has been truly called into the honored role of a ‘teacher’ in the church—someone truly qualified to do so, and who carefully presents people with the eternal truths of God’s word—most certainly has something better than silence to say. And for that reason, it’s worth their effort to fulfill that role in a way that pleases God and truly serves God’s people. But it’s a role that is very dangerous to enter into hastily or recklessly.
So then, let’s be very careful to watch our ambitions and our motives. Let’s guard our mouths and exercise caution in our use of words. Let’s be sure that what we have to say is truly ‘better than silence’ because it’s what God Himself wants said. Let’s strive to speak carefully and accurately the truth from God’s word to our fellow believers.
And let not many of us become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment!
AE
Add A Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.