Teacher's Standard

The verses for today are humbling.  What are we to do about our tongues, our speech life?  The sinful private thoughts that enter our minds and are, hopefully, pushed far away, are still there, lurking in the shadows.  It only takes a moment for one of them to leap from the shadows, land on our tongue and leap out into the world.  Too late  -  , we realize what we have done and we try to repair the damage.  But it is impossible.  We cannot unspeak a spoken word.  Worse still is the fact that if we believe what we said, we will be insincere in trying to “take it back”.  As Clara said on Andy Griffith, “Many a truth is said in jest”.  This is true, but hurtful truths are often said in anger.  We must be extra careful to be slow to speak when we are angry, irritated, or even just tired.

This is true of everyone, but it is especially true of teachers.  In today’s lesson, James in especially talking to those who are masters or who wish to be.  The use here of the word master, is referring to teachers of the word of God.  Teachers of the Word of God have a respected position and duty.  Because of this there are many people who wish to become teachers for that reason only.  Of course, if this is their only or primary desire for teaching, they should not become teachers.  At the same time, there are many people who have the heart of a teacher but are hesitant to become teachers.  Sometimes, in my opinion, these hesitant people make the best teachers.  If they are hesitant because they are aware of the very real responsibility being a teacher brings with it, then they are equipped with the right heart to teach.  In my opinion, the teacher who takes the act of teaching very seriously and is careful to accurately provide God’s word to their students while also carrying themselves in a Godly manner knowing that they are being watched, is the right type of teacher.

In our verses today, James is speaking to us all in that we should all be careful in what we say and how we act.  All of us are teachers in the sense that someone is watching us and learning from our example.  But I feel that he is speaking primarily to those who have accepted the position of teacher, those who are actively spreading and explaining God’s word.

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