On the Spot!

I'm certain I'm going to say, "yes" with sweaty palms and naive enthusiasm, but I can't make such a decision without being admonished and strengthened by the Word.

My BCM pastor asked me if I would be a small group leader next year; I guess I look pretty good for the job, as I'm very consistent in my BCM attendence, I'm a currently a co-leader (basically, assitant), I was a counselor for youth and kids at a Christian camp, and I've led Bible studies before with varying degress of success.

All this logic doesn't change the fact that the idea of being a spiritual leader for young women both excites and terrifies me.

I checked James 3--a cautioning statement for spritual teachers, and I'm freaked out, first of all, because I'm a woefully imperfect woman, who often says the wrong thing, and James, who was the half-brother of Jesus Christ, for crying out loud, is writing about taming the tongue.

First of all, I have to digress here. My own uncle has used me in his sermons on this very passage. Used me as an example of what not to say. This is why I can never show up at his church! ;-)

The story he tells is about my grandfather's (his father) visitation. We're standing in line, getting ready to let people in, and I keep checking my phone, because I'm expecting a friend of mine to call for directions. My aunt is confused, and asks me, "Why do you need your phone, Hillary? Who're you gonna call?"

And without missing a beat (at my own grandfather's visitation, where his coffin was feet away from me) I answered, "Ghostbusters."

I know. Woefully inappropriate. I earned a few nervous chuckles from my family and many slack-jawed stares.

And my uncle uses me as the example on taming the tongue, what not to say! And I'm to presume to be a Bible study teacher??! I can't even keep my mouth shut at a funeral!

Here's the full context of the passage, James 3:1-12, (The Message) courtesy of BibleGateway.com.

1-2Don't be in any rush to become a teacher, my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards. And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you'd have a perfect person, in perfect control of life.
3-5A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!
5-6It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.
7-10This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can't tame a tongue—it's never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!
10-12My friends, this can't go on. A spring doesn't gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don't bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don't bear apples, do they? You're not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?

This frightens me. Teachers are held to a higher standard. And yet, I know, I know I'm going to tell my BCM pastor yes, because even though I'm terrified, the idea of investing in the young women around me is exciting. And even though, I "get it wrong nearly every time I open my mouth", I am comforted by this statement:

2 Corinthians 12:9: But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

So, yes. I'll do it. :-)