In chapter 3, James does not start a new subject but, instead, develops more fully what he previously mentioned in passing.
James 1:19: Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak …
James 1:26: If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue, then his religion is useless and he deceives himself.
However, James begins with a special warning for those striving for the Office of Teacher within the Church. Note that teacher is also a synonym for pastor (not that all teaching is only to be done by the pastor but that he is the normative, primary teacher of the congregation). The teaching office, like the offices of apostle and prophet, is a gift of Christ (Ephesians 4: 11, 1 Corinthians 12:28, and Romans 12:7). And so Pastors are entrusted with the task of passing on Christian teaching to others (2 Timothy 2:2).
Read James 3:1
– What serious warning does James give to those who teach in the Church?
– What does James then imply about the content of what one teaches?
James then moves on to show the damage an unbridled tongue can cause. The admonition is for all, but especially meant to ring louder for those who teach or are thinking of teaching in the Church.
Read James 3:3-6
– What three example does James use to compare the small tongue and what it can do to example from 1st-Century everyday life:
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Proverbs 16:27: A worthless man digs up evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire.
Sirach 28:18, 22-23: Many have fallen by the edge of the sword, but not so many as have fallen because of the tongue…. It will not be master over the godly, and they will not be burned in its flame. Those who forsake the Lord will fall into its power; it will burn among them and not be put out. It will be sent out against them like a lion; like a leopard it will mangle them.
– How dangerous is the unbridled tongue?
Read James 3:7-8
– If humans are unable to tame the tongue, who then is able to do that?
Read James 3:9-12
– The tongue is so fallen that we curse even whom?
– Tie in the idea of not being double-minded or double-souled, which James had earlier mentioned with our tongues. What is he saying?
If we first are right with God, then our relations with the world and with our tongues will begin to fall into place. James summons us, at first, to mend our relations with God by following the First Table of the Law (love God). Only then can we practice our relationships with our neighbors as taught in the Second Table of the Law (love neighbor). If Christ gives us new and clean hearts, then our tongues will praise God and speak well of others.
– Why isn’t this always so?
Read James 3:13-16
2 Timothy 2:24-25: The Lord’s slave [in this case referring to pastors] must not be quarrelsome but gentle to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. Perhaps, God may grant them repentance leading them to the knowledge of the truth.
– Here James is addressing those in the Office of Teacher mentioned in verse 1. What is a teacher to teach by his life?
– What if a teacher/pastor/elder has “bitter jealousy and selfish ambition,” what is the source of his wisdom?
Read James 3:17-18
– James describes the “wisdom from above” as:
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– Is this wisdom that James describes merely “head knowledge” or lived out as well?
– This means the Christian not only has this wisdom but also does what with it?
Isaiah 32:7: The fruit of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness will be quietness and trust forever.
– What would be the result in Christ’s Church is we all lived in and lived out such wisdom?
To go to Lesson 5, click here.
