Live What You Believe (2)
Live What You Believe - Study of James • Sermon • Submitted
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Higher Account
Higher Account
1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.
Not perfection, but pursuit of holiness.
We will all make mistakes, but leaders/teachers will be judged more harshly for our mistakes.
We will all make mistakes, but leaders/teachers will be judged more harshly for our mistakes.
Imagine, teachers/leaders, with me for a second. Your student arrives at the day of judgement. He or she is asked where they learned something contrary to the Word of God. Imagine that they turn and point at you.
We are supposed to take this very serious.
One reason I went to seminary, one reason I continue to push myself and study is because I am aware of the higher accountability.
6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
7 “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!
Satan has done no where near as much damage to the internal church as false teachers do.
Satan has done no where near as much damage to the internal church as false teachers do.
7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity,
8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.
If you are called and gifted, then teach.
If you are called and gifted, then teach.
6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;
7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching;
But why does James specifically talk of this.
Wrong Motives were at Play
Wrong Motives were at Play
They sought status or standing.
They sought status or standing.
Opening Up James (A Note of Caution (v. 1))
Our appeal, then, to all who are interested in teaching is simply this: by all means, take up the work, but make sure you are doing it for the right reason. We are not to teach to satisfy our own ego needs, but to bring glory to God and to deliver his Word accurately to the eternal benefit of those who hear us.
Alistair Begg once said “
We cannot make much of ourselves and much of the Lord Jesus Christ simultaneously.
We cannot make much of ourselves and much of the Lord Jesus Christ simultaneously.
Begg, Alistair. Preaching for God's Glory (Repackaged Edition) (Today's Issues) (p. 57). Crossway. Kindle Edition.
We need good teachers
We need good teachers
A good teacher clears the way, declares the way, and then gets out of the way.
Begg, Alistair. Preaching for God's Glory (Repackaged Edition) (Today's Issues) (p. 57). Crossway. Kindle Edition.
This passage is not trying to scare away good teachers, it is simply trying to express the seriousness of the calling.
36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,
37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
The New Testament clearly, repeatedly, and unapologetically lays out the qualifications of a pastor. What is so remarkable yet so often overlooked is this: Pastors are called and qualified to their ministry not first through their raw talent, their finely-honed skill, or their great accomplishments, but through their godly character. Of all the many qualifications laid out in the New Testament, there is just one related to skill (he must have the ability to teach others) and one related to experience (he must not be a recent convert). The rest of the nearly 20 qualifications are based on character. What fits a man to ministry is not first accomplishment or capability but character.
James simply wants us to take serious the matter of teaching.
Andrew and I have forever given up the right to simply be congregants. Do not get me wrong, this is not something to feel bad about, it is simply something to recognize.
I have become a teacher and it carries a higher accountability.
I have become a teacher and it carries a higher accountability.
