Commentary: James 3:1-12

¹Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. ²For we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. ³If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. ⁴Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. ⁵So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! ⁶And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. ⁷For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, ⁸but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. ¹¹Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? ¹²Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

A WARNING TO TEACHERS

“Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” The opening to chapter three seems like something of an odd transition from “For as the body apart from the Spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” But we must first need to understand where James is heading with his opening statement. James is going to break into an examination of “the tongue”, a.k.a how we use our words. James is beginning with a specific example, i.e. teachers, and from there he’ll transition into a more general discussion on the tongue.

Anyone who wishes to assume a place of instruction to the church body, at any age level, must first come with a great reverence for the nature and word of God. James isn’t saying, “Don’t become teachers.” This would be a foolish statement and it would be contrary to the rest of scripture. What he is saying is that if you desire to teach then you must first understand the full weightiness of what it means to teach God’s word to others. If you take it lightly then you could do immeasurable amounts of damage even if you have the best of intentions. Most people are designed to follow but few are designed to lead. We would probably all agree that it takes a certain kind of person to lead and this is not a position that many people aspire to. There is a great and unique kind of gravity that comes with teaching others. If you mess it up then you will have much to answer for because if you’re leading people away from the light of God’s truth rather than leading them toward it, not only are you committing sin, you are leading others down a path of self-indulgent sinfulness. I think this is why James says, “…for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” If you have sinned in your guidance of others and have in turned caused those who trust your word, not so much the explicit word of God, to live non-God centered lives, then woe to you when the deeds of your days are counted and judged. I have taken this warning very near to my heart ever since I have started teaching. Anyone who teaches must take careful pains to preach only what God’s word explicitly details. This is what I mean when I say teach with reverence. So with every word we speak about God we must do it in the spirit of venerating the vast greatness of the Lord that is ruler of our lives. 

ALL STUMBLE  

Verse 2 gives support for verse 1. You can almost imagine a question between verse 1 & 2. What other reasons should cause us to tread with great caution when we seek to teach? Verse 2 would be the perfect response to that question. This verse illustrates,very aptly,the natural fallibility that exists in the verbal dealings of all people. “For we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his entire body.” There is no area of our lives where we can say that we are perfect. It is in fact a mere statement of truth that we all stumble in many ways. Our usage of language is no exception to this rule. It is true that we may exhibit great discipline in varying areas of our lives but there is always a place in everyone’s existence where they exhibit very little self-discipline. One of the most commonly found undisciplined areas of our lives is our usage of language. By language I don’t mean ill use of grammar or bad dialect. I’m simply referring to how we speak. What do we talk about? What do our words dwell upon? How do our words affect others? This isn’t just discussion about gossip. That is a short sighted perspective of this section of James. While gossip could certainly be, and most likely will be, discussed in this section, it is not the overriding theme of importance to grab onto.

The great point of realization in this section is that the tongue is a like a rogue member of our body that can easily and greatly cause us to fail in our worship and service of God. We must first acknowledge that our tongue is a natural force of failure. From there we must proceed to the question of, “How do we combat the nature of the tongue?” James responds to this by giving us many illustrations of how the tongue is weak. We must first understand the nature of a thing before we can truly know how to challenge it. So let’s discover that nature.

DEFINING THE NATURE OF THE TONGUE

The latter half of verse 2 says that if someone does not stumble in what they say then they are perfect and able also to bridle the entirety of their body. This implicates that the tongue is responsible for much sin that goes on in our lives. Ask yourself if you find this implication to be a mere illustration of truth or a gross overstatement of what the tongue can do. If we could “tame the tongue” could we really better combat the nature of sinful flesh? James seems to be indicating that this is true.

Consider James first of two examples: “If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.” This is a very practical illustration. Many of us have probably seen horses guided around by bits that have been harnessed into their mouths. If the horse is tame you will see for yourself that the horse’s whole body is guided, essentially, by that bit in their mouth.

Example 2: “Look at the ships also: though they are so large and driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.” This is yet another highly practical illustration. Ships are huge but without the guidance given to them by their rudder (which is comparatively smaller than the whole ship) they would be at the mercy of the seas that drift them.

The point of these two illustrations is to serve as a support for what James says in verse 5, “So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.” From this point forward James is going to transition his message to a broader audience and deal specifically with how the tongue affects our lives. Though the tongue may seem like a small and insignificant part of the body, we must realize that it can be a giant in the worst and best ways. Words mean so much to people and I think that many of us underestimate how important our linguistic abilities are to our every day existence. If I suddenly could not speak tomorrow, my career as a teacher would be over. I would no longer be a worship leader. My whole structure of communication would change. My life wouldn’t, by any means, be over but a major transition would have to occur in my life in order to communicate with the speaking world around me. It is so vital that we take care with our language. We must seek to glorify God with our language and this is vastly more difficult than most people realize or are at least willing to admit.

The Tongue Is A Fire: “How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life and set on fire by hell.” The metaphor of the tongue as a fire is quite true. Our words can be so consuming and damaging to others that there is a very real danger that the things another person says to you can do permanent, or least hard to repair, damage. What’s worse is that James tells us that the tongue is a harbinger of unrighteousness. The thought of being sinful in any area of our lives should trouble us. We must always take great care to speak only in God’s perspective of truth. If we fail to do that then we open up our language to a filthy causeway of unrighteous usage.

What is James implying when he says that the tongue is “set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life and set on fire by hell”? I believe that James is trying to illustrate how the tongue can infect your whole body and your entire course of life. The detrimental affect of this is that it gives sin an opportunity to rule in every area of your life. This causes us to be false to God’s truth and to fail in our worship of Him. This is a state of being that no Christian alive should desire to be in. Sin is a horrible, powerful, and pervasive device of the enemy. The enemy can use sin so effectively and this is evidenced very sharply in the case of misuse in language. To combat this we must seek God’s word to understand how we can glorify God through language. We must seek to understand how language helps reveal the righteousness of God. We must also develop a great care and patience for when and how to speak. All of our words must first proceed from a love of God and a desire to see His will accomplished in the world. If our words begin to proceed from anywhere but there we should immediately stop ourselves to refocus on the majesty of God and how we honor him with our words. It is only then that we should proceed forward in speech. This is vital to choking out the sinful nature of the tongue. Our goal in this struggle should be to discipline our tongue so that it could serve the greater and higher purpose of God.

There is yet one more thing in this verse that must be addressed. James uses the phrase “set on fire by hell” at the conclusion of verse 6. What, precisely, does this mean? When we consider the word “hell” our mind may automatically jump to a few different places. We may think of a place of eternal separation from God as well as the dominion of Satan. The Bible teaches us that Satan is the father of lies and that every word that comes from his mouth is a lie (John 8:44). Jesus says that from the beginning Satan was a murderer and a liar. We see in the book of Genesis, chapter 3 to be exact, that Satan (the serpent) came to Eve and deceived her with words. Satan made a compelling, though false, argument and tempted Eve to sin and Eve led her husband into this sin as well for both ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The cataclysmic effect of this is well known to both Christian and non-Christian alike. Words continue to be a colossal tool of the enemy. I’m sure it delights all that is evil every single time that we sin with our language. I’m sure it delighted Satan in the garden when Eve fell for his repartee of deception and I’m sure that he was doubly gratified when Adam fell into this snare. The external danger of words is as deep and darkly seeded as the internal danger. The story of Adam and Eve shows us the external danger, and consequence, of words. Speaking lustfully of a man or woman who is not your spouse would be an example of the internal danger, and consequence, of words. Some people say that words are only words and that they cannot harm you. The Bible is quite clear that this is a foolish and dangerous perception of language.

I want to leave this section with one final note and it is a historical side note that I believe will help you better understand the biblical usage of the word “hell”.  In the original Greek the word translated as “hell” in the bible was the term Geenna or Gehenna. This term actually referred to a geographical location near  Jerusalem. It was a valley where the filth and dead animals of the city were dumped and burned.  This particular usage of the word, depending on what translation you’re reading, occurs over 10 times in the New Testament. Those reading it would have understood that “hell”, known to them as Gehenna, was referring to a terrible place of wretched stench and death. This, however, does not indicate that the Bible never speaks of a literal hell. The Bible speaks explicitly about a real hell and not just real world locations that we can view today on a map. Consider 2 Peter 2:4, “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until judgment;”. Though hell is being translated from the Greek word genna, the context makes it obvious that the hell being referred to is a place not necessarily of this earth. It is difficult to know the full breadth of hell because the Bible gives us somewhat limited descriptions of it. Granted, the Bible has given us more than enough context to understand the general severity of hell but like most things, reading about it and seeing it with your very own eyes are two entirely different things. Though this may not contribute greatly to what we’ve been discussing here in James my hope is that you will find some of this information helpful in discerning the Biblical perspective of hell. Hell is something that many people have questions about and it is our duty as Christians to be as informed as humanly possible about things such as these.

Can The Tongue Be Tamed? “For every kind of bird and beast, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” The answer to the question which opened this section is this: No. Verse 8 of chapter 3 very clearly says this. So the question then becomes, “If we can’t tame the tongue then what hope do we have of controlling it?”

The original Greek term that is translated as “tame” is the word “damazo” which means to tame, curb, or restrain. Notice the word that is not used in these definitions. You don’t hear the word “discipline”. Being tame and being disciplined are not at all the same thing. To be tame means to be changed from a wild or savage state to a docile one. Discipline is the act of training oneself to behave in accordance with rules or expectations. While we cannot tame the tongue I do believe that we can discipline the tongue. One of the primary lessons to draw from the entire letter of James is the fact that we must discipline our lives. James is urging us to live up to an expectation. He is urging us to understand what God expects of us and then do whatever those expectations require. The tongue is no different. But how do we do this?

Before we can truly combat something we must first be able to identify what it is that we are to combat. Therefore, if we do not first understand the nature of the tongue how can we ever hope to discipline the slithery thing? That is why James draws some distinctions in these verses. Human beings are capable of taming many things. Birds, varying beasts of the forests, reptiles, and sea creatures are all example of things that can be tamed and have been tamed by human beings. Yet the ability of humans to tame things should not go to our heads.  Though we can tame many things outside of the body, so many people have an immensely difficult time disciplining their personal faults. Why is this? In a way it’s a mystery, yet in another way, if we are transparent enough with ourselves, we will see that many of our failures to discipline aspects of our character have largely to do with our own ignorance, stubbornness, and foolish pride. This has certainly been true in my own history and I can tell you that this admission is far from easy for me to make. It is essential for us to first understand that the tongue is a fire, a deadly poison, and a herald of unrighteousness. Coming to grips with those things will help us understand what we are up against. This will, in turn, help us understand exactly how and where we need to discipline our tongues. Comprehending the nature of the beast will assist us in killing it day in and day out.

Duality Must Not Exist In The Tongue: “With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things out not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.” The lesson here is exceedingly simple yet very difficult in application. All the examples in verses 9-12 show us how a lack of discipline in the tongue can create a tremendous contradiction in the life of a Christian. How can we say, “God is glorious and wonderful,” yet in the same day also say, “I know this is terrible to say but that woman has never been faithful to a single man she’s ever been with…she’s always been kind of a whore.” How can we bless God then turn around and curse one of His created ones? It doesn’t make sense. This simply must not be. We can look in nature and find that certain things just don’t go together. A spring will not pour forth both fresh and salt water. It simply doesn’t work that way. Fig trees don’t produce olives. Nature doesn’t work like that. Grapevines don’t produce figs. It is logistically improbable. A pond won’t be half salt water and half fresh water. Things such as this do not occur. Why then should blessing and cursing exist in the same mouth? The Bible says that it shouldn’t.

Before I close out this section of the commentary I want to talk briefly about the word “cursing”. In the original Greek this word was “katara”. The definition for this word means to execrate, imprecate, or curse. I had to look the first two of those words up. To execrate means to utterly detest, abhor, abominate, damn, or denounce. Those words, hopefully, give you a better idea of how this word is defined. To imprecate is to invoke or call down evil (curses) upon a person. A curse is the expression of a wish that evil, doom, misfortune, etc. would befall a person. So when you see, “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing,” please don’t be foolish in thinking that this is referring to the usage of profanity. I’m not saying that profanity is or should be acceptable but I also don’t think it needs to be a place of stumbling either. I occasionally use a profanity but I have to admit that this study of James is convicting me with a stronger passion to rid myself of that part of my language. From a cultural perspective we know that profanity is not tolerated in school systems and it is not acceptable in public places of business, not to mention the myriad of other places where it is considered taboo to use profanity. Therefore I have more often asked myself the question, “What is the point of using profanity at all?” Profanity is an extraneous part of language. There is no setting I can conceive of where profane words are the only possible choice of vocabulary. So why use them? I find myself unable to answer that question. Considering all that has been discussed here, it makes me take a much harder look at the turns of phrase I choose to exercise.

In the next commentary I will be concluding chapter 3 with a discussion on wisdom as defined by the letter of James. We will be specifically covering verses 13-18. Ask yourself a few questions:

(1) What is wisdom?

(2) Is there a difference between earthly wisdom and the wisdom that comes from God? If so what is the primary difference?

(3) What kinds of things cloud our perception of wisdom?

Those are just a few things to get you started. We will delve into some of these in a few weeks. 

    

   

 

Comments

[smiles]

Chad,

Thanks so much for your hard labor, as you are plowing through this book with such diligence and honor. Your commentary on this section was more of a devotion to me this morning, being that it was so crucial in guiding my heart in preparation for the day that is ahead of me today, which, by God's immense grace, will be a glorious day.

There was one thing that I read, that I am not sure if I can agree with. It's not a major point you made, but a small statement you made along the way. Here's what you said. The part I capitalize is the part I am questioning, and will be thinking about more today:

"We would probably all agree that it takes a certain kind of person to lead and THIS IS NOT A POSITION THAT MANY PEOPLE ASPIRE TO."

Briefly, here are some of the things that run through my mind, as I think about this...

- If not many people aspire to become teachers, how come there is a need for the opening words of this chapter? Oftentimes in the Scripture, I see God pointing things out/giving us direction, for the very reason that we tend to lean the opposite way of where the Scripture points us. For example... Phil.2:3 tells us to "do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself." This is there because it's not at all the person that we naturally aspire to be.

- We all struggle with being unteachable. Some way more than others, but we all sin in this way sometimes. When we are being unteachable, aren't we wanting to be the teacher, instead of the pupil being taught?

I agree so much that most people don't have a desire to bear the responsibility that comes along with being a teacher, but I think this fits into the bigger picture of the condition of man, which causes us to want all freedom and none of the responsibilities that comes along with freedom. I would say that the responsibility of incurring a stricter judgment is what people don't want, but that we all have a measure of aspiration to be teachers. We are all sinful, and part of that sinfulness is that we tend to find more satisfaction in knowing that we were heard by someone else, rather than in hearing others, especially when learning is involved in the situation. It never hurts when we know that someone has learned something from us, but it oftentimes hurts when we learn from others, because it wars against our prideful hearts.

This is where true teachers need to continually guard their hearts. Many a good teacher has fallen under the heavy sin of pride, as they have become unteachable, forgetting that, if it were not for the grace of God, they would have nothing good to teach anyone or the ability to teach it. They begin teaching from a position of pride, thinking more highly of themselves then they ought, and more lowly of the pupils then they ought. The only thing I appreciate about these situations is that God, always in His perfect time, is always faithful to give the big-headed teacher a good, hard, loving, sovereign celestial spanking! Boy am I glad He does that... I just hope that I would be faithful in seeking humility, so that I don't become that teacher! Without grace, I will become that man. Lord, please keep us all from going into that sinful place!

Chad, please don't feel like I think poorly of your commentary. The contrary is true. I think very highly of what God is using you to put together for the building up up His beloved Church. I know you enough to know that you want to be challenged, not just one that challenges. In other words, I know that you are teachable, and willing to receive comments that are both in agreement and disagreement to the thinks you say. I don't insist that I'm right in anything that I've stated above. Like I said, I will be thinking more about this, and I trust that God will lead me toward His truth.

I put this in the comment section on purpose, rather than in a personal email. I did it for the sake of inspiring good conversation, not to cause dissension...

To all of Oasis... Please hear me on this: Our god has placed very loving and wise leaders to shepherd Oasis and tend to your true needs. I have studied many, many churches over the last 9+ years, and very few actually encourage me to the point of great excitement. Oasis does. The main reason for that is because of the leaders that God has placed there. I don't know everyone there that is honored as an elder or leader, but I know that Chad and Chris are very, very respectable, honorable and trustworthy men, that you can certainly trust to lead you in a God-ward direction. I implore all of you to trust all of their leadership decisions, and all of their teachings at Oasis. These brothers teach the truths of Bible with such faithfulness. These men are an extremely rare gift to have. Very, very few churches have people leading them, that love God and the people like Chad and Chris do. I'll finish this encouragement by pointing to the Scripture, where it gives the same exhortation and the why...

"Obey your leaders and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for YOU."

Obey this, Oasis, for the glory of God, for the joy of those who are laboring hard to protect your souls, and for your own eternal profit.

I love you all with a passion for many blessings to pour into your lives. May God lead you all into the grace of full obedience to His Living Word, that He may be glorified through you, and that His blessings may overflow in your lives.

smiles

[Chris Stewart]

Smiles, your heart is so transparent and humble in your post. The questions you have raised are very good ones, and I know Chad will consider them with the grace and love with which you gave them. You have such a way of being so encouraging even when you ask a question or have a differing opinion. Thank you for your example to us.

Chad, I know how true these words are: "...if you desire to teach then you must first understand the full weightiness of what it means to teach God’s word to others. If you take it lightly then you could do immeasurable amounts of damage even if you have the best of intentions."

One of the reasons why I am so thankful to God for sending me on the journey of church planting is because of what it has expected of me. One of the "teaching" commitments I made at the beginning of the Oasis plant was that we would be a Word taught church. Now, that doesn't mean that at the beginning I had the same reverence for the Word of God as I do today, or that I felt the weightiness of the task like I feel today. It just means that God, in His sovereign wisdom, set me on a path that has brought me to recognize what is now the greatest fear of my life: misrepresenting His Word.

For years I taught the Scriptures casually. I entertained people with clever and funny public speaking with a Bible verse or two to back up what I was saying. Or, when I did preach an entire chapter or book at a time, I was never thorough in my quest for truth. I was, however, thorough in my quest for pragmatism--perhaps the greatest downfall of American Christianity today. Pragmatism says, "What does the text mean to me? It has to make perfect sense to me, and right now!" I was party to the church culture that preferred a man-sized God. And so I preached a man-sized God.

But in just four years of trying to be true to the Scriptures as the final authority in all things, God has brought me on a fantastic journey, and I know we have only just begun. I am nowhere NEAR having arrived! But I am certainly enjoying the ride.

Thanks for your commentaries brothers. And thanks for encouraging me!

[Chad]

I first want to thank you Smiles for taking time to give me the eye on my words that I know I so desperately need from others. Your words, every one of them, were wonderful to hear and they were every bit encouraging and strengthening. I praise God that he has connected us in a way that teaches us about the bigger perspective of Him. Let me address your thoughts first because they have generated more thoughts in me.

Anyone reading this must understand that different perspectives on a statement are crucial to hear. It’s one of the only ways that we get to the greater truth behind any thought or word that is written or spoken. Smiles has brought to bear something I didn’t consider at the particular time that I was in my stream of thought. However, he makes a great point and together (Smiles will help me with this) I think we’re all going to see something that is very vital to understand.

The statement being discussed here is this: "We would probably all agree that it takes a certain kind of person to lead and THIS IS NOT A POSITION THAT MANY PEOPLE ASPIRE TO." We know that it takes a certain kind of person to lead. But if you look at the last part of what I wrote, it has the definite potential to be deceiving. I didn’t see that at the time but I certainly see it now. When I said, “…this is not a position that many people aspire to,” I didn’t clearly articulate what I meant. So let me first expound on that thought. My thinking when I wrote this revolved around the reluctancy we often see in people to step up into leadership roles. I’m sure you’ve seen this scenario a thousand times. You might hear someone prattling on about how they could this or that so much better than someone else who is currently a leader but the moment you say, “Why don’t you seek their job, or a job like theirs, and make all those changes,” you usually see that person wilt. It’s not common, although it does happen occasionally, that someone says, “Yeah…I might just do that.” Sports are a perfect example of what I’m talking about. You always have a lot of coaches in the crowd. I teach in an area of the world where sports are a BIG, BIG, BIG, deal. Their teams have traditionally experienced much success. So at home games you see a lot of these former athletic juggernauts coaching away in the crowd. They always know what play to run. They always know what kid to give the ball to. They always know what kind of line-up changes to make but the funny thing is, you never see them take a leadership position on the coaching staff of any given sport. Why? There could be any multitude of reasons but in general I think the reason is this: Many people would rather stand on the sidelines and critique the decisions rather than be the one responsible for the decisions. I’m not saying that this is the only reason that we see reluctancy in individuals to step up into leadership roles but it is one example that I have seen play itself out many times in my own life. People can be reluctant to lead or teach because of a lack of self-confidence, an uncertainty about the calling in their life, a worry about other commitments in their life, or a whole host of other possibilities. In retrospect the statement, “this is not a position that many people aspire to,” was an unnecessary statement. I think it would have been clear enough to say that we all know it takes a certain kind of person to lead. I hope my “extra” words now better reveal where my mind was at when I wrote them. What I want to focus on next is a point that Smiles revealed to us that is critical for us all to consider a little further.

I’m going to quote a critical statement that Smiles made. There is so much wisdom in what you are about to read so please read it carefully.

“- If not many people aspire to become teachers, how come there is a need for the opening words of this chapter? Oftentimes in the Scripture, I see God pointing things out/giving us direction, for the very reason that we tend to lean the opposite way of where the Scripture points us. For example... Phil.2:3 tells us to "do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself." This is there because it's not at all the person that we naturally aspire to be.”

“- We all struggle with being unteachable. Some way more than others, but we all sin in this way sometimes. When we are being unteachable, aren't we wanting to be the teacher, instead of the pupil being taught?”

The concept that you must not miss here is “being unteachable”. I know exactly what Smiles is talking about here because for so long I was very unteachable. I needed Phil 2:3 so badly through my late teens up to my mid 20’s. I did so many things from selfish, empty conceit. I regarded myself in a much higher way than I deserved. I didn’t naturally aspire to be humble. I did not naturally aspire to regard the people around me as more important than myself. I did not aspire to do things for unselfish reasons. In those ways I was a filthy human being. I wonder now how anyone could have stood to be around me in those days. These were the effects of refusing to be unteachable. I had so many opinions about God that were not Biblically founded. I made a farce of God in my mind and what tremendous sin that was.
We do, at one time or another, aspire to be teachers in all the wrong ways. You (I’m speaking generally to anyone who might be reading this) may say to yourself, “Chad…I’ve never wanted to be a teacher in my life.” But that’s not necessarily true. If you’ve ever refused to be teachable, you’ve aspired to be a teacher. If you refuse to even consider another’s point of view, you’re aspiring to be a teacher. If you have no interest in humbling yourself in the meekness of wisdom so that your heart could be open to learn and trust, then you are aspiring to be a teacher in all the wrong ways. We must all chop ourselves down a notch to a place of great humility to first worship, serve, and honor God as he commands us. We must maintain that posture if we truly want to learn about the great riches of His grace. God will show his great glory in many ways. He may use things in nature, he may use natural phenomenon, he may use supernatural phenomenon, he may use friends, he may use family, he may use strangers…HE COULD USE ANYTHING! There is nothing that prohibits God from displaying His own greatness and depth. Smiles, I hope that feeds well into the thought that I quoted you on.

I encourage all of you to go back over what Smiles wrote. God gave Him a powerful word that we must all latch onto. Not only does it help each of us better understand this portion of James, but it also gives us a more proper glimpse of the freedom that God gives us and the great responsibilities he has privileged us with. I praise God that He, in His vast mercy, has given us the chance to have a responsibility inside of the freedom that He designed for those whom He has conformed to the image of His son. Thank you God for your righteousness and the way you reveal it to us.

My love for brothers like Smiles and Chris runs beyond the scope of words. God never ceases to amaze me in the way that He sharpens His people with one another. Smiles and Chris have both given us something here so vital in their thoughts. I urge you, whoever you are, to chime in so that we could all continue to be teachable and grow from the wisdom God has placed in each of us.

All my love….

chad

[smiles]

Chad,

Hey, man, those are great thoughts about leadership! Your thinking about people wanting to be sideline coaches ONLY is great stuff, and I so much agree with you on that. It's so true that, in that way, very, very few people want to be leaders. Thanks for sharing these thoughts. I wasn't thinking about that at all when I commented. I learned a lot with those words. I believe that God wants me to search my heart to see if there is any such wicked way within me. I pray that He reveals this sin to me, if it is there, and if so, I pray for the grace of repentance.

This is also a great lesson for people being discipled and people discipling others for the work of the ministry.

I am thinking of two awesome things about my pastor right this second. One is something he told me earlier on in our relationship, and one is a way that he approaches discipleship:

What he said to me once, that I hope to never forget, is this (it was in the context of ministry, and people aspiring to become leaders): "Many men are willing, but very few are faithful." One of the things that was being implied when he said that is that willingness is a good thing, but willingness without faithfulness is of no value. Given the knowledge of the full conversation we were having, he was also implying that it is better to not be willing if you're not going to be faithful, because people that express a willingness to do something excite the person/people that would be pouring themselves out to prepare them to accomplish what they say they are willing to do... but when they demonstrate to be unfaithful in the same area that they said they are willing, the excitement gets stolen. The people who poured themselves out to help the willing individual is burdened with disappointed, especially if the pastor/teacher in the picture invested a lot of himself into the person that was unfaithful. This is one of the many reasons why the Scripture encourages us to be found faithful.

Having been given this wisdom, my pastor responds with wisdom. He disciples people slowly. He does not try to lead people away from trials, but through them. He knows that God allows trials to refine us, to strengthen us, for the proofing of our faith. Approaching discipleship this way will reveal in time who is merely willing and who can be trusted as someone that others can rely upon when they are in need.

One of the things that Pastor Derk will have passed on to me, when I find myself making disciples, is what he calls "the Elijah principal." Remember when Elijah kept having water poured on the alter, doing everything he could to make it impossible for the alter to burn, knowing that if God wanted it to catch fire, there would be nothing that man could do to stop it? (1 Kings 18). Derk operates this way in his discipling of men, and it is so wise, because it ensures that the only men who are actually sent out to do the work of the ministry have truly been raised up by God, by means that only He could accomplish. This doesn't always feel good to the one being raised up, but then again, those that are sent out with the mindset that ministry is all about feeling good are bound to drown when the waters of real-life ministry get poured on. I so appreciate this wisdom from my pastor. It/he is a true blessing from God.

Chad, thanks for continuing to stir my thoughts. You encourage me at least as much as I encourage you, trust me. I really love you, my brother and friend.

smiles

[Ronli]

Great work.