Insightful Musings on the Scriptures
by
Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67
Good afternoon, dear family and friends.
I've been out working today...running the sawmill. Just came in. After I launch this, I think I'll go out and work in the pole barn. No shortage of work around here.
I'm looking out the window at the big maple tree near the creek. It really is amazing to see how quickly those leaves develop. It seems like only a few days ago that they even appeared. The Master Creator sure has it all figured out.
Be good...and blessed.
Love, Dad/Ray
10 May 2010
Passage: James 2:1-3:13
Focus: “We who teach will be judged more strictly.” James 3:1
I will never forget hearing a great sermon from a high-ranking church leader one Sunday morning in the Solomon Islands, then to hear from an eyewitness that he was loaded onto his church-owned ship that very night dead drunk. I don’t really wish evil for him, but I have a good hunch that things will not go well with him in judgment, if he is unrepentant of this kind of sham. James warns here, “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that WE WHO TEACH WILL BE JUDGED MORE STRICTLY” (James 3:1). The King James Version ends up that verse saying “that we shall receive the greater condemnation.”
But before I allow myself to focus too intently on that man’s glaring folly, I need to recognize that my own main form of ministry is that of a teacher. That means that I had better pay close and careful attention to my own practical performance because actions do indeed speak louder than words. In fact, behavior is a clear indicator of what a man truly believes. I’d better be pretty sure that I practice what I preach…one who is not just a hearer or teller of the Word, but a doer as well (James 1:22-25). That’s a major point that James makes: “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith (or teaching) without deeds is dead” (James 2:26).
It is very good to pray as David did, asking for divine help to coordinate our speech and teachings with our hearts and resulting behavior. “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer” (Ps 19:14).
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”