We

 Sometimes, you don’t have a choice in the matter, and that’s just the way it is. It’s a funny twist of phrase where, on the one hand, James says let not many of you become teachers, while in the same breath insisting that we shall receive a stricter judgment. It’s the you and the we that stood out to me, for while his counsel is that not many become teachers, he numbers himself among the teachers by including himself among those who will receive a stricter judgment.

Was James just trying to thin the field? Was he not following his own advice? Was he being misleading or disingenuous? He starts the chapter telling people they shouldn’t become teachers, then counts himself among those who are counted as teachers. The short answer is that sometimes you don’t have a choice. If you did, you’d likely beg off the responsibility of teaching and the stricter judgment being a teacher entails, but when God calls you, you either obey or don’t, and James chose obedience.

It’s binary. You either are or aren’t. If you are obedient, then you’re obedient in all things, in perpetuity, and without question. If you aren’t, then you’ll find a reason, an excuse, a scenario, or a situation wherein you can convince yourself that you’ve gotten away with not listening to the voice of God. There’s no such thing as a little disobedience or a little rebellion. It’s akin to serving two masters, and the Bible is very clear on the impossibility of that particular endeavor. Can men stumble and then repent? Most assuredly. But habitual disobedience and consistent rebellion while claiming to be a servant of the almighty is nothing more than self-delusion.

You can’t be obedient to the call of God on your life every other day or just on weekends. It’s not like putting on a uniform to go to work or wearing different types of hats with varying logos so people know which you are any given day. It’s not about identifying as something; it’s becoming and being something. I can identify as a platypus; it doesn’t make me one. You are what you are, so make sure that if you say you are a servant of God or a teacher of the gospel, you’re not just saying it, but you are being it.

James 3:2-5, “For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.”

The words we choose to speak often reveal the level of maturity and sanctification in our lives. They express outwardly what resides in the inward parts of our hearts and reveal our true nature to those around us. The words we speak or choose to speak also show the source of the wisdom we are led by.

No one is autonomous. No one walking the earth, or who has ever walked the earth, is wholly independent, free of influence, pressure, or guidance, so the only matter that needs to be clarified is whose direction we choose to follow, whose wisdom we choose to be led by, and whose influence we submit to.

Words have power. If you doubt the veracity of that statement, look at what nefarious men with evil tongues were able to do throughout history. Adolf Hitler started out as an orator in beer halls. Words fueled anger and rage, and that anger and rage translated into action, and we all know what happened afterward. There is power in the tongue, which is why, as servants of God, we must bridle them and speak only those things God would have us speak.

James, understanding the frailty of man, makes allowances and concedes that we all stumble in many things. Perfection pursued is not perfection achieved, and James concludes that if, perchance, anyone does not stumble in word, they are a perfect man. That’s a high bar, and although I’ve heard some men claim that they have attained perfection, I would wager they’re just one solid kick to the groin away from being disabused of such beliefs.

There’s a difference between righteousness and perfection. James tells us that we all stumble in many things, but what did he know, he was just Christ’s little brother, who walked with Him and grew up with Him and learned from Him.

Since I have children, I have noticed how other parents interact with theirs. It’s instinctual and not something I try to do. It just happens. Recently, we took a road trip as a family and stopped by a place called the Georgia Peach World, which, as you would have guessed, is centered on peaches. You could get everything from peach lemonade to peach cobbler to peach ice cream to peach-scented candles and more. They also had a small sluice outside their establishment, and for the low, low price of twenty dollars, you could buy a bag of sand with gems in it and go pan for them in the sluice.

The moment my kids saw the sluice, I knew we’d be buying a bag of sand. It was only a matter of when, not if, and sure enough, after abusing the free sample policy on the peach lemonade until they couldn’t drink another drop, they asked if we could go panning for gems. A bag of sand and twenty dollars later, they were having a grand old time when a mom and a little boy also came outside with a bag of sand and began panning for what the kids deemed to be priceless gems.

A few minutes into it, the boy got a bit too excited and dipped his shirt sleeve into the water, to which the mother snatched the sifter from his hands and said, ‘Here, let me do it; you’re too dumb to do it right.’

I saw the light go out of that little boy’s eyes from a handful of words. What had been a smiling, beaming face seconds earlier had become somber and sullen, as though someone had just unplugged a lamp. Words have power, and the tongue is the vehicle by which your words enter the world. Small as it might be, the power the tongue holds is immeasurable.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.