If we care about knowing the truth, and believe it is important that people know the truth, we ought to feel the weight of teaching others what the truth is. We ought to celebrate educating others, but we are also responsible for untruths we spread. It is easy to be mistaken, especially about facts and events that are distant from us in time and space. If we are humbled by our accountability before God and others for what we teach, we will teach and tweet and opine with great care.
Presuming to teach
1Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.
James 3:1-2
Teachers have the power to shape the minds and hearts of their students, and they should not take this responsibility lightly. As James says, teachers will be judged more strictly than others because they have a greater opportunity to do good or harm.
Teaching requires understanding the subject being taught, as well as the ability to communicate that material clearly and with the appropriate level of nuance and confidence.
Helpfully, learning and teaching are a lifelong journey. There is always more to learn, and teachers should never stop growing and developing their skills. As James says, “We all stumble in many ways.” Even the most educated and knowledgable make mistakes.
If you are considering teaching others, James’s words should give us pause. Teaching requires a willingness to commit to the hard work and dedication that doing so well requires.
Presuming to tweet
James also reminds us to be slow to speak.
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,
James 1:19
We’re likely to be more casual in the posts we share on social media. But here too, we are responsible for the ideas we multiply to those who trust us. In addition to ethical considerations we ought to observe, there are epistemic principles and tools we can use to evaluate the credibility of the claims we might repost. Humility chastens us, freeing us from over-confidence in our beliefs and from the need to jump on the bandwagon of a viral post.
Our words matter
Be careful about every word you utter. I believe that we presume to be a teacher anytime we share an opinion and that opinion has the potential of influencing someone else’s thinking or to affect their actions. And I cannot think of very many times when what we say cannot have an effect on someone else. Nothing we say can truly be considered trivial or inconsequential. Nearly all our words can affect what people think, can alter how others act, and can change what people feel about themselves, about others, and about God.
Dick Lentz on James 3:1 at As I See It Today