Warning! Warning! As we follow the lead of the lectionary and come to this Sunday’s passage from chapter 3 of James, people like me are immediately put on alert. “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness” (James 3:1). So there!
I have never trained as a teacher; however, the church, in its wisdom, saw fit to invite me to learn the craft of teaching at the very beginning of my ministry as an ordained person. I served as a Tutor assisting Robert Maddox in his university teaching, taking over his course when his brain tumour developed.
Then I was encouraged to apply for doctoral studies in New Testament and Early Christianity, learning more of the craft of teaching whilst undertaking the coursework and research of that degree, as I worked as Teaching Assistant for various professors: in Old Testament, Brevard Childs and then Robert Wilson; in Early Church, the Gnostic specialist Bentley Layton; and then Abraham Malherbe, who then was the primary supervisor of my thesis, completed in 1987.
After that I taught courses at Sydney University and United Theological college, before accepting a call in 1990 to the Faculty of UTC, where I taught Biblical Studies for two decades. Then, moving into other ministry roles, I shared with my wife Elizabeth Raine in teaching lay leaders in the Mid North Coast in a range of subjects; spent two years as Principal of Perth Theological Hall; and then moved to Canberra, where again Elizabeth and I were involved in teaching lay people (and some ministers doing their continuing education) for five years. So my career over 45 years has regularly involved teaching!
Therefore, I take the opening words of James 3 with utter seriousness. They are striking: both discouraging people from becoming teachers (although we do need teachers!) and then warning that who teach “will be judged with greater strictness”. That’s worth considering. Why are teachers to be held to a higher level of accountability than people in other professions? than doctors and nurses? or judges and lawyers? or police officers and prison guards? Don’t all of them need to have the highest of standards to which they need to be held accountable?
The reason that James makes this curious claim is, of course, “the tongue”. “The tongue is a small member”, James writes, “yet it boasts of great exploits” (3:5). And that is what underlies this whole passage. The author uses a series of analogies to indicate how such a small member, the tongue, has great power. The tongue is compared to a bridle guiding a horse (v.3), a ship’s rudder (v.4), a spark lighting a fire (vv.4b-5), as something that “stains the whole body” (v.6) and a spring from which water pours forth (v.11).
In each case, the analogy is of something small which contains immense power to control something much larger—to guide a warhorse or steer a cargo ship, to set in motion the train of events that leads to a damaging fire or an infection of the whole person or widespread flooding. The tongue is potent—and so it needs to be used with great care.
Earlier in this letter, James has implored those listening to this letter to “be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger” (1:19). Left unchecked, it seems, the tongue can rapidly run to anger—and this is unhelpful, since “anger does not produce God’s righteousness” (1:20), and it is this righteousness which is most desired for those who are wise, “those who make peace” (3:13–18). Indeed, as the theological argumentation that James offers indicates, Abraham was made righteous (justified) “by works”, and it was those works which ensured that “it was reckoned to him as righteousness” (2:18–26, with the key scriptural verse in this argument being Gen 15:6).
“Be quick to listen, slow to speak” is advice which the older brother of James would have been happy to support. Indeed, we may perhaps speculate that James shapes this instruction under the influence of the words of Jesus, “let anyone with ears to hear listen!” (Mark 4:9, 23)—words repeated by others who told the story of his life (Matt 11:15; 13:9, 15, 43; Luke 8:8; 14:35). Jesus exhorts his followers to prioritise listening; brother James follows his lead and includes this direction. “You have two ears and only one tongue; so you should listen twice as long as you speak” is a saying that I have often heard over the years, nd it seems to resonate with what Jesus is saying.
Early in my time of teaching, I learnt this lesson very well. Fresh from the heady environment of doctoral research and plunged into the midst of making revisions of my dissertation ahead of publication (which came, in due course, in 1993), I taught a course which was shaped almost entirely around my thesis chapters. I had so much to say, and only 13 weeks to say it to the students! I still remember the sobering set of “course evaluations” that I received at the end of that semester.
The next time I taught that subject I made sure to incorporate regular opportunities for small-group “buzz groups” within each lecture, posing questions which students were expected to discuss and decide for themselves—rather than just listen to me talk ad nauseum. I had learnt the value of my listening to students, and wanted to encourage them to practice “active listening” to inform their own thinking. The tongue was put into its place; one tongue, but two ears!
The tongue plays an interesting role in scripture. The “speech of the angels” produced in the unruly worship times at Corinth (1 Cor 12–14) has attracted much attention; then there are also the”native languages” of the Jews gathered in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost,when then spirit fell upon them (Acts 2). These were active tongues which contributed to the faith of those speaking (in Corinth) and to the development of the mission of the early Jesus movement (in Acts). These tongues were carrying out important duties.
But the tongue is also what holds back Moses from accepting his call; “I am slow of speech and slow of tongue”, he protests (Exod 4:10). Likewise, Jeremiah attempts to divert God from calling him; “Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy”, he protests (Jer 1:6). Not so reticent was David, who at the end of his life declared, “the spirit of the Lord speaks through me, his word is upon my tongue” (2 Sam 23:2); in some of the psalms also the psalmists make similar claims (Ps 35:28; 51:14; 66:17; 71:24; 119:172; 126:2). And, of course, many of the prophets followed in this tradition, boldly speaking words which they prefaced, “Thus says the Lord God”.
Yet other psalms reflect the reality of damaging words spoken by a “deceitful tongue” (Ps 52:4; 120:2–3), spoken by those who slander (Ps 15:3), deceive (Ps 34:13; 50:19), plot treachery (Ps 52:2) and scheme “secret plots” (Ps 64:1–8). Such people “make their tongue sharp as a snake’s, and under their lips is the venom of vipers” (Ps 140:3); this is what Job calls “the tongue of the crafty” (Job 15:5). Such words provoke the plea for vengeance from one psalmist: “let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them! let burning coals fall on them! let them be flung into pits, no more to rise!” (Ps 140:9–10).
Many proverbs contrast the good which a tongue can do when it is used well, with the evil that results when the tongue is used for ill. “Rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing” (Prov 12:18) is one such comparison; another is “Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment” (Prov 12:19). Another proverb states “the tongue of the wise dispenses knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly” (Prov 15:2); with a different approach, another proverb advises “whoever rebukes a person will afterward find more favour than one who flatters with the tongue” (Prov 28:23).
It seems that James is as aware as both the psalmists and the collators of these proverbs are of the damage that misuse of the tongue can cause. One striking proverb claims that “death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits” (Prov 18:21). That surely makes the tongue a most powerful thing. And just as these books of a wisdom reflect the good that the tongue can do when used wisely, so James knows of the value of the tongue and the power it can impart.
One of the proverbs that still contains an incredibly potent sting in the tail for me is this: “the mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off” (Prov 10:31). The language is metaphorical, as is the case with some many proverbs—and with the analogies of the tongue as a horse’s bridle, a ship’s rudder, a spark lighting a fire (vv.4b-5), and a spring from which water pours forth, which James employs. The language is powerful, evocative, dramatic—but not at all to the taken literally.
The reason this particular proverb holds such a power for me, is that many years ago something similar was spoken to me: “don’t tell anyone or I will cut your tongue out”. The adult person saying this to me had incredible power over my small 6-year-old self; I was utterly terrified and for decades I did not dare to tell anyone about what he had done to me. I believed that he would actually, physically do this, if I disobeyed him and talked to anyone about this.
So I kept the knowledge of what had happened hidden deep within myself; it was almost four decades later that I started the slow and incredibly difficult task of coming to grips with this. I have eventually been able to talk with others about this experience, but it has been a complex process (which is still incomplete in various ways). I have shared more recently in a podcast with a friend and colleague.
For my own story, see
and for the podcast in which I talk about this, go to
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5feSJb2qyVAhzBEfoeHj1x?si=29983b58d694477d
The power of the tongue: I know this well—both the positive, upbuilding capacity of the tongue to convey knowledge, invite learning, and deepen faith; and the negative, destructive capacity of the tongue when it is used to threaten and distort reality. James rightly observes that, with the very same tongue “we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come blessing and cursing” (James 3:9–10). The wise and understanding, he advises, will use their tongue judiciously and constructively, so that it is “by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom” (3:13).
The tongue. It is powerful. Take care how you use it!
An Informed Faith 