A querist asks, “In James 3:1-2, the statement is made that not many members of the church should strive to become teachers. Is James really advocating that being a teacher is a bad idea?”<\/p>\n
The text of James 3:1-2 states:<\/p>\n
\nMy brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
At first glance, this statement that the Lord’s brother makes seems contradictory to many other New Testament passages that encourage us all to instruct one another<\/strong> (cf. Romans 15:14; Colossians 3:16; 2 Timothy 2:2; Titus 2:1-8; Hebrews 5:12).<\/p>\n
However, we can easily understand James point if we view his remark in context<\/strong>. In James 3:1-11, Hes writing about the dangers of the tongue and the ease with which we can say harmful things with it if we arent careful. His point is not<\/strong> that Christian’s shouldnt teach (one of the main purposes of the church is to teach – Ephesians 3:10), but that if were going to be teachers, we ought not to view the task as something “anyone” can do.<\/p>\n
Because if we would be teachers of God’s word, we need to:<\/p>\n
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- Prepare ourselves to handle the word of God correctly<\/strong> (cf. 2 Timothy 2:15; 1 Peter 3:15).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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- Make certain we dont teach any doctrine that is different from the gospel<\/strong> (Galatians 1:8-9), nor go beyond what is written on the inspired page, or omit any elements of it (cf. Acts 20:20; Acts 20:27; 1 Corinthians 4:6; 2 John 1:9; Revelation 22:18-19).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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- Resist the temptation to alter the Scriptures to suit ourselves<\/strong> (2 Peter 3:16) or to tell people what they want to hear rather than what the Bible says (2 Timothy 4:3-4; Galatians 1:10).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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- Teach with patience and humility<\/strong> (2 Timothy 2:24-26) certainly not an easy task.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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- Be willing to be instructed ourselves when our knowledge is incomplete or inaccurate<\/strong> (cf. Acts 18:24-26).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Not everyone can be a teacher in the public arena, simply because that different folks possess different talents (Romans 12:4-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6). Not every teacher can (or even should) preach from the pulpit or conduct a Bible class.<\/p>\n
But any and every Christian should be ready to speak as the oracles of God (1 Peter 4:11), even if it’s at a breakfast table or over a cup of coffee in the family room.<\/p>\n
The bottom line is that all Christians should have the desire to (1)<\/strong> save a lost soul (Romans 10:1; James 5:19-20; (2)<\/strong> have the will to prepare (Ephesians 4:11-12 NIV); (3)<\/strong> speak God’s word with boldness (Ephesians 6:19); and (4)<\/strong> be cautious of speaking carelessly or without knowledge.<\/p>\n
Is there great responsibility in our desire to become a teacher of God’s inspired word? Yes there is (cf. Luke 12:48; 1 Timothy 1:12). Some of us might look at ourselves and say, “Id make a terrible teacher” and because of the lack of Bible knowledge, perhaps we would make a terrible Bible teacher “today.” However, the investment of some concentrated time in Bible study will prepare us to teach someone effectively “tomorrow.”<\/p>\n
Brethren, with regard to Bible study and teaching, let’s remember this slogan: “We’ll never get growing if we never get going.”<\/strong><\/p>\n
Let’s get going and growing “today” (Acts 17:11; cf. Psalm 1:1-2; Psalm 63:6; Psalm 119:48; Ephesians 4:15; 1 Peter 2:2; 2 Peter 3:18).<\/p>\n
Related Articles:<\/strong><\/p>\n
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- Let’s Open The Book!<\/li>\n
- Profitable Bible Study Seven Guidelines<\/li>\n
- Best Way To Read And Study The Bible<\/li>\n
- Three Principles Of Memorizing Scripture<\/li>\n
- Benefiting From The Bible Three Key Words<\/li>\n
- Ten Essential Bible Study Attitudes (1)<\/li>\n
- Ten Essential Bible Study Attitudes (2)<\/li>\n
- Preparing To Serve As A Bible Class Teacher (Bro. Carl Garner audio lesson)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A querist asks, “In James 3:1-2, the statement is made that not many members of the church should strive to become teachers. Is James really advocating that being a teacher is a bad idea?” The text of James 3:1-2 states: My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a … Continue reading ““We'll Never Get Growing If We Never Get Going” – Bible study”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45264\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}