What does it mean when James says that teachers will face “a stricter judgment”? Most people interpret that to mean that teachers are held to a higher standard than “ordinary” Christians, but if you think about it a little bit, there are major problems with that idea.
First problem: the idea that there are two different moral standards in Christianity is fundamentally incoherent. Jesus is the standard; every Christian is called to be like Him. So if every Christian is already called to be like Jesus, who is the perfect moral standard, what is this allegedly higher standard teachers are supposed to reach? Or are we going the other way and saying that “ordinary” Christians don’t really have to be all that much like Jesus, but teachers actually do?
Second problem: the idea that there are two different standards doesn’t really make sense in James. James’ own summary of the book is in 1:19-20: “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” The “swift to hear” section starts in 1:21 and runs through chapter 2. The “slow to speak” section is chapter 3. The “slow to wrath” section begins with chapter 4 and runs into 5.
All three of these sections lay out demands that James makes of “every man.”
Notice that James doesn’t say “people will hold you to a higher standard,” but he also doesn’t say “God will hold you to a higher standard.” What he does say is that the tongue is particularly difficult to control and particularly dangerous when it gets out of hand.
So “stricter judgment” in this context doesn’t actually seem to mean that teachers are meeting a “higher standard;” it means they’re called into an arena where failure is particularly likely and consequential. The teacher’s job is to go into a California forest in the third straight year of drought and host a bonfire. There’s a lot that can go really badly, and when it does, we are judged for it. The judgment will be stricter for us because we mess up more than carpenters do, and when we mess up, we do more damage.
Is this stricter judgment from men, or from God? Yes! As a teacher, I’ve certainly faced consequences from men when I’ve screwed up. No doubt there will be conversations on the last day as well.
Posted by Tim Nichols 
Full Contact Christianity 