Stricter Judgment

My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. James 3:1

So you want to be a teacher, huh? Are you ready for the judgment? This verse is part of the passage that speaks about the tongue and the use of it. The teacher uses words to instruct as well as counsel and minister to others. The one that would “teach”(on any level) must be careful of what he says because there is judgment on several levels
He is judged by those that he teaches. Does he live by the words that he uses to instruct? Does he pursue the direction that he points to? Those that hear his words will judge the validity of those words by how the teacher lives.
If his listeners are discerning then they will, by a good teacher’s own instruction, judge the teachers words against the bible. Not the verses that he uses but his explanation of them
He will be judged by his peers. Fellow teachers are also fellow students. They will judge his words by their own study of the bible. Some things may be opinion but another teacher will be quick to spot something out of context or a concept that is taught and has nothing to do with the passage being considered. If a teacher only concerns himself with the thought of being true to God’s word and the sense of it, if his goal is to please God first and foremost, then he has nothing to fear and will welcome the judgment of God. He can stand in the face of his peers or his students and hold his ground, if he must but he must also be willing to change it as well if he sees that he has been wrong and flawed in what he taught. He can be confident that what he teaches his “students” is correct and does not worry about acceptance or rejection because he pleases the Master. He has surrendered his own tongue to the one that has created it