Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.
James 3:1-2
As the third chapter begins, James abruptly changes the subject from faith and deeds to taming the tongue; to the extent that there is any transition at all, this is it.
So, you want to teach, do you? Teaching God’s Word is a very high calling, but I wouldn’t advise that you do it just because you want to be “up front”.
As James clearly states, those who teach will be held to a higher standing. I must add that with this in mind, I would have expected that some of our “teachers” would be more careful about what they teach! I’m not sure why, and it wasn’t the “plan” but I feel compelled to tell you a story at this point, one that I may have posted about a few years ago… I’m not sure.
In early 1989, my family and I had a bout of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a faulty furnace installation. The episode apparently began slowly as the exhaust pipe became disconnected from the furnace itself. During this time we thought we had the flu, as the symptoms are quite similar. We all experienced times when we would be literally unconscious for days at a time. I can remember other times when I was more or less conscious, but completely paralyzed and on the floor where I had collapsed for hours on end. Then we would recover more or less and go on about life until the next episode. We would tell others what had happened, and every single time they would tell us that, yes, they had experienced the flu that was going around, but they had it much worse than we did. One of the “fun” effects of carbon monoxide poisoning is that it makes you dumb enough to believe these people! It also continues when you are out of the affected area, so when we would leave the house, we were still “sick.” On the days we were conscious, we functioned more or less as any normal person might while recovering from the flu. Even so, we were always too “dumb” to suspect anything, having no idea that this was one of the effects of poisoning.
After about a month, we were sick of it! On President’s Day 1989, I collapsed in the shower paralyzed. My wife took the kids to Emergency and sent the ambulance for me. When I arrived, they took my blood, since I seemed the worst at that time, and when the results came back, my carbon monoxide level was three times the fatal blood level for this lovely condition. I can recall the doctor telling me the next morning that he could not find a single medical reason why any of us could possibly be alive.
In the moths that followed, I was wondering why we were still alive as well. As time passed, it became clear to me that there was surely a reason in my case, for it became more and more clear to me that I was being called to teach. Later, I would discover that I have “teaching” as a spiritual gift, and later still, I discovered that God would supply the words if I would get out of His way, and that happens almost all of the time.
No, I’m not special, no I’m not “better” as a teacher or anything like that; I didn’t even want this! I am a “behind the scenes”, low profile person, not an “up front” guy by nature. I get tongue-tied in social settings and have real trouble making friends and all of that sort of thing; I hate parties. Put me in front of a room teaching the Word, and it seems like somebody else does the work.
OK, so where is all of this going?
Teaching the Word is a calling. No, you don’t need to have carbon monoxide poisoning, but it is a calling, and it is not to be taken lightly. It seems to me that we all need to realize when we know something and when we think we know something and be willing to disclose the difference. All too often, Christian teachers present their systematic theology as an established fact when it really reflects an opinion… and this causes no end of trouble. The opinion may or may not be correct, you see. Other times, teachers are more concerned about being right than they are about making disciples, preferring to take the “my way or the highway” approach to everything. Careful, we are held to a higher standard!
Yes, we all stumble sometimes, for we are not perfect. In my case, I have no problem admitting that I am rather far from it. I am quite fallible; I make mistakes all the time. In fact, my dear readers have been known to let me know when I’ve messed up, or at least when they believe that I have. .. and that is fine by me, since we are all in this journey together. So, let’s continue in our journey, giving God all of the glory while accepting none for ourselves, that many may come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior, that they can join His family, and live in His love as we journey along the road of life in unity.
Life Project Blog 
A huge piece of the puzzle! You were absolutely “saved” to teach me I mean us! Lol! What a terrible thing for your family but thank God for His Plan!
LOL thanks Katie. Wanna hear something ironic? The guy who improperly installed that furnace… was “Rich Guy” from the other day! Small towns are fun!
Oh boy!!! Lol!
Great post Don. Thank you for it!!!
Thanks Levi!
Don – just have to tell you this. This one really made my heart sing with joy! Your words and your heart and your love of your lord made my heart sing with joy. Thank you!!
Thanks Paul. I’m sure there’s some reason I posted it; can’t wait to see what it is.
Thanks for sharing this miraculous incident. God made a very definite call, saving you and your family to fulfill his plan. I’m so happy you understood and responded positively.
Honestly, has I been closer to Tarsus I would have made a run for it… but I came around in the end. 🙂
Don an interesting personal account and it resonates with anyone who has a chronic condition or life limiting illness ‘flu is going around’ approach is seriously harmful.
The same can be said in the spiritual context.
Paul explained to Timothy that those in the congregation who took responsibility should be qualified to teach. So this backs up your point but it does raise another as we are all admonished to be teachers and to be at that work urgently in this troubled season. A discussion for another day.
Getting back to the point – having followed through on your review and commentary can I ask you: do you not feel that the whole of James is about how to be a Christian in the body of the congregation? The reason I would suggest that this isn’t a transition goes back to the start for the James blogs.
His concern and his desire to explain create a dual context on a personal and collective level. This is drawn together in the later verses of his letter.
So as teachers of the word of god we need to appreciate the gift and inspire those who read in gods word to be like the man who on a personal level looks in the mirror and perceives what a Christian needs to look like.
To the extent that these verses are a transition at all, they are an abrupt one for sure, which is why I didn’t label it as such. Clearly, James and the other NT writers seem to make the case that we must learn to live as productive and loving members of the Body of believers… and as individuals. Personally, I don’t really think that the two can be separated. Obviously, I could agree more with your last remark.
Really appreciated this! Thanks 🙂
🙂
Thank you I understand your point and the transition does appear to be a leap of topic, are the two points of the collective and the individual inseparable? They appear to be linked but separable. From reading your blog over the last few weeks and reading linked passages the body of believers can be corrupted – false teachers and apostles spring to mind, plus the congregations referred to in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. So James is advocating vigilance on the part of teachers. Not being contentious just looking from a slightly different perspective.
Not at all, these are enjoyable conversations…
You pose an interesting question; the NT authors give us a pretty good idea what these false teachers are like within the Body, but on a personal level? Jude’s discussion comes to mind, and they don’t seem any less devious on that level… or am I missing something? (That’s been known to happen!)
No you are right – The original slanderer existed in the spirit realm and drew others who knew the consequences away with him – that spiritual condition of Tartarus comes to mind.
Jesus made the point which is echo’d in the NT that we identify false teachers by the fruits or produce which is never good for anyone but themselves.
Satan declares – God is holding back something, you can do without him. So independence in modern Christianity is teaching philosophy and theology rather than Gods Words. So we can identify traits of false teachers and we are admonished to copy the Boreans and check everything ourselves.
Exactly
Thanks for sharing your testimony.
It is always interesting to me how God pulls things and people together that glorify Him. I always enjoy and take something good away from each of your posts. James is probably one of my favorite books of the Bible and I’ve enjoyed the time you have spend on it.
Thank you, i really appreciate that!
Amazing story! Thank God for saving you! May He continue to speak through you! God bless you.
Jennifer – I Give God All The Glory
Thanks Jennifer!
🙂
This is so true! I did not want to become a teacher because I knew the responsibility behind it. God my Father had to convince me. After I prayed a lot about it, I received my answer. I am still very humbled by the fact that the Lord has called me to teach. I am very careful about what I teach and write. Somebody is either going to grow spiritually strong or spiritually weak because of a mistake that I might make. I am very prayerful when I teach. This is an important gift from the Lord. I do not take it lightly.
Amen!
God Bless you..May He Bless the Work Of Your Hands. You Speak with so Much Truth, And i respect that.. I could relate to your Post.
Bless you, i really appreciate your comments!
I think you are dead~on right! teaching IS a calling and unless called, don’t touch it! Love the analogy of the C02 poisoning…in that we sometimes listen go voices of reason/good intentioned folks instead of listening to that voice in us!
When I was a teacher (now I am a speaker) very often I would think I would “know” and like you said, the Lord always teaches when He is given the opportunity…I love teaching & speaking because of the way HE teaches me when I study to share a lesson or presentation! thanks for this great post.
Thank you so much, I’m right there with you!
So true. vw
Praising God this morning that it was not your time, Don. I would not have wanted to miss crossing paths with you. I am even more grateful now for your blog.
Now, now, let’s not go all hog-wild! 🙂
Thanks, Skye, I appreciate that
Awww…hog wild is rather needed at times. 🙂 You are quite welcome!! 😀