The letter of James concerns itself with the spiritual maturity of the believer. He has brought forth the truth that the maturity of the believer is seen in how they do three things:
1. Handle trials
2. Avoid temptation
3. Practice truth
The third chapter of the letter brings what initially seems to be an unrelated topic. But upon closer examination this admonishment to teachers is a continuation of the general warning in 1:19 about being “slow to speak” as well as the warning in 1:26 to “bridle the tongue” along with the warning in chapter 2:14-26 “about the substituting of mere words for works”.
The problem was compounded in the structure of the early church that was modeled after the synagogue where there were many unofficial teachers given wide latitude to speak. The Jews highly honored their instructors, and the word Rabbi means, “My Great One”. It was taught that should your parents and your Rabbi both be kidnapped, and a ransom be demanded that it ought to be the Rabbi who is set free first and it was considered a blessing to provide for the needs of a Rabbi even above your own family.
This was not an isolated problem in the early church that James writes about as the Apostle Paul had to bring it up in 1 Corinthians 3:4 when he mentions some of the congregation had a carnal affiliation with their teachers saying, “For when one says, I am of Paul, and another I am of Apollos, are you not carnal?” Such esteem was not only carnal for the church, but it also created in the hearts of those who were ambitious the desire to be a teacher where they could acquire public attention and be thought of as intelligent and a great speaker or teacher to be admired. Such ambition was fueled by the congregation’s esteem as they were seen as wise and having position and authority.
Those teachers fell into a trap where their ambition made them increasingly more arrogant as they sought the applause of men. These teachers that James warns were of the type that the more they taught others the less they could be taught by anyone other than themselves and seeing how great they were at teaching they were no longer in need to learn! They simply “studied to teach and not to learn”!