When I first started preaching, it was nearly impossible for me to step into a pulpit without hearing James 3:1 in my brain: “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.”
To be honest, that probably kicked off a lot of my anxiety around preaching to begin with. What if I say the wrong thing? What if I lie to people about God? What if someone’s soul is lost because of me?
A small amount of paranoia is healthy; a lot can be crippling. But regardless, that verse argues that anyone who stands as a teacher before others needs to take their charge seriously. Study. Be honest with the Text. Give the glory to Him!
The ten spies did none of those things. In fact, Numbers 14:36 says they did quite the opposite. Instead of encouraging the people to take the land, they made them “grumble.” That grumble turned into disbelief, which eventually became full-scale rebellion.
That’s why their punishment was so harsh. In the verse that follows, those ten men died as a result of their unfavorable report and inducing others to turn away from God. While not talking about the spies specifically, Psalm 106:24 says that the people “despised the pleasant land.”
Why did they despise it? Because the ten spies told them to!
Some would argue the swift death of the spies was just a little too extreme. Maybe they didn’t mean to cause panic? Maybe they just wanted to be cautious?
If so, that’s certainly not how God saw it. Their words created a full 180 back to Egypt, and they never seemed to stop it. Caleb and Joshua tried to intervene, but that was it.
Those of us that speak in public need to take our words seriously. As teachers, we may think that some of what we say is meaningless, but the listener doesn’t know that. And then, when they rightfully call us out for our error, the last thing we need to do is take the coward’s way out and whine about being “misunderstood” or “misinterpreted.”
You said it. Now defend it. Or acknowledge it was wrong and fix it.
If we refuse to watch our mouth, we had better work twice as hard after the fact to clear up any confusion.
These spies had the opportunity to correct what they said, to make clear their stance on Canaan, and they chose not to take it. They could’ve worded their report to give the people the reality of the situation while still keeping faith in the center, but they didn’t.
Instead, they trafficked in fear and lies and paid the price. While hopefully that’s not an immediate threat for anyone who teaches today, it will be something that we deal with eventually. And I don’t think God will be any more pleased with people today who do the same.
