Will Teachers in the Church Be Judged More Strictly By God?: Rethinking James 3:1

Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. (James 3:1)

Sometimes it is the small things, the small moments, the small points and ideas, that turn out to be the most compelling. One of these small points/ideas has found me in a space of reflection all afternoon.

It came from the morning sermon at my Church. We’ve been spending the last while walking through the book of James. A difficult book to be sure, but not because of its complex theology or complicated structure. Rather, it is difficult because of how straightforward and unfiltered its message is. This is the kind of book that cuts straight to the practicalities of life. This is why it is seen to exist within the great Wisdom Tradition of the sacred scriptures.

In this case it is about our speech. The way we talk. As my pastor suggested, that we speak is assumed. The nature of our speech is the concern.

So what is this small idea that I’ve been reflecting on? It was an observation that was almost unnoticable as a passive mention. A question my pastor slipped in as part of a larger thought process regarding the subject of our speech. Here he simply wondered about that little word “judge.” As my pastor confessed, he has often simply assumed that this word is speaking about the great Day of the Lord. He has often just assumed that bearing the responsibility of “teaching” means being submitted to a greater “test” of our actions. But where does this assumption come from?

Not from the text.

The text never states that this judgment comes from God. The text never states that this judgment is just. In fact, when read in light of verse 2, such a reading could seem contrary to what it actually says about the role of teachers in the community:

We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check (3:2)

We ALL. ANYONE. This could be referring to the all of “we who teach” in verse 1. Or it could be speaking to the audience of whom “not many” should become teachers. Or it could be speaking to both. Either way the point seems to be the same. We could insert the word “for” between verse 1 and 2 and gain the same necessary point. Playing it backwards, it is because we all stumble and all are at all fault that not many should be teachers like the author of James. Assuming for the sake of the argument that the author is James (scholarship debates this), this point then becomes not about the necessary stricter judgment of the teachers, but rather the struggle that teachers face from the hearers.

So here’s a thought. And the reason I call this compelling is because it overturns a lifetime of assumptions regarding this passage. I have long existed in a world where this verse has been used to place the fear of God in anyone who might desire to teach. That taking on such a responsiblity means getting our life in order first. That teaching and reputation are taken synonymously as part of the godly requirments of a given church community.

But what if the actual condemnation here is the speech of the hearers?

Looking back at James 1, it states that the hearers are the 12 tribes of Israel. The context? Speaking to the ongoing exile of the 12 tribes as a call to perseverance in light of “the Lord Jesus Christ.” (1:1-2). In 1:18 it states that He (God) “Chose to give us (Israel) birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all He created.”

This is James, a Judean (the one surviving Tribe from exile), speaking to the scattered tribes of Israel among the nations regarding the great promise of fulfillment- the expected return from exile that marks the beginning of the new creation. A firstfruits that flows into all the nations.

So what does this perseverance look like? It looks like a people continuing in faithfulness to God. But here is the first important point James makes- the testing (exile) “produces perseverance” (1:2), and perseverance “finishes its work.” Thus, continuing in faithfulness is not about perfection or any such judgment. This becomes even more powerful when we come to 1:25, where it equates looking “intently into the perfect law” with the freedom the Law affords. Meaning, the Law (the story of God’s covenant with creation and God’s people) is an invitation to participate in the new reality this brings about, even as they remain scattered throughout the nations. Do not merely listen, do what this word says, because the word, which is the Gospel of Christ, is true.

Here then we come to the first assumed backdrop of this focus on “speech.”

Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues decieve themselves, and their religion is worthless (1:26)

So apparently the speech of the hearers is a problem. We then get a greater hint in verse 27 regarding why its a problem- it’s getting in the way of the two most important things in James: looking after the orphans and the widows, and not being polluted by the world in which the scattered nations find themsleves (idolatry). Or as the very next verse, 2:1 puts it, calling them out for showing favoritism in their communities, which is the subject of the whole of chapter 2.

Here’s the next striking line that jumped out at me in 2:12. He calls them to “speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom.” So now suddenly we have two different kinds of judgment in play, one which gives freedom, the other which “withholds mercy (vs 13). Followed by a whole section in the remaining verses of chapter 2 talking about faith without deeds, deeds which explicitly relates in this context to the speech that shows favoritism to the rich and withholds mercy at the expense of widows and orphans.

This is all a backdrop and lead up to 3:1 and its grand statement regarding teachers. Teachers like James. Teachers speaking to those who show favoritism and withhold mercy. Don’t become a teacher like me, James says, because we recieve the least amount of mercy.

And yet, I do not think this is a condemnation from James of the twelve tribes either. What strikes me once again is the spirit of chapter 1 that speaks as an open invitation. A blessing. At the end of chapter 3 it talks about “The Wisdom that comes from heaven,” the wisdom who’s judgment is freedom. It is first of all pure. In other words, it is True. And what defines this truth? What are its characteristics? It is peace-loving, considerate, submissive, filled with mercy, bearing good fruit, impartial, and sincere (3:17). And what about this other judgment, the one that shows favoritism and withholds mercy? It is described as “earthly, unspiritual (not of the Spirit), and demonic (2:15)” What strikes me here is that the people here are not the source of the judgment, they are participating in a false judgment of themselves. A false judgment that brings and creates “disorder and every evil practice (3:16).” Another word for disorder would be division, which leads perfectly into 4:1 and its central question, “what causes fights and quarrals among you?

So, back to why I find this compelling. Three final thoughts:

• The judgment of 3:1 does not come from God, it comes from the demonic, the unspiritual, and the earthly. Thus, the fear of God that was instilled in me all these years over anything that remotely approaches things like teaching, appears to be a false word.
• The judgment of God brings freedom not disorder, and this freedom is rooted in the larger narrative of the Gospel. James is a word about the fulfillment of God’s promise to the scattered tribes of Israel. The invitation, to these scattered tribes, is to live as though that promise is both true and fulfilled. In other words, the invitation to embody the kingdom of God among the nations by demonstrating its judgment of freedom through our speech.
• This same word can apply to our communities today. Indeed, it can apply to our lives as participants in our communities, even amidst our shared imperfections. Perhaps especially in light of the imperfections, as that has the power to breed perseverance. Beginnning with the most powerful tool of all- the tongue.

I lied- another last thought. My pastor noted that this passage was being preached on Pentecost Sunday. A story about tongues of fire coming to rest on the people as a mark of the Gospels movement out into the world where the scattered tribes of Israel reside. A story that is commonly paralleled with the story of Babel, where the speech is confused and the once unified people are scattered, creating the framework for the nations that Israel would eventually find themselves exiled to. An example of how the whole of sacred scripture belongs to that necessary narrative. The freedom the tongues of fire represent is the same freedom being afforded to these scattered tribes whom find themselves divided by the power the tongue has to destroy and divide. Being born and raised in a pentecostal community, it is interesting to consider the distinct and powerful focus that Tradition places on the widows and the orphans, not to mention the open and free invitation to see all as necessary teachers in the community of God in the power of the spirit.  For the skepticism they sometimes recieve, perhaps they have long been on to something others have missed.