Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

A woman once came to one of the old Puritan ministers of London and told him that the bands which he wore with his pulpit gown were altogether too long, and that they annoyed her greatly.

She would like his permission to shorten them.

Confident of his approval, she had come armed with a pair of scissors.

The minister hesitantly accepted and handed over the offending bands to the woman, who shortened them according to her taste with her scissors and then handed the fragments back to the minister.

When he received them, he thanked her and said: "Now, my good woman, there is something about you that is altogether too long, and which has annoyed me greatly, and since one good turn deserves another, I would like permission to shorten it."

"Certainly," said the woman, "you have permission to do so, and here are the shears."

Whereupon the minister gently said, "Very well, madam, put out your tongue."

One must wonder after an encounter like that, if she ever returned to his Sunday services!

Two questions arise from this introductory anecdote: 1) Should have that woman said anything about her pet peeve and 2) did the minister respond rightly?

Well… these are perfect questions for what James addresses in the start of chapter 3:

In the early church, godly teachers were indispensable to the survival and spread of our faith.

The spiritual depth of believers and even bishops depended on them.

In the first century church at Antioch, teachers were held in same esteem with the prophets who sent out Paul and Barnabas in .

In this scene setting, Luke is communicating the importance of teachers within the church.

Teachers were the point of contact for all new believers because converts needed instruction in the facts of the gospel, and teachers would build them up in the faith.

The problem, however, was that some teachers had the ability to communicate but were driven by very worldly motivations.

Others, still, had a motivation of status and privilege among their peers and so would act as teachers.

They would take leading positions in a church, form cliques, and use their teaching positions to usually criticize others as the Apostle Paul points out in a few of his epistles.

In this way, these false teachers could maintain their position and importance.

In this new chapter we find ourselves in now, James’s immediate concern is with the speech of false teachers who are ruining believers with their uncontrolled tongues.

From that immediate concern he launches into the wider area of the use of speech among believers.

--Barton, Bruce, Philip Comfort, Grant Osborne, Linda K. Taylor, and Dave Veerman.

Life Application New Testament Commentary.

Remember, these messianic Jews to whom James is writing this are still very concerned about the mounting persecution and rumors of more was coming their way because of their faith in Christ.

James was concerned about their suffering as well, but he was more concerned about the genuineness and authenticity of their faith.

In essence, he is communicating to his readers: it is far more important that you have real faith than that your current suffering.

Wise words for us today!

But how could his audience tell if they had real faith?

You may recall from a couple months back at the end of chapter 1 James talked about genuine religion.

There, James told them, and us, three distinct tests for “pure religion”:

How well one controls the tongue,

How well one cares for the needy, and

How well one avoids worldliness:

James ).

In the verses of our text in chapter three this morning, James begins to elaborate and expand on this matter of controlling the tongue.

These two verses are preliminary or introductory in nature.

As we examine them, we can identify three things that pertains to speech--First, A Stern Warning:

In this new chapter we find ourselves in now, James’s immediate concern is with the speech of false teachers who are ruining believers with their uncontrolled tongues.

From that immediate concern he launches into the wider area of the use of speech among believers.

A Stern Warning (v.1)

This warning should come as a bit of a shock to us!

There are so many things that James could have warned his readers about, and the thing he chooses here is teaching!

3:1 “many of you” This shows the tendency of a large section of the church to want to speak during the group meetings.

The worship service of the early church was dynamic and unstructured.

Paul refers to this disorder in

This makes sense then when considering the Greek grammar James uses:

© “become” This is a PRESENT MIDDLE (deponent) IMPERATIVE with a NEGATIVE PARTICLE which means to stop an act already in process.

This section of James begins with the responsibility of Christian leaders but easily transitions into the responsibility of every Christian in relation to speech.

So, © “teachers” could then refer to either

The early church’s worship where anyone could speak or

The place of honor of the rabbi in Jewish society.

I believe Paul was using both meanings simultaneously by pointing out that people wanted the prestige of a rabbi without the proper preparation, recognition, nor the education of a rabbi.

Plus, not all rabbis should have been rabbis based on what they were publically teaching.

Pastors have a hard time believing that James would say such a thing because it is very difficult it is for most churches to find enough teachers, but we cannot sweep this under the rug either.

Teaching is listed as a spiritual gift in and 14:26.

It is also listed as a function of pastors (cf.

; ).

In it is connected to prophets.

But here it is viewed as an option for all believers.

However, it is interesting to note here that teaching is listed as a spiritual gift in

It is also listed as a function of pastors in In it is connected to

And we already saw in the connection to prophets.

But here in it is almost viewed as an option for all believers, however, that is James’ exact point—It really is not for all believers.

With that said, I strongly believe that all believers participate in ALL the gifts at some practical level (although some levels are stronger than other levels depending on how God made that believer).

How can I be so sure?

Well, how many of us would accept a fellow Christian saying:

"I do not have the gift of prayer so I do not pray,” or

“I do not have the gift of giving so I do not give,” or

“I do not have the gift of evangelism so I do not witness”?

“I do not have the gift of evangelism so I do not witness”?

We wouldn't accept that because we would say these activities are for all believers albeit stronger in some.

God gifts some for effective service in these areas, but all believers have responsibilities in these areas.

So why did James then include this prohibition?

Well, it is safe to say that he had not desired to make it harder for churches to find teachers; rather, he was warning his readers about the possibility of taking up the task of teaching with the wrong motive.

© “my brothers/brethren” this is now the time that James refers to his audience as brothers & sisters in the faith.

© “as such we” James includes himself in this group.

Paul calls himself a preacher, apostle, and teacher (cf.

).

All Christians have at least one spiritual gift as we just saw in , but some have several.

© “we will incur a stricter judgment” Knowledge and leadership bring greater responsibility (cf.

).

This surprising statement agrees with the rest of the New Testament teachings on degrees of blessings and punishments (cf.

; ; ; ; :; ; ).

lu 12:

luk 12

Citing William Barclay, In fact, should a rabbi and one’s father and mother be captured by an enemy, duty demanded that the rabbi be ransomed first!’1

Such respect for teachers created a temptation for many to take up the task so that they might receive the fawning of an adoring public.

I also shudder when I hear about teachers who have such little regard for their task that they do not adequately prepare, or they use the time set apart for the teaching of the Word of God to discuss mere trivialities.

I shudder when I hear teachers and preachers joke about things that are sacred.

And I shudder when I hear a person set aside the clear teaching of the Bible so that he or she can be in line with current thinking.

There are many, many ways in which we can misuse our tongues—blasphemy, lying, gossiping, profanity—but none could possibly be more serious than using them to misrepresent and distort the Word of God!

We had better know this very well: God takes the teaching of his Word seriously, and so should we!

If we doubt that God takes the matter seriously, we need only read Paul’s words in .

So, there are good teachers that have teachings with the value of gold, but there are teachers with teachings that hold up with the strength of straw.

The coming day of judgement will reveal the kind of work that we have done.

Eternity itself will reveal the value of such teachers.

This is why James tells us that people should not rush to become teachers in the church.

Coming hard on the heels of chapter 2, one of the most honorable “works” or “deeds” of faith that would immediately come to the Jewish mind would be the position of teaching.

James has in mind a greater emphasis on spiritual growth and self-control before someone assumed the role of a teacher.

Teachers will be judged by God with greater strictness.

Teaching authority carries with it greater responsibility.

As works reveal the depths of a person’s faith, so words show the depth of a person’s maturity.

The teacher is held to greater accountability because of his or her key teaching role.