As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:
1My
brothers, let not many become teachers, knowing that we will receive greater
judgment, 2for all stumble much. If someone does not stumble in
word, this one is a mature man, able also to bridle the whole body.
I’m reluctantly leaving my study of Ruth (and Hebrew) to
come back to James (and Greek) for a while. I’ll probably work through James chapter
3 then go back and study the last chapter of Ruth. Of course, returning here,
I’m immediately met with some challenging thoughts – which is exactly what I’m
looking for!
Hmmmmm. My mouth. What a subject! There have been commentaries
almost ad infinitum written on these very verses in James. I have enjoyed many
of them for years. I fondly remember early in my walk with God engaging in
studies on “the tongue.” I memorized this entire chapter in James along with
many proverbs and sincerely tried to let God change what I did with my mouth. I
found early that one of the best strategies to keep me out of trouble was what
David said in Psalm 39:1, “I will … keep my tongue from sin.” It was amazing to
me how much it helped throughout my days to be determined not to sin with my
mouth. It helped me function on a maturity level which was frankly far beyond
myself. I simply didn’t say all the stupid things I was thinking!!
All that said, unfortunately, over my 57 years, my mouth has
been a huge contributor to my “Hall of Shame.” There have been a hundred
thousand million dumb things I’ve said, words I wish I could recall or “right-click-delete.”
I seriously have to run for shelter into the Lord’s love just to keep that
flood of regrets from overwhelming me.
Before I came to know the Lord one of the things that
horrified me was the sudden realization that I could not control my mouth. I
would often find myself saying things I knew I would regret, yet be seemingly
powerless to stop it. It was a terrible, sinking, hopeless feeling to know I’d
said really stupid things (again) but to know in my heart I would only do it
again and there was nothing I could do about it. There are not words enough to
thank the Lord for this one thing – that as soon as He saved me, He actually
gave me the hope that I could “put a lid on it.” I knew the second He entered
my life that I wasn’t a slave any more, that somehow He would help me control my
mouth. As I said above, I’ve still managed to say a lot of stupid things since
then, but the Lord gives me hope. I know that He has helped me change a great
deal and He gives me hope I can change more. I know I will always have plenty
to regret but, still, with the Lord in my life, I have hope.
So I see it in the Bible and in my own life – this is in
fact a subject of considerable importance. What do I do with my mouth? James
already said, “Do you see a man who seems to be religious but doesn’t bridle
his tongue? His religion is worthless” (1:26). Solomon said, “Life and death
are in the power of the tongue” (Prov 18:21). So we wade back into James 3,
this major Bible passage on the mouth, hoping to learn more.
What probably strikes me most about these first two verses
is this thought: Our mouth is another one of those tools the Lord has given us
that can be used either for good or for evil. We saw it in chapter one in
regards to wealth. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just a very dangerous tool. Like
a gun or a chainsaw or a very sharp knife, our mouths can be very helpful
tools. They can help us do a lot of good; but only if we use them with the
deepest respect, knowing even as we use them, they are very, very dangerous. As
with wealth, as with sharp tools, so our mouth is an instrument capable of
great good but also great harm.
I see all this in James’ opening admonition not to be “many
teachers.” And why not? Because a teacher is a talker, yet …, “Life and death
are in the power of the tongue!” I think back over my own life. Pretty early in
my faith, people wanted me to get involved in teaching. As I read James 3:1 and
think about it, I wonder if that was a good idea. I actually enjoy teaching,
enjoy public-speaking of any kind, and am apparently at least entertaining, but
the fact is back then I didn’t have a lick of sense. A great deal of my Hall of
Shame is the things I said teaching. It seems like I would have been better off
to keep my mouth shut and just learn until I was about 50 years old.
I think, in American Christianity, we very deliberately propel
people into teaching positions -- but James’ words make me wonder if that is a
good idea. “My brothers, let
not many become teachers, knowing that we will receive greater judgment, for
all stumble much.” Perhaps we’d be better off to have far fewer teachers --
and then have a smaller group actually saying wise things -- than our proliferation
of immature teachers disseminating foolishness? It would be easy to hear James
and just think we need to cut way back on teaching in the American church. But
this is that good/evil balance. One side of me is saying I shouldn’t have been
teaching at all and the other side of me wants to say that’s going too far.
Just like with wealth, it’s easy to take the Bible admonitions about its danger
and conclude we should just avoid it altogether. Yet that isn’t the point of
the warnings. The point is to realize these are very dangerous tools – very useful
but very dangerous.
David tried this approach in Psalm 39: “I said, ‘I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from
sin; …’ So I remained utterly silent, not even saying anything good. But
my anguish increased; my heart grew hot within me. While I meditated,
the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue.” He
thought the answer was to say nothing at all, but quickly found there were
things which needed to be said. Once again, it’s not that the tool shouldn’t be
used. It’s just that it has to be used with great care.
I suspect we should be far more sober than we are about
entering into teaching if we really take to heart the Bible’s warnings, but not
to the point we refuse to do what good we can. Like me, there will always be
people around who can teach, or what I mean is, there will always be people
around who can get up and speak and do it well enough that others will listen.
The problem is that the ability to stand up and speak – and do it well – has nothing
to do with whether a person has the maturity to actually say anything worth
hearing. At minimum, like me, a person may not have walked with God long enough
to be able to teach without mixing in a lot of stupidity. At worst, a good
public speaker can literally and deliberately lead masses of people astray.
Back to James’ words, “…
we will receive greater judgment.” The plain simple fact is “we all stumble much” and our mouths
contribute a great deal to that problem.
So, once again, it seems like it would be best just to let
no one teach in church until they’re like 80 years old(!). Obviously that is
going too far, but I suspect we need to be far more discerning in who we do
allow to teach – with youth being a major liability. But then, again, it’s just
like a very dangerous, but very useful tool. The answer isn’t to lock it in the
shed. We need to put it to good use – all the while realizing this tool we’re
using is very, very dangerous and can also do great evil.
To speak or not to speak? To teach or not to teach? Us and
our mouths. It is a tricky subject -- one more place where we need the Lord’s
wisdom as we grope along the maze of these earthly lives. We just really,
really, really need Him, need to stay close to Him, beg His protection, and
proceed very consciously in His presence. He alone can take a coal from the
altar and touch our unclean tongues so we can say, “Here am I Lord, send me.”
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