The Importance of the Teaching Ministry of the Church

James speaks about the teaching ministry of the church and then he springboards into a discussion of the tongue: "Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren." We see the implications of this in the criteria for teachers in the church of Jesus Christ. He's saying be careful about being a teacher because it's really easy to err and God will judge you. That's essentially the theme. Don't hurry into being a teacher in the church, a pastor, an official Bible teacher in the church. Don't rush ahead into that because it's very easy to make a mistake because the teacher's main tool is his tongue and the tongue is the one thing that cannot be tamed so it's dangerous, James is saying, to be a teacher.