Judging Teachers More Strictly

We have family Bible study every night, usually just a chapter a night since the attention span is so short for my younger two. My question concerns James 3:1. Am I held to a stricter judgment because we have Bible study as a family and I am teaching my children?

Q. The Lord has blessed me beyond all measure with my four wonderful children (ages 7 – 14) and my spectacular wife.

We have family Bible study every night, usually just a chapter a night since the attention span is so short for my younger two. We rotate each night between my children each one offering the opening prayer so that they learn that they are speaking to a real God and not a figure like Santa Claus. They are attentive, ask questions, and when I go over chapters we studied weeks before they remember what we have studied.

My question concerns James 3:1. Am I held to a stricter judgment because we have Bible study as a family and I am teaching my children, or is James speaking of a formal teaching role within the Body of Christ?

A. James 3:1 says, “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”

I believe that James was referring to people who accept a formal teaching role in the body of Christ. I also think that the Lord gifted some with supernatural abilities in this area to help them meet these requirements. (Ephes. 4:11-12)