James 3:1-2

James 3

CONTROLLING THE TONGUE

James 3:1-2

James 3:1  Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly.

The first verse in James 3 and I am already in trouble. I lead a small group, we call them Life Groups, and I write this blog so that makes me a teacher of sorts. I will risk the more harsh  judgment if I can bring or help souls find God thru Jesus Christ. Like everything we do there is risk and reward. I am not looking for a reward but as far as James one is concerned I assume there is risk.

This is what the Life Application New Testament Commentary says about this chapter actually before the first verse. In the early church, teachers were very important. Both the survival and spiritual depth of believers depended on them. In the church at Antioch, they were ranked in status with the prophets who sent out Paul and Barnabas (Act_13:1). Teachers were the point of contact for all new believers because converts needed instruction in the facts of the gospel, and teachers would build them up in the faith. The problem, however, was that some teachers had the ability to communicate but were driven by very worldly motivations. They would take leading positions in a church, form cliques, and use their teaching positions to criticize others. In this way, they could maintain their position and importance.

In this chapter, James’s immediate concern is with the speech of false teachers who are ruining believers with their uncontrolled tongues. From that immediate concern he launches into the wider area of the use of speech among believers.

Luke 12:42-48Living Bible (TLB)

^42-44 And the Lord replied, “I’m talking to any faithful, sensible man whose master gives him the responsibility of feeding the other servants. If his master returns and finds that he has done a good job, there will be a reward—his master will put him in charge of all he owns.⁴⁵ “But if the man begins to think, ‘My Lord won’t be back for a long time,’ and begins to whip the men and women he is supposed to protect, and to spend his time at drinking parties and in drunkenness— ⁴⁶ well, his master will return without notice and remove him from his position of trust and assign him to the place of the unfaithful. ⁴⁷ He will be severely punished, for though he knew his duty he refused to do it.⁴⁸ “But anyone who is not aware that he is doing wrong will be punished only lightly. Much is required from those to whom much is given, for their responsibility is greater.

James 3:2  Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.

From the  Life Application New Testament Commentary We all make many mistakes or slip up when we are off guard. We all stumble, but our most frequent failures occur when we are speaking. Because we are prone to make mistakes in our speech, we need to be even more careful to let God control what we say. He is capable of guiding our motivation, our thoughts, our very choice of words, and even the impact our communication has on others.

Many people may think that it is impossible to control their tongues, but most people haven’t even begun to try. The ability to control the tongue is the mark of true maturity for the Christian (see James_1:19, “be slow to speak”). When Jesus confronted the religious leaders about their accusations against him, he said that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks—showing that what is inside of a person affects what they do with their speech (Mat_12:33-37). He also said that we must give account for every careless word we utter (Mat_12:36). People who can control their tongues will be able to control themselves in every other way. The wisdom and love from God and the self-restraint given by the Holy Spirit will help us exercise this control. (See Pro_15:1-4 for more on how a mature person controls his or her tongue.)