James does not mean to discourage “my brothers and sisters”
to become teachers, nor does he expect them to be perfect, he just wants them
to be aware that teachers (and preachers) are held to a higher standard by
virtue of the task they have taken on. I’ve had some great teachers in my life
but one of my favorites was Miss Kruse. She was my fifth grade teacher at Grace
Lutheran School in River Forest, Illinois and years later I had the great gift of
being her student teacher. She was a remarkable educator, well ahead of her
time, but more importantly she embodied this text. I imagine there were days
that were more difficult for her to be gracious and kind but as far as I could
tell her way of being was her way of saying. That is, you cannot simply decide
to be more disciplined in your speech while harboring anger and resentment in
your heart. In the same way springs of water draw from what is down deep and
not from what is on the surface. So if Miss Kruse is the bar for who should
presume to teach we should all look for some other work. But because Christ is
the well she drew from we can all tap into the same source and be as gracious
and kind, not that we will ever be as remarkable.
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