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James, Language, Teaching

James 3:1-12 – Unbridled teachers of truth

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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.

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This is the Epistle selection from the Episcopal Lectionary for the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B 2018. In the numbering system that lists each Sunday in an ordinal fashion, this Sunday is referred to as Proper 19. It will next be read aloud in an Episcopal church by a reader on Sunday September 16, 2018. It is important because James told how Christianity spread rapidly through Apostles being sent out as teachers, with God-given tongues of fire.

Twice in the verses of this selected reading, James wrote “adelphoi,” which means “brothers.” There are 145 occurrences of this usage in all the New Testament. While it is easy to stick one’s Big Brained head in the sand and deny “brothers” actually means “brothers,” and that must be understood, the modern tendency is to screw the Holy Spirit inspired writers of those books and act as god almighty (lower case purposefully written, to denote the smallness of this) and bless all womankind by changing the text to say, “brothers and sisters.”  That is missing the purpose of “brothers” being written.

The purpose is for an Apostle to address ALL OTHER APOSTLES as the sons of God (therefore, “brothers” in the name of Jesus Christ). This, undoubtedly included women, and the female Apostles back in the days of James knew that. Therefore, changing holy text for political correctness today speaks loudly as saying, “There are no longer any Apostles, so it is best not to piss off the women here, since that is where all the church’s donations come from.”

Re-painting the Last Supper to meet new standards of acceptance.

That is not a good place to be!

Please write that down somewhere and memorize it. “Brothers” is like me saying “married to God” and Christians are “the wives of God.” That has absolutely nothing to do with human sexuality, so one’s genitalia are inconsequential. A wife to God becomes completely subservient to the husband’s commands. James meant no harm to the female of Judaism and they who were truly Christian (reborn as Jesus Christ – a male Spirit) took no offense.  I imagine some version of political correctness existed in 30 A.D., but James was not writing to meet their needs.

This is the message James began this reading with: “Not many of you should become teachers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” It implies that Apostles would rather not be a male and refer to other males as the wives of God, just like they would shy away from calling women Christians “brothers.” It becomes like the chorus of a Dave Matthews song: So much to say.

Actually, the literal translation of verse one says, “Not often teachers become  ,  brothers ourselves  ,  knowing what greater judgment we will receive  .” This is not a statement by James that Apostles “should not become teachers,” based on the “condemnations that will come,” as lawsuits and sentences, but quite the opposite. Apostles must teach, so there is no choice in the matter. Few, however, would be recognized as official “rabbis” by the Jewish communities. Instead of expectations of wearing special robes and being invited to speak in beautiful synagogues, Apostles would be called to teach wherever God would open their mouths, because a seeker of truth was near.

When James then clarified this by stating, “For all of us make many mistakes,” it means that that it is impossible for God to err, and His Son will never speak anything but the truth. What James was pointing out was the imperfection that is the human form of an Apostle, which makes all of them come from a background of mistakes (i.e.: sinners). God does not marry wives and expect them to become Him reborn. God does not fill the mouths of His wives that bear His Son in another human body at all times. Apostles will return to being normal human beings when they are not teaching for the Father, which lets them all know just how blessed they are to be married to God. His “greater judgment” will keep the mistakes minimal and the ones that sneak in from time to time will be forgiven through penitence.

Still, God and Christ are perfect.  They come to help those who make mistakes.

James then used the analogy of a bridle in a horse’s mouth, which says that God does not control the human brains and force humans to do anything against their will.

So, if everyone agrees, this will be the bridle that will guide you.

As such, true Christians are not made to preach God’s Word as beasts of burden. True Christians are not tamed by God, having been caught unwillingly, corralled in schools of teaching, and then saddled with the burden of riding children around in circles all day long, before being given a bale of hay to munch on.

Apostles want God to lead their lives.  They find great joy arises within them when they experience God flowing through their being, speaking the words of Jesus Christ through their lips.  Apostles have never been trained in the meanings of Scripture they speak, yet they take delight in completely understanding everything coming out of their mouths.

Likewise, James used the analogy of a ship, which are mechanical devices built by man to serve commercial needs. The larger a ship is the more commerce it allows.  All ships have relatively small rudders, which are controlled by just one man. Apostles are not built and used as vehicles of transport that are to be piloted by God. As to size, human beings can deliver the messages of God in small packages, so the size of the Christian (or the human gender) is unimportant. The pilot of a Christian is greater than the size of the Christian, as God is immeasurable. The rudder being steered is Jesus Christ.  Combined, they act to guide where the ship goes.  Still, the ship itself is made for a worldly existence and steered by the wrong pilot can sink on unseen rocks.

Oooops.

When James wrote, “the tongue is a fire,” which has to be recognized as the story in Acts of the first Apostles having the Holy Spirit descend upon them. They began to speak automatically, in foreign languages they had never been taught. The words that came out of their mouths were then spread to listening pilgrims in Jerusalem.  Just as suddenly, three thousand believers became Apostles set afire with the Holy Spirit. They were like a forest “set ablaze by a small fire” of twelve.

The “fire” is the truth of the Word, from which comes the light and warmth that Scripture contains. The Holy Bible, as was the Torah then, is a forest of words that the Holy Spirit can set ablaze in the teacher each Apostles holds within – Jesus Christ.  Anyone can navigate the words on a page, but it takes an higher power to ignite one to speak in tongues of fire.

The translation that reads, “The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity” is wrong and confusing. Verse six literally begins by stating: “And the tongue afire  ,  the world that is unrighteous  .” That says the Holy Spirit speaks the truth to the unrighteous so they can hear the truth be told. The verse then continues to state: “The tongue is set among the members of us  ,  people defiling all the body  ,  and setting on fire the course this of lineage  ,  and set on fire by what is hell  .”

Whoever can give a blessing to mass murder must daily live in a fiery hell of existence.

This series of segments says (paraphrasing): Apostles are given tongues of fire to go forth into a world that is filled with iniquities, one not knowing the truth of the Word. Apostles of God who go forth and speak the truth are set among other Apostles who support those ministries. Together, they open the eyes of those who are defiling their bodies and thus their souls, offering them the cleansing of the Holy Spirit’s baptism by spiritual fire. Apostles speak the truth so the course of their souls can be changed from sinner to Saint, becoming part of the “brothers” of Jesus Christ. The alternative is to remain in the fiery hell their souls are already amidst.

When James wrote, “no one can tame the tongue– a restless evil, full of deadly poison,” the implication is that the “tongue” is the body part that inner spirits love to gain control over. This is confirming what Jesus told the Pharisees, who complained about his disciples not following the laws of handwashing. When Jesus said, “What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them” (Matthew 15:11) the “tongue” is the member that speaks for what controls one’s soul.  Inner demons use the tongue to be defiled by deadly poison.

James is then saying that God comes from the “tongues” set afire in His Apostles, acting as a counter to the “restless evil” that controls the unrighteous. The “deadly poison” they spew is the death sentence they have set upon their own souls.  That poison is from self-ego, doing self-harm, more than the damage they could possibly do to anyone else already mortally dead. The “tongues” of Apostles is then the remedy that offers them the cure for their poison.

This opposition of tongues speaking for inner controlling forces is then stated by James as: “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.”

This makes better sense when one realizes the pause (a comma) after “and we curse those [men],” where the translation omits the word “men” or “others” (from “anthrōpous“).   As such, the focus is on the “men” cursed, as  “those” who are unrighteous, led by “a restless evil.” Following that pause, “those” cursed are the ones “who are made in the likeness of God,” as false shepherds. Their “resemblances” (from “homoiōsin“) of holiness are the robes they wear that advertise them as holy teachers; but their tongues say otherwise. Therefore, it is from those mouths that comes forth both blessings and curses.

James then addressed his fellow “brothers,” saying this split personality ought not to be. It confuses those who are seeking the truth, when the message they teach is: “Do as I say, not as I do.”

Such contradiction was then stated as comparisons of impossibility, when James wrote, “Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? Can a fig tree, yield olives, or a grapevine figs?”  The obvious answer says, “No more can salt water yield fresh.”

It must be grasped that James was not saying Apostles speak in such contradictory terms; as the message is how to tell those who speak the truth of God and those who speak as if in possession of intellectual prowess.  The focus was placed on those who are bad teachers.

As the Epistle selection for the seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own personal ministry for the LORD should be underway – one’s tongue is on fire with the truth of God – the message here is how to measure the impact of teachers (rabbis, pastors, priests, ministers, and preachers). True teachers have tongues of fire that ignite the passion of the Holy Spirit in those who hear them speak. True teachers spread a forest fire of faith that can only be stopped by a lack of seekers of truth. Others are those who speak out of both sides of their mouths, blessing those who sin and condemning those who do not like those blessings.

The spread of Christianity has turned from a forest fire of faith to sporadic burning embers here and there.

Gone are the days when twelve men could stand before a flood of religious pilgrims and speak the truth in such a way that many lives were instantly changed. The seekers of truth have changed into cults of personality worship. We give our blessings to politicians that then go condemn whole swaths of citizenry, those innocent beings that do not swear allegiance to the same philosophies.  The tendency now is to want the laws changed and to demand freedom be given … to allow the masses to determine what should be held near and dear. Today there is a restless evil that prevails.

Rather than be bridled by the Laws of Moses, our government has set many free to roam as wild horses, while jamming the bridle of government laws into the mouths of those broken and tamed.  Many are made the beasts of burden to laws that call the minority’s rights superior to the majority’s reasoning, based on religion having been the way of the land.

Rather than be a ship built for a specific purpose and given pre-planned routes of transportation, we have surgically removed the rudder of Christianity from Western nations.  Now, what was expected has become chaos.  The laws of nations cause many to circle aimlessly and carelessly steer on to collision courses, with no pilots capable of steering the ship to safety.

We now bless iniquity and curse goodness.  What was known is questionable.  What was up is now down.  What was elemental has become complicated.

Video of song Elemental

This Epistle focuses on teaching, accompanying two Old Testament readings that tell of the goddess of wisdom and marriage to the Lord God as the influences that teach the teachers. Apostles choose the later, while all others choose the former. This leads into a Gospel lesson from Mark, where Jesus taught of the responsibility of following in his footsteps. James, the brother of Jesus, who was reborn as Jesus Christ, becoming a brother to all Apostles, knew firsthand the difference between acting holy and being righteous. His words still speak loudly today.

We all are born human, thus we all make mistakes. No one is going to bridle us with laws that will transform the flawed into perfection. Still, we know that God is perfection. It is then up to each individual to give of themselves to God, requesting that He become one with him or her, so that God’s perfection can be a fire renewed on the earthly plane.

The perfection that comes from a tongue of fire is Jesus Christ. God will not force His Son upon anyone. To be an Apostle of Christ, one must desire God first and foremost in one’s life.

James, Language, Teaching

James 3:1-12 – Being a teacher of faith

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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.

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This is the Epistle reading selection to be read aloud on the sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 19], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. This will be preceded by a variety of readings, based on Track 1 and Track 2 pairings of Old Testament and Psalms, based on the track preselected by a church for Year B. If track 1 is to be read, it will place focus on Proverbs 7, where Solomon wrote, “I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when panic strikes you.” If Track 2 is the path for that church year, then the focus will be placed on Isaiah, who wrote, “I did not hide my face from insult and spitting.” All will accompany the Gospel selection from Mark, where Jesus asked his disciples, “But who do you say that I am?”

I wrote about this reading the last time it came up in the lectionary cycle, in 2018. It can be read by searching this site. I offered some opinions then that are still valid today; so, I welcome all to read those views and compare them to the additional views I now offer. Because Scripture can mean many things, all true, I want to focus on some truths that I did not shine light on three years ago.

In 2018, I placed focus on the need to look deeper into the translations that have become English paraphrases that mislead. That is always a problem that needs to be addressed, as Scripture is divine language that is freer to express than the English language allows. Still, with my observations of 2018 addressing that need, I want to focus solely now on the content of James’ words. In that, “Not many of you should become teachers” is the theme throughout this selection. His adding, “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing,” which “ought not to be so,” is then relative to Jewish “teachers,” not everyone in the world. I will now speak about what that means (in my humble opinion).

The Greek word written by James that has been translated as “teachers” is “didaskaloi.” In the singular, “didaskalos” means, “an instructor” (Strong’s Definition), implying “a teacher, or master” (Strong’s Usage). According to HELPS Word-studies, this is written:

“didáskalos (a masculine noun derived from 1321 /didáskō, “to teach”) – a teacher, an instructor acknowledged for their mastery in their field of learning; in Scripture, a Bible teacher, competent in theology.”

From this, James – a devout Jew, whose ministry was directed wholly on Jews rather than Gentiles – wrote the Greek equivalent to what Jews today (and to some degree then) call some “rabbi.” Therefore, the point of his adding what “ought not to be so” is not focused on normal speech, from normal teaching, but that of being a “master” of the meaning of Scripture.

In the Wikipedia article entitled “Rabbi,” which is worth reading, they say the term “rabbi” was not used prior to the first century CE. The original intent was rooted in “raising” the children to be “great” in mastery of the tenets of servitude to Yahweh. This meant the teaching of the children was relative to the role of the “father.” This should be seen as why priests of Catholicism take on the name “Father,” as it is not a statement of equality to Yahweh [THE FATHER], but a statement of “teacher of children.” * [ see footnote] Thus, the title “rabbi” took on that same meaning; and, because the title was still new when James wrote his Epistle, he used the word “teacher” to refer to those who were entrusted to teach Mosaic Law to the children of Israel.

This understanding then allows one to see that James wrote, “we who teach will be judged with greater strictness” as a statement about the judgment of Yahweh. Thus, when James wrote, “all of us make many mistakes,” those “mistakes” [the Greek “ptaiomen” was written, meaning “stumbles”] are references to the sins and transgressions of the “teachers,” who were saying one thing, but doing another. James was not referring to simply “mistakes” that come from reading a law of Moses and teaching it meant one thing, when it would later be found out popular opinion changed and said it meant another. The mistakes of “teachers,” as “fathers” setting the examples of the Law for their children to follow, were relative to being an adulterer or murderer (for examples), while teaching, “Do not do that.” Teaching demands practicing what one preaches – leading by example.

This means that control of how one acts, more than the control of what one says, is the purpose behind James using the parallels of a bridle on a horse-mule and a rudder on a boat. In both cases, the animal and boat become metaphor for the way one proceeds in life. One is either aimless or aimed. As far as all the talk goes, a farmer will perfectly plan how to plough a field or make a quick long-distant journey, just as a sea captain will set a course from one port to another, planning to take the shortest route possible. Those plans are parallel to “teaching” the Word of Yahweh, as rote memorization of Mosaic Laws; but the problem is always the reality of what happens once one sets out to do that which has been planned. Life becomes the horse-mule and the boat, which is completely ignorant of any planning. Life goes where it wants, unless it is controlled. Those controls are then why a bridle and a rudder become absolutely necessary – not optional attachments.

By understanding this, James was saying the controls that must be added to a human being – in particular a Jew who claims to have belief in Yahweh, the One God of Israel – is divine possession by Yahweh. That can only come from one’s love of Yahweh leading a soul to do the works that attract a divine proposal for marriage, until one has proved its soul worthy to be a bride and be called into the most holy of all matrimony. In that word – “matrimony” – the root means a bride is called to become a mother, which makes all bridesmaids of Yahweh be feminine [Yahweh is the Father, thus masculine], who receive His Spirit and give birth to the Son, which means the resurrection of Jesus’ soul within one’s being [i.e.: soul]. James was the brother of Jesus, sharing the same mother; but James was not a strong supporter of Jesus during his ministry. It was after Jesus died and resurrected and stayed with his disciples for forty days that James fell in love with Yahweh, married Him, and then became Jesus reborn into his flesh. James added Jesus to his ‘vehicle,’ meaning James ceased being aimless, as Jesus then directed him according to God’s plans.

When James had his divine bridle-rudder installed within his soul, he knew the truth behind his words: “the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.” The Greek word “glossa” not only translates as “tongue,” but also as “a language, a nation (usually distinguished by their speech).” (Strong’s Usage) Because all Jews allowed into the synagogues could speak [the mutes were outcast as sinners], they all had bridles-rudders self-installed that led their course of action. James ceased letting his “tongue” be about what James was led by the world to do. Instead, James became led by the Spirit of Jesus to be righteous AND to speak magnificently about all the Spirit of Jesus had led him to understand and do. Others, unfortunately, bragged about how much money they made from teaching, while having nothing to show for their words other than material things.

When James was then led to write, “the tongue is a fire,” that spoke of how great the effects of what one says [about one’s beliefs, or religion] can have on others [of the same beliefs, or religion]. A few good words can enflame the heart of another and make he or she burn with desire to please Yahweh. On the other hand, a few bad words can act as the go-ahead to sin and have no worry about the consequences. For those who cannot teach the truth that leads others to marry their souls to Yahweh, James wrote: “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.” That says no human being can lead others to Yahweh, if that one’s soul has never been in love with Him and brought forth His Son in their own flesh. The Law being written on scrolls cannot make man nor beast do anything that isn’t natural; and, man is naturally inclined to sin. Thus, to have the tongue of a teacher [a “father”], one needs to have been taught to teach first; and, a teacher [“father’] sets a fire that can often be more destructive than beneficial.

It was about the failures demonstrated by those who were the elite of Jerusalem – the Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, and high priests – that caused James to write: “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.” They were the epitome of the axiom: “Do what I say, not what I do.” Those who forgave those of stature [for a sizable donation to the cause], but condemned those who did the same sins, but could not afford to buy the judges, they were the ones who spoke out of two sides of the same mouth. The native Americans called that “speaking with a forked tongue.”

When James used the metaphor of “fresh and brackish water,” fig trees yielding olives and grapevines bearing figs, he was saying a human being is a soul alone in a body of flesh that can only do what the world leads the body of flesh to do. The only way to stop doing wrong and do right is to submit one’s soul to Yahweh in marriage, which means the sacrifice of self-will and self-ego, so one’s soul-flesh is no longer influenced by worldly things. The well of only fresh water is the eternal water of Jesus in one’s soul. The presence of Jesus forbids any brackish water from ever entering the well, which springs from the mouth. The rebirth of Jesus means one can only bear the fruit of the truth of Yahweh, the Father.

As a reading selected to be read aloud on the sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own ministry to Yahweh should already be well underway, the lesson is clearly to stop being rudderless or stop being led by natural, knee-jerk reactions. It is impossible to be righteous without Yahweh’s Spirit within one’s being. It is impossible to do the acts of faith without having been reborn in the name of Jesus, as the Christ resurrected. It is impossible to pretend to “teach the children” how to marry their souls to Yahweh, when one’s soul has never known that love.

James had been a believer of Yahweh, as a devout Jew; but he was one who saw Jesus with disdain. One needs to see oneself as James, before he became Jesus reborn. James was speaking in this selection about knowing himself, before his soul married Yahweh and Jesus became resurrected with his soul. He had been a teacher with a poor education. That means all the brackish water and all the condemnation that had flown from his mouth hole before James became Jesus, is no different that the ‘garbage in, garbage out’ teachings of all Christian readers of his Epistle. The lesson is to set the hearts of others on fire for Yahweh, not to burn in hell for spreading the fire of lies. To do that, one has to have one’s own heart be set on fire by Yahweh.

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* With the advent of women’s lib in Christian ministry, there should be not change in this aspect of “fathering,” relative to Scripture. The traditional role of “father” is as disciplinarian, such that strict adherence to that taught must be maintained. “Mothering” is not the equal to that, as a mother kisses booboos and makes them well, forgiving lots of crap until pushed to the limits, saying, “Wait until your father gets home.” A “mother” is the opposite of a “father,” as the generality of women is to be emotional, such that being strict is not their forte.
Female priests are proving to be too emotionally weak to make principles be strongly enforced. They act as if hugging the world will make all sins go away. It will not. Men and women should teach the same principles, thus human gender should not be a “teacher of children religious studies.”

I am not in favor of female priests being called “Mother,” as sexual gender is not a value that should receive attention. From what I have heard about the nuns in parochial schools, they used rulers under the axiom: spare the rod, spoil the child. That is a teacher that is “fatherly.” Since Roman Catholic male priests have been found (too many times) not acting “fatherly,” as far as being a “teacher of children,” they should be stripped of the title of “father.” All who cannot teach (the point of what James is writing in this selection) need to go by Mr., Ms., or Hired Hand, like any other regular school teacher.