Bridled?
Are some held to stricter standards than others?
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no one can tame the tongue-- a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh. - James 3:1-12
In order for us to keep our whole body in check, we would need to be perfect, and nobody is perfect.
Perfection is unachievable.
So, too, it appears, is controlling our tongues. Being able to keep from starting a fire with our words is right up there with the impossible stuff we can't do.
James goes so far as to say that unlike all that exists in God's kingdom, we are unique in our ability to spew forth both good and bad from the same mouth.
No wonder he says we shouldn't be teachers.
I guess the key is knowing whether something said by someone is true or false. This is the challenge of our time.
We tend to agree with James deep down. Believing none of what someone says because we can prove one thing or more that they did say is wrong, is our preferred stance.
People are either all wrong or all right.
And since no one is perfect, forget about people being right.
More to come...