Previously we looked at James Chapter 3 and discovered that the word TEACHER referred to TEACHERS OF THE LAW, specifically JUDGES and the other PUBLIC OFFICIALS who deal in the law for a living. This also includes PRIVATE PERSONS who deal in the law. In this blog, we’ll look at TEACHER LIABILITY found in James chapter 3. Here’s the relevant verse:
Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. (James 3:1)
The MSM (mainstream media) – that is, RELIGIOUS MINISTERS – would have you believe that James chapter 3 is talking about THE TONGUE, not TEACHER LIABILITY. By the tongue they mean: WHAT PEOPLE SAY. And some go so far as to connect that with the 1st century ‘religious leaders’ of ‘the church’. Then they make a PRINCIPLE which can be applied to people’s lives today. They create that principle by connecting the idea of ‘religious teachers’ to teachers in general. Then they say James 3 applies to ANYBODY WHO TEACHES ANYTHING. In so doing they make a number of glaring interpretive errors:
- James is talking about teachers OF THE LAW, not teachers IN GENERAL.
- Society during James’ time didn’t distinguish between POLITICS AND RELIGION, so James is not talking about ‘religious ministers’. Instead, he’s talking THE AUTHORITIES.
- “Christian” today means something totally different from what it meant to James way back in the 1st century AD. Back then, “Christians” were JEWS, not NON-Jews (which is what nearly all “Christians” are today!).
- Today’s ministers imply that James uses the term “the tongue” to mean ‘teachings’ such as we absorb in our minds from going to classes in educational institutions, instead of what was customarily considered JUDICIAL DECISIONS AND OPINIONS or other kinds of LEGAL WORDS AND IDEAS, such as LAWS and LITIGATION.
- The majority of ministers further generalize this Bible text so it applies to COMMON PEOPLE instead of PUBLIC OFFICIALS. How they make that quantum leap with the textual evidence is beyond me!
- Today’s ministers completely disregard the first 4 verses of James 3 when making their interpretation, which gets them a FAILING GRADE in Bible college and seminary!
- In HERMENEUTICS they’re doing what’s called ISAGESIS and EISAGESIS. In other words, they’re ISOLATING THE TEXT FROM ITS NATIVE CONTEXT so they can refashion its meaning into something unintended by the original writer, while also READING INTO THE TEXT meanings that don’t exist in reality. MARK THAT, because THAT IS HOW PROPAGANDA WORKS. It’s been like that since the dawn of humanity!
Needless to say, this modern interpretation of James is an affront to James, at least, and A LIE at best. The result: You’re led to believe that James is talking about COMMON PEOPLE AND HOW THEY TALK. In Judaism this is called “Lishon haRa” (or “Lashon haRa”): “THE EVIL TONGUE” (lishon=tongue, ha=the, ra=evil). You can read about it a lotta places on the Internet, so take a break and look it up to see what’s involved for Jewish people. In other words, look it up to see how Jewish ‘authorities’ brainwash their people so they can more easily control them. They have all kind of LAWS on how you’re supposed to TALK!
What’s the outcome of this? These “authorities” have everybody FOCUSING ON MINUTIA (i.e., everybody’s daily speech) instead of looking at THE BIGGER PICTURE: Our SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS and PUBLIC PROCEEDINGS. That is how these CON-MEN get people to NOT see how they’re being controlled by their SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS and PUBLIC PROCEEDINGS. The result: The common man BLINDLY FOLLOWS AUTHORITY. At that point, the people basically just do what they’re told without uttering a peep. After all, “trust us, we’re the experts” … because YOU AIN’T! Frederick Bastiat’s “The Law” talks about this evil socialist scheme. You should now see that the same PERVERSION of James’ concept of THE TONGUE exists in modern Judaism too. Who would’a thought?!
The way these religious leaders (whether Christian or Jewish) control people is by focusing on people’s SPEECH (or writing), and by backing-up what they say about it with ‘Divine Authority’. You can control people’s MINDS when you control their SPEECH. Once you have control of someone’s mind, you can pretty much make them do whatever YOU want. I believe the military calls it PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE. Sun Tsu book talks about it in The Art of War. I believe it’s one of the top three strategies of public officials. I don’t know about you, but this stuff REALLY GRATES ON ME! These “authorities” are treating you like you’re some kind of STUPID KID. Are you an adult OR NOT? And HOW are THEY any different from YOU? Haven’t you ever wondered WHO CONTROLS THE SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS, and WHO tells THEM what to do? That’s the subject of another blog.
Now, when everybody in society is thinking one way, but you’re ‘thinking outside the box’, you have a very strong SOCIAL PRESSURE forcing you TO CONFORM your thinking to the SOCIAL NORM. This MIND CONTROL GAME works you from both angles: individually and socially. Pretty slick, eh? It wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t used by EVIL PEOPLE. In fact, it would be excellent if the people proffering it were GODLY. But they ain’t! In fact, the opposite is true, as James tells us.
Let me tell you something: MODERN RELIGION is a special kind of PROPAGANDA, because you can stamp your propaganda with GOD, and who’s gonna argue with you? After all, who can challenge GOD? Modern religion is just another form of POLITICAL PROPAGANDA. It’s the PEACEFUL method of mind control, while government is the VIOLENT method. BOTH, however, are MIND CONTROL. Modern religion wouldn’t be bad if ‘they’ told the truth. But they don’t. It’s all about KINGDOM BUILDING IN COMMERCE. Building mini-fiefdoms that con-men in robes rule with words. The apostle Paul calls it “smooth speech”:
For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. (Romans 16:18)
And that equally applies to GOVERNMENT operatives, such as public officials, legal professionals … ANY of the social institutions that involve WORDS and IDEAS.
The KEY to modern religion is THEOLOGY. Theology is man’s mental construct of God’s world. In theology, you can talk about things that nobody can verify in reality, so who can argue with that? Nobody can prove any of it, so it’s pretty much ‘up for grabs’ in the world of words (and ideas). Talk about a MEGA CON! I’ve seen this especially in eschatology (the branch of theology that deals with the distant future). Pretty sad. I find SPECULATION to be one of the main keys for keeping modern religious people stupified (regardless of their brand of religion). Just keep them FEARING THE UNKNOWN, and you have them where you want them. But you have to put on a very shiny veneer to KEEP UP APPEARANCES. Otherwise, YOU’RE BUSTED!
Please note that I’m not talking about fearing God and following the Bible here. No. Instead, I’m talking about following modern religion and theology. BIG DIFFERENCE! Modern religion and theology isn’t for me. So I left it. I found it waaaay easier to fix machinery than struggle to help people fix their broken and wayward lives. I’m not any good at that kind of thing. Why? Because I don’t CON. Besides, I like results in my work. Working with people brings little results. Why? Because people have a mind of their own. UNLESS YOU CAN CON THEM INTO CHANGING THEIR MIND, YOU WON’T GET RESULTS! Remember: Following God and Jesus requires FAITH. You can’t PROVE faith. So you have to make a choice in AUTHORITIES that you follow: MAN or GOD. We already talked about that a bit in the Interpretation and Covenant blogs.
Early in life I discovered the reason why people need to be CONNED: Because they TAKE THE PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE, which basically means they aren’t gonna CHANGE. Worse yet, they’ll “fight you tooth and nail” using all their available resources to NOT CHANGE (even when it’s good for them!). For the most part, people “dig their heels in” … just because! I also discovered that getting people to CHANGE is all about TRUST. If you can get them to TRUST YOU, then they MAY change IF they BELIEVE YOU. But even then, it’s an uphill climb. So IF you can get them to TRUST YOU, then you MAY be able to get them to CHANGE. But IF you make JUST ONE MISTAKE, ‘good luck w/that’. Doesn’t matter if their new path is better than their old path. I think that has to do with EGO. Anyways, they act like you gotta be GOD for them to listen to you. But isn’t it easier to JUST BELIEVE IN GOD IN THE FIRST PLACE? Boy am I GLAD these people don’t have the powers of government (life and death)!
For Christian leaders, James Chapter 3 is one of the best chapters in the New Testament for controlling people. You can beat them over the head with James Chapter 3 to CONTROL THEIR SPEECH. We call that “Bible Thumping”. But for Jewish people, JUST ASK THE RABBI. They’re like Catholics. They rely on the man in the robe to tell them what to think and how to live. For Jews, it’s the all-knowing RABBI (instead of the POPE). They just pack that religious ‘jargon’ into their heads, and then dutifully obey it … that is, unless they “have a pass”. And GOD FORBID that you get in their way!
Anyways, let’s forget about THE TEACHINGS OF MEN, and just focus on what THE BIBLE teaches. To do that, we’re going to consider THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT of James 3, and try to DECIPHER what James is telling his audience.
Remember the CONTEXT of James chapter 3: TEACHERS OF THE LAW. Another way of saying that is JUDGES, LEGISLATORS, LAWYERS, PUBLIC OFFICIALS, ADMINISTRATIVE BUREAUCRATS, etc. So what does the James 3:1-2 say about them? Let’s see:
1 Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.(James 3)
The way I see it, vv 1-2 are the key verses for the whole chapter. They give the chapter direction and meaning. The last verses of the chapter (vv 13-18) verify this by amplifying James’ message. The words of interest in vv 1-2 are these:
– TEACHERS (we already discovered this refers to teachers of the law)
– STRICTER JUDGMENT (the LIABILITY aspect of being a teacher of the law)
– STUMBLE (a reference to something BAD)
– WHAT HE SAYS (a reference to LAW-WORDS)
– PERFECT (a reference to someone who does NOT violate ANY of God’s law)
Since we’re going to consider the idea of LIABILITY, we’ll look at the words STRICTER JUDGMENT. Those two ‘words’ encompass the entire subject. What about this JUDGMENT? I can think of three possibilities:
1. Judgment by SELF,
2. Judgment by PEERS, and
3. Judgment by GOD.
Briefly, judgment by SELF occurs when you SULLY YOUR SOUL by living and working corruptly. Judgment by PEERS is when a superior in your world CONDEMNS YOUR ACTIVITIES. And judgment by GOD is when you PAY AT THE FINAL JUDGMENT.
Back in James’ era, for Jews – especially Christian Jews – the whole of life and society revolved around KNOWING AND OBEYING GOD’S LAW. That was THE long-standing national custom. Why? Because that is what God required of them since the time of Moses. It was their Covenant Obligation. You can read the commands to obey God’s law throughout Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. You see this phrase repeatedly: IF YOU OBEY MY VOICE, and others like it. This mindset was especially important post-captivity, since it was Israel’s disobedience to God’s law that got themselves into captivity in the first place. So they, as a nation, were very ‘touchy’ about OBEYING GOD’s LAW, so much so, that their laws and regulations encompassed it. More on that in another blog. Peter Tomson calls it “anti-idolatry halakah” in his book, Paul and the Jewish Law. Other scholars use the same phraseology for it.
In Israelite society back then, a violation of law was a SIN (just like John says in 1 John 3:4), whether done by an individual, a family or any other social group, including the whole nation. Today in America, our word for sin is “breaking the law”. So NOT SINNING (not breaking the law) was THE KEY to being a Jew, especially a Christian Jew. Now the reason “Christians” were held to a higher standard back then is because early Christianity was a resurgence of THE OLD LAW in their politically-corrupt society. Christians were a political sect of JEWS who sought to re-establish the Mosaic Standards, albeit under a “new and living way” (Hebrews 10:18-23 – Christ’s REDEMPTION and the INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT, as we saw in a previous blog on Covenant). These Christians were much like the Essenes, except with a different leader. In fact, many other factions operated during that time for the same basic reason.
This higher Christian standard means God’s people have to QUIT ALL THEIR SINS ON THEIR OWN INITIATIVE, or else they’re snubbing their noses at God while claiming to be His people. As we saw in a previous blog on Covenant, that’s BLASPHEMY (see Hebrews 10:26-31). Since this Christian movement had to do with RESTORING NATIONAL FOUNDATIONS, it’s obvious that the STANDARD they were required to measure their lives and communities by was GOD’S LAW. So we can confidently conclude that the greater historical SOCIAL CONTEXT of James’ message in Chapter 3 is OBEYING GOD’S LAW THE WAY GOD REQUIRES YOU TO OBEY. Remember our example of perfect obedience to God’s law: JESUS CHRIST.
Forgetting about the higher standard that God requires of Christians, let’s consider the position of TRUST that public officials occupy in any society. They dole-out the powers of life and death in public. That is a very scary proposition for those on the receiving end. The reason: It can KILL you. Or it can ‘merely’ RUIN YOUR LIFE. But no matter what, when the government’s involved, YOU LOSE! So people who control the apparatus of government have a SACRED TRUST to NOT use those powers the wrong way, because innocent lives are at stake.
Besides that, PUBLIC OFFICIALS ARE THE ROLE MODELS OF LAWFUL LIVING FOR ALL SOCIETY. The reason is because if they are corrupt, they will do corrupt things (which is what makes them corrupt in the first place!). So INTEGRITY and HONOR are PARAMOUNT in “teachers of the law”. As a result, God holds these “teachers of the law” to a HIGHER STANDARD than common people. It was like this long before Jesus entered the picture. Remember what I said in a previous blog about MORALITY being the KEY to fixing a broken society? This should prove that to you, showing you how that works for the LEADERS in society.
And AFTER JESUS entered the picture, God’s standard of accountability jacked-up even HIGHER than before. The reason (as we said above) is because of God’s REDEMPTION. But the standard of Judgment for Christians is EVEN HIGHER than that of “unbelievers”! The reason: Because Christians are GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE following Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. The reasons for this will be discussed in another blog on SANCTIFICATION and LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. Suffice to say that it has to do with their role in God’s FUTURE Kingdom.
So before Christ, God held public officials to a higher standard than the common people. But after Christ, God holds Christian common people to an even higher standard than His previous standard for public officials! After Christ, HOW MUCH MORE will God hold Christian public officials to an even higher standard?! And what about RELIGIOUS MINISTERS who proffer GOD’S WORD? Let’s remember that James is talking about the public officials of HIS time. So what about today? What about PUBLIC OFFICIALS TODAY?
The idea of LIABILITY IN LEADERSHIP is all well and good. But, WHO will HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE? Let’s face it: Corrupt public officials hide behind their offices and their powers, and they do wrong for a living without getting into trouble. I’ve seen them DO WHATEVER THEY WANT and get away with it. And if you try to use “the law” to make them obey THEIR OWN LAW, they drag-out legal proceedings forever and ever until either they run-down your resources (and life’s energy) or they concoct a scheme that gets them off the hook USING WORDS AND LEGAL PROCESS. PROCESS IS EVERYTHING to these public operatives!
So we know that public officials and legal persons have all kinds of PROCESS and PERSONS they can hide behind. They can even work together behind closed doors to cover-up their wrong-doing. Things can get pretty bad, as I’ve personally experienced, and as we’re presently seeing today in this political world. Eventually, the whole bureaucracy can become ‘a good old buys club’. So what do you do at that point? WHO IS THERE TO POLICE THE POLICE? This kind of corruption requires EXTERNAL FORCES to hold them accountable. I think that’s what James is addressing in his letter, and in Chapter 3 in particular. WHO then will hold these public criminals accountable? GOD, of course! Certainly not their PEERS, and MOST certainly not THEMSELVES!
That brings us to a well known aspect of Christian religion: THE FUTURE JUDGMENT. Christianity got that from the JEWS, because Christianity ORIGINATED from the JEWS (as we’ve seen). So back in James’ time, the Israelites held a very well-established view on the future. They had a lot to say about it. Even today there’s some extant literature about it from way back about 2 millennia ago! This subject and the literary genre are called APOCALYPTIC. Granted, some intellectual Jews during James’ time didn’t acknowledge an “afterlife” (the Supreme Court and Saducees). But for the majority, the idea underlying APOCALYPTIC was FUTURE JUDGMENT AND REDEMPTION. The JUDGMENT part has to do with PAYING FOR LIABILITY that you incurred while living in a mortal body. The belief consisted of GOD’S FUTURE JUDGMENT OF ALL HUMANS AND THEIR SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS. That’s what Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur and haYom haGadol are all about (more on that in another blog on God’s Holy Day Observances).
So THAT is what APOCALYPTIC is all about, at least at the beginning. But at the end, it has to do with God establishing HIS social institutions on earth, resulting in a peaceful and prosperous world, with everybody living healthy, happy lives. NO MORE WAR. NO MORE POLITICS. NO MORE PROTECTION RACKET BUSINESSES. NO MORE PARTIALITY IN JUDGMENT. NO MORE POLITICAL OPPRESSION OF THE MASSES. NO MORE MORAL CORRUPTION AMONG THE COMMON PEOPLE. NO MORE CORPORATIONS. NO MORE PRIVACY VIOLATIONS. NO MORE SURVEILLANCE. NO MORE LYING AND CHEATING. NO MORE WASTE OF HARD-EARNED RESOURCES. NO MORE POLLUTION OF AIR, LAND AND WATERS. You get the picture. Apocalyptic is about God’s Judgment and God’s Kingdom REPLACING man’s judgment and man’s kingdom. So when James says “we [teachers of the law] will incur a stricter judgment”, he’s talking about THE FUTURE AGE, not the present age in which James and we live. More on that in a bit.
In that light, it’s obvious that James’ STRICTER JUDGMENT in chapter 3 is a WARNING TO ALL TEACHERS OF THE LAW, that is, TO ALL PUBLIC OFFICIALS AND RELATED PERSONS (who’s occupations revolve around “the law”), especially those who WRITE LAWS, those who LITIGATE THEM, those who ADJUDICATE THEM, and those who EXECUTE PUNISHMENT (the COPS!). If what I’m saying is true, then would you agree that James’ message in Chapter 3 is FAR REMOVED from the common man? Would you agree that this text addresses PUBLIC OFFICIALS, especially those who deal in the law? Just keep that in mind as being the CONTEXT of this blog entry and James Chapter 3.
In the next blog we’re going to take a look at the word STUMBLE. That’s where James gives these public critters THE BEAT-DOWN.
Reality Bible 