James Chapter Three: A Warning for Teachers

 

James 3:1a My brethren, let not many of you become teachers

It is fitting, when considering this verse and its tremendous implications, to give pause. Paul, in his second letter to Timothy, defines some of the criteria for being an apt teacher of God’s word:

 

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, 2 Timothy 2:15

 

And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will, 2 Timothy 2:24-26.

 

Many ministries, especially in this modern era, are maligned for their divisiveness. But so much of the NT is about correction, admonition and reproving those who have wandered into error. To be saved does not mean to be suddenly perfect; if it did then there would be no need for so much of what the Bible contains. Paul instructs Timothy to “rightly divide” God’s word, implying from the positive that there are ways to “wrongly divide” it. Exegetical teaching comes with an innate danger: the risk of eisegesis, that is, reading INTO the Bible our preconceived ideas. Paul and Peter each in turn inform us that Scripture is not meant to be read in isolation. No one book, one passage, or one verse was ever meant to reinforce an idea. No, the Bible is a complete unit given by inspiration of God and fully capable of explaining itself, should we let it.

 

2 Timothy 3:16, 17 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

 

2 Peter 1:20, 21 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

 

In the same letter Paul informs Timothy about the criteria for an apt teacher, he also tells the young Christian that the Bible (all Scripture) is a cohesive whole. Every jot and tittle is given by the Holy Spirit to instruct us. It will thoroughly equip us for every good work. The picture painted is like someone collecting all of their necessary tools, even seemingly obscure ones, in the case that they’ll be needed. The word of God is given, among other things, for reproof and correction. Great names in Christendom are still fallen men and women; great ministries are still helmed by people just like us, fully capable of error. One reason Scripture is given is to reveal and correct error. The Bible, not human beings regardless of reputation, is to be our rule and our authority. To be steadfast in it, we all must learn through the Holy Spirit to rightly divide the word, which is His, as Peter reminds us in the second citation.

 

The apostle is keen to remind us that no prophecy of Scripture is open to private interpretation. The Bible, taken as a whole and studied against itself, will explain itself. Prophecy, being part of the Bible, is no exception. It is a congruent, harmonious unit, God-breathed. Peter attests that genuine prophecy never came by human agency, but through divine authority. The Holy Spirit inspired the prophets to speak, and so they did. Each writer in the Bible has a unique voice. No two sound quite alike, bearing witness that God does not erode a man’s personality when electing him to service. But through those many voices a unified, beautiful whole emerges that through patience and the Holy Spirit’s leading we may lay hold of.

 

Someone will ask “What is the point of a teacher then if the Bible is meant to be our rule and authority?” A teacher’s job is never to distract the pupil from their objective, but rather to direct them to it. The teacher assists and stands beside them; they do not stand above them and speak down to them. Like students learning their letters or a baby learning to walk, a teacher’s function is to educate, provide parameters, stimulate the reasoning faculties and through experience lend wisdom with difficult subjects. The pupil, for their part, is not meant to lean expressly on the teacher, and the teacher ought to know this. Otherwise they have become a proxy Christ and the pupil becomes dependent on them, rather than the Holy Spirit.

 

The humility needed for teaching, in my opinion, is immense. It is all too easy to want to grab glory from God, especially when God gifts us with something so extraordinary. This was where Moses erred, Numbers 20:7-12. When told to speak to the rock by God, Moses instead struck it, presumably out of irritation or anger, and stole glory from the Lord, saying, “Must we (Moses and Aaron) bring water for you out of this rock?” Moses was mightily used of God, but even he was imperfect and erred in judgment. This is why we must retreat to Paul’s admonition about humility and gentleness when teaching. Step aside, teachers, and let your students see Christ. He does work through us, and we do work for Him, but He does not NEED us.

 

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it, Isaiah 55:11

 

Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase, 1 Corinthians 3:5-7.

 

I believe that every teacher of God’s word is to some extent an exegete: “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things old and new,” Matthew 13:52. God has much to relate to each of us through His word, and no two individuals will learn quite the same way. It is a duty of the teacher to take from the treasure trove of Scripture to help less experienced Christians seek the Lord’s will, to deepen their faith and to have confidence in His word. Those guilty of corrupting Scripture or subverting the faith of the saints are the truly divisive ones. Through ignorance or intention faith is misplaced as the student leans on biblical teaching that suffers the miasma of eisegesis.