Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such, we shall incur a stricter judgment.  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.  Now if we put the bits into the horses' mouthes so that they may obey us, we direct their entire body as well.  Behold, the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder, wherever the inclination of the pilot desires.  So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things.  Behold, how great a forest is set aflame by a small fire.

Why does James begin the "controlling the tongue" speech by commenting on teachers (and leaders)?


James makes a bold statement:  If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man.  Perfect?  In essence, James is giving credit to the tongue of man for all sin; or, at very least, that if you can control the tongue, you can avoid all imperfections. 

The question then becomes, can man control his own tongue?  We learned earlier that the words that come out of our mouth are simply reflections of what is in our heart.  James warned us to listen quickly, but be slow to speak.  Hoping that our hearts would be healed BEFORE the words moved. 

Now, James tells us that our words are like a small rudder of a ship, or a small fire, or a horses' bit - they will effect the largest of things.

What James is getting at is this:  Our words can really hurt, OR, they can really help.  Small words can move large objects - it is faith that moves mountains, it is the ant that moves the rubber plant, and it is the tear that moves the heart.

Our words should move our faith.