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J. Vernon McGee · Citado em PreceptAustin
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Vernon McGee has a pithy comment regarding the "fiery" judgment in 1 Cor 3:13-15 -- "I like to put it like this: there are going to be some people in heaven who will be there because their foundation is Christ but who will smell as if they had been bought at a fire sale! Everything they ever did will have gone up in smoke. They will not receive a reward for their works." Stricter judgment - Clearly this teaches that there will be varying degrees of judgment at the Judgment Seat of Christ (some stricter, some less strict). Curtis Vaughan: The office of teacher offered a respect, a prominence, and an authority which made some men hanker after it. Don't, says James. Think not so much of its outward privileges as of its immense responsibilities under God. Be more concerned about your fitness for teaching than with the external trappings of the office. (James: Bible Study Commentary - Page 66) One can see a sad example in Moses, the great teacher of Israel, who received a severe judgment Dan McCartney feels that "The potential error is, however, not so much doctrinal as moral. Jesus said that teachers who “devour widows’ houses” would receive greater judgment (Mark 12:40). Similarly, teachers who slander, who make reckless accusations or verbal attacks, who grumble and quarrel (cf. 4:1; 5:9) will naturally cause greater damage to the community by virtue of their position and implicit authority than those who are not teachers. It is also consequent upon their wider influence that they will be judged more strictly: “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required” (Luke 12:48b NASB). One can see a sad example in Moses, the great teacher of Israel, who received a severe judgment when he failed to do exactly as he was told, striking the rock instead of speaking to it (Nu 20:11–12). Hence, James’s command that few should be teachers stands as a warning that the vocation of a teacher is dangerous. (James Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament) John
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Vernon McGee has a number of witty sayings about the tongue... James has already indicated that he was going to come to this subject. He said back in James 1:26 "If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain." He also said, "let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak" (James 1:19). You have two ears, and God gave them to you so that you can hear twice as much as you can say. The tongue is the most dangerous weapon in the world. It is more deadly than the atom bomb, but no careful inspection is made of it. Some wag made the statement that it was a miracle in Balaam's day for a donkey to speak, but today it is a miracle when he keeps quiet. Someone else pointed out that it takes a baby two years to learn to talk and fifty years to learn to keep his mouth shut. The story is told of a man who had been fishing out on a pier for several hours and had not caught anything. As two women walked out on the pier, he finally pulled in a fish. It wasn't a very large fish, and one of these two women took it upon herself to rebuke this man: "Aren't you ashamed of yourself for so cruelly catching this poor little fish?" And the man, without even looking up, because he was a little discouraged anyway, said, "Maybe you are right, lady, but if the fish had kept his mouth shut he wouldn't have been caught." Another has expressed it this way: If your lips would keep from slips, Five things to observe with care: To whom you speak, of whom you speak, And how, and when, and where. -- Author unknown The importance of the tongue has been expressed in many different ways, and practically every nation has had something to say about it. I read this in Spurgeon's "Salt Cellars" years ago: "The boneless tongue, so small and weak, Can crush and kill, " declared the Greek. "The tongue destroys a greater hoard, The Turk asserts, "than does the sword." A Persian proverb wisely saith, "A lengthy tongue -- an early death"; Or sometimes takes this form instead, "Don't let your tongue cut off your head." "The tongue can speak a word whose speed," The Chinese say, "outstrips the steed"; While Arab sages this impart, "The tongue's great storehouse is the heart." From Hebrew wit this maxim sprung, "Though feet should slip, ne'er let the tongue." The sacred writer crowns the whole, "Who keeps his tongue doth keep his soul!" All of these sayings are very wise. I believe fervently that the most dangerous thing in the world is the tongue. I think the church is more harmed by the termites within than by the woodpeckers on the outside. Someone has put it like this: "Thou art master of the unspoken word, but the spoken word is master of you." In other words, my friend, once you have said it, it is beyond your control. (Thru The Bible) ILLUSTRATION - Years ago I visited a college friend at his home. On campus we had enjoyed a significant sharing of personal values and philosophies, much of it through discussion of literature, history and music. When we met at his home, he wanted me to hear a certain Mahler symphony that expressed some of his aspirations toward the attainment of love and peace. We listened together in silent pleasure, caught up in the music and our high ideals—until, at a particularly moving point in the symphony, my friend's mother broke the spell by entering the room and asking a mundane question about supper. Her innocent interruption received a fierce verbal rebuke from her son. How dare she spoil the exquisite music! Startled and embarrassed, she retreated from the room, but the damage to our mood had been done. The damage to our illusions had also been done. My friend and I talked about the incident. What good were ideals of love and aspirations to "self-actualization" if we could not control our tongues enough to speak respectfully to other human beings? The spirituality was only a feeling, an illusion, if it could not purify our behavior in the practical( matter of what we said. (IVP New Testament Commentary Series – James) The teacher's tongue is the tool of their trade, and teachers must master this tool! "A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over." Benjamin Franklin A small slip of the tongue can launch a great avalanche of destruction! All of us may learn a cultural lesson from the Chinese people. They have the custom of not answering a speaker until he is completely finished speaking. They think that it is discourteous to reply immediately, for a rash reply indicates a lack of thinking and poor judgment. - Simon Kistemaker TEACHERS' MISTAKES - In New Testament times, many teachers failed and misused their positions of responsibility. Some of the teachers: l Introduced Judaism, Mosaic laws, and circumcision (Acts 15:24), weakening the gospel truth that we are saved by grace alone l Lived in contradiction to what they taught (Romans 2:17-29) l Taught before they knew anything themselves (1 Timothy 1:6-7) l Catered to people's "itching ears" (2 Timothy 4:3) WHAT ARE MY MOTIVES FOR BEING A TEACHER? Those who take on teaching roles should ask themselves the following questions as a way of evaluating their fitness to teach: Am I teaching as an act of service? Am I trying to advance my own status or position in the church? Am I teaching to discharge a duty? Christian teachers need to be primarily models of integrity and secondarily instructors of content; therefore, they should submit both their lives and their words to God's scrutiny. Their teaching must not be frivolous or selfish. Teachers should teach God's truth, not merely their own opinions. If we teach others, we must make sure that our lives do not contradict what we teach. (Bruce Barton Life Application Bible Commentary James - Page 73) William
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Vernon McGee - Remember the maid who said to Simon Peter, "...thy speech betrayeth thee" (Matt. 26:73) -- he could not deny that he was from Galilee. Your speech tells who you are; your tongue gives you away. It tells where you came from. It tells whether you are ignorant or educated, cultured or crude, whether you are clean or unclean, whether you are vulgar or refined, whether you are a believer or a blasphemer, whether you are a Christian or a non-Christian, whether you are guilty or not guilty. My friend, I am of the opinion that if you had a tape-recorded message of everything you have said this past month, you would not want the world to hear it. (Thru the Bible: The Epistle of James)
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Vernon McGee - As someone has said, "The most untamable thing in the world has its den just behind the teeth." That's one little animal which no zoo has in captivity, no circus can make it perform, no man can tame it. Only a regenerate tongue in a redeemed body, a tongue that God has tamed, can be used for Him. (Thru The Bible) But - Term of contrast. Sad contrast between wild animals that can be tamed and mankind's wild tongue which cannot be tamed. Tasker quips that "man has lost dominion over himself." Supposedly, he had it in the Garden of Eden before sin entered the world, but not thereafter.
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Vernon McGee - When a man can sing like an angel on Sunday and then talk like a demon during the week -- you label him as you want to -- the Bible calls that man a hypocrite. (Thru the Bible Vol. 53: The Epistles James) For fallen men to curse is NATURAL, but for fallen men to bless is SUPERNATURAL! You must be born again in order to bless in those circumstances and situations in which you formerly would curse. THE HOLY ONE BLESSED IS HE Bruce Barton - "The Holy One, Blessed is He" is one of the most frequent descriptions of God in rabbinic literature. The Eighteen Benedictions, a liturgical formula used daily by righteous Jews, concluded each of its parts with the blessing of God." (James - Page 74) NOTE - The typical weekday Amidah actually consists of nineteen blessings, though it originally had eighteen (hence the alternative name Shemoneh Esreh, meaning "Eighteen"). And since James was writing to Jewish believers, they would be very familiar with these traditional Jewish blessings to God. Imagine them walking out of the place of worship and encountering a situation that angered them (someone pulls in front of you on the freeway-- that never happens to you after Sunday worship does it?) and out of their mouth that had just blessed God came vile curse words! Perhaps we would do well as we leave the worship service after blessing God to pray "God by Your Spirit control my tongue the rest of this Lord's day and even the rest of this week, all for Your glory and honor. Amen") R Kent