Day By Day - James 3

By David Passmore

Introduction:
James again continues with his practical teaching. I love his no beating around the bush in his teachings and in this chapter we see a lot of parallels to the teachings of the Master of Teachers. Verse six is a repeat of Matthew 12:36 and 15:11, while verse 12 parallels Matthew 7:16-20.

Point 1:
James opens this chapter with similar words spoken by my old Pastor, “anyone who wants to be a pastor has rocks in his head.” If one looks back in history we find that the youngest son was by tradition destined to become a priest whether he wanted to or not. This is what Jesus Himself said in Mt.23:8.

I met many Padres in the army, all could drink heavily and out curse us. This is what James is teaching about, to be a Deacon, Elder, Teacher, Pastor is, or should be, a scary position to be in. James is echoing the Lord's teaching and goes on to remind us in verse 2 how we are all fallible and likely to stumble in word and or deed.

Point 2:
In verses 2- 12, James teaches us of the dangers of the tongue. His examples of our control over horses, ships and today’s vehicles are so easy to follow, and then he reminds us of our tongues.

Our tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. It can defile our bodies, it can tear a person’s self worth to shreds; when we tell someone they are worthless we are cursing them. Yes , it can be used for good or for sin. The tongue can be very hard to control once we start to use it for the wrong reasons. James states in verse 10 that with our tongue we bless our Lord, but we also use it to curse mankind who are made in the image of our Father.

Then in verses 14:16 he teaches us to avoid bitter envy and self seeking and so on, all these are demonic and are being influenced by our old enemy Satan. This sort of behaviour, usually happens when the Lord begins to move. The Holy Spirit will withdraw from that person or persons.

When any of the negatives mentioned in verses 13-15 are active in a church, then again the Holy Spirit will withdraw from the scene. James is saying we must avoid instability within ourself and within the church.

We had been involved in a church where the elders virtually told the Pastor what he could believe and/or teach. He left, and the church slowly died to about a quarter of its original size. Last time we visited it, it was still struggling to work out that the Pastor is the shepherd and not the elders. Yes, we all need oversight, but if we are truly in touch with the Holy Spirit then He will correct us.

Point 3:
How many times we are urged in Proverbs to seek wisdom. James in Chapter 1:5 tells us that if we lack wisdom then ask the Lord for wisdom and He will liberally give it.
v5: "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all ....".

During our first few weeks in Thailand I ran into trouble coming up with sermons or teaching. When I cried out to the Lord the Holy Spirit led me, not only what to preach and teach, but also how to present it as our church were 'Burmese Karen' and they  were having trouble understanding our Aussie accent.

It is through prayer, forgiveness, unity in the Spirit and peace in our hearts that the enemy is forced to flee from us and the church. So it is that we need to guard our mouths and speak carefully knowing how much words can build or destroy a brother or sister in the Lord. As I have already revealed a careless tongue can, to all intents and purposes, destroy a church.

Final Thoughts:
In this day and age of the supposed post Christian era, we must reach out to one another in love and understanding. Our old enemy is always standing by to rush in and stir up the tongue to cause irreparable damage to the church.
Matthew 18:15-17 gives us a principle to work by.