Even when preaching the Word of God does not soften and save and heal, it is not necessarily ineffective. This preaching of the Word may be doing God’s terrible work of judgment. It may be hardening people, and making their ears so dull that they will never want to hear again. . . . Don’t be cavalier in the hearing of God’s Word week after week. If it is not softening and saving and healing and bearing fruit, it is probably hardening and blinding and dulling.
John Piper, “Take Care How You Listen,” Part 1, Part 2
– quoted in Expository Listening, Ken Ramey.
In the context of James 3:1 – we don’t know which way it goes but is certainly concerning.