letting down others part 3

james 3:1 "not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we will be judged more strictly."

last week i focused on different people in the ministry, whom i have seen fall. some of them i know personally. others i only recognize the name. these people were held to higher standards because of the positions that each of them held. each of them were teachers in their own way whether they were a prof, pastor or denominational official. we as humans look up to them. they are highly regarded because of what they have been able to accomplish in their daily task of life.

what i want to refer to in the rest of this article is why they are held so highly.

they are people in positions that people look up to them. and when one looks up to you, you are able to influence them. this influence will not only affect their lives but also the lives that these others come into contact with.

i am a youth pastor, so between 1 and 3 times a week i will speak to different people. i enjoy this time where i can challenge people to think out their views and also demonstrate my own. if i use this to speak my own personal opinions, preach heresy of some sort and through this one of my teens falls or it hinders their own walk than i am the one at fault. in james 3 where i took this passage we are influencers because of the words that we speak. we are able to help steer them with like bits with a horse or a rudder from a ship. our tongues are so small but effectively influence those around us.

1 Corinthians 10:32-33a "do not cause any one to stumble... even as i try to please everybody in every way"

i hope most of you have read this verse. this verse shows the freedom that we have when we are a believer in Christ. He allows us to do and get away with a lot of different things. but one with influence is put in more situations where he can stumble and therefore cause others to stumble as well. when we as teachers of the law only speak the word and then do not act on them someone is bound to find out and might stumble because of our actions.

paul continues to write in the following verse 34 to "follow my example, as i follow the example of Christ." unfortunately pastors fall and their influence on other people will effect those that look up to them because they have followed the pastors example. the interesting thing is that there can be times in a pastors life where they are not following Christ the way they should.

i wonder if for these reasons that pastors, teachers, etc. because of their influence if they are not attacked more by satan than the christians not involved in full time ministry. just a thought.
we need to check ourselves. we need to have times for accountability and continue our own relationship with Christ. most who have fallen have let these three things slide. we will be attacked more, tempted more, and therefore have more chances to fall. however there are many reasons why we need to continue perservering. one of them being not to let others down there by hindering their relationship with Christ. and even though we will be tempted there will always be a way out of that temptation. 1 Cor 10:13