19 Remember this, my dear friends! Everyone must be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to become angry.
20 Human anger does not achieve God's righteous purpose.
Up to now: James focuses on tests of true believers & their response to trials and temptations. James writes in this section, 1:19-25; a response to the truth as revealed in the Bible, not in opposition but amplification. He begins by focusing on human anger, and how often it gets us into trouble…
Vs. 19 - "Remember this, my dear friends! Everyone must be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to become angry." - Many of the disagreements I have with my wife involve either one or both of us not listening to what the other person is saying. We have formed in our minds what to say or to be done, and don’t pay attention to their words.
“Quick” - Listen first, react later.
"Slow " - Stop and think before you answer or act. It is difficult, but not impossible. If the person does not seem to make sense to you, perhaps you don’t have the whole picture. Ask for them to clarify and support their position. Understand their motivation. Now, what they say may end up being just as wrong as the one they started with, but you are not jumping to conclusions. An old aphorism says, “Assume makes an ass out of you and me.”
Other times we ‘fly off the handle’ and commit a sin because we let anger rule us. Two examples of this can be seen in Genesis and Numbers.
Judah commits adultery with his widowed daughter-in-law, Tamar (admittedly, he mistakes her for a prostitute), and when he finds out Tamar is pregnant he gets angry and is going to have her killed - obviously she has brought shame on his household. She indicates that before she is killed perhaps the payment given her should be returned to the rightful owner. Whoops! The owner is Judah, and he sees the error of his ways. He knows that his lust and anger has gotten him in trouble. (See: Gen. 38:11-36)
Moses gets frustrated with the Jews as they travel through the desert - they are a complaining bunch of ingrates. They want water, accusing Moses of trying to kill them. God tells him to speak to a rock to bring forth water. Moses instead strikes the rock with his staff because he is frustrated and angry. Water comes out, but Moses loses the chance to enter the promised land. (See: Num 20:8-11)
We also see in the New Testament and Proverbs:
At the arrest of Jesus in garden, Peter rises in anger and cuts of the ear of one the men there. Jesus rebukes Peter and heals the man. (See: Mark 14:47ff - note: this is recorded in all four Gospel accounts.)
The Proverbs have several pieces of wisdom regarding anger. Two of my favorites are: “A man of great anger will bear the penalty, For if you rescue him, you will only have to do it again.” (Pro 19:19) “A fool always loses his temper, But a wise man holds it back.” (Pro 29:11)
How is James focusing on wisdom? He is urging us to keep the focus off our pride and ‘rights’, and on what Jesus has done for us. When I first wrote this section, we were in the middle of an election season - ‘Mid-terms’ - and the candidates and supporters were arguing their positions. Often the discussion cannot be understood because both sides are talking at the same time. They are not ‘slow to speak’; they are not listening at all.
***Vs. 20 - "Human anger does not achieve God's righteous purpose." - God’s purpose is for us to share Jesus Christ with the unsaved so they might receive Him as Savior. Our anger does not bring people to Jesus. Our anger does not help believers become stronger and more faithful in their hope in Jesus. My temper shows that my attention is upon myself and my feelings rather than what Jesus wants.
*** ***
No comments:
Post a Comment