Bona Fide
A study of James
Genuine Christian living
Part 5
“Getting Glad in the same britches you got mad in”
Today as we continue on or mission to discover
How to live as Bona Fide Believers in Jesus Christ
According to the book of James
We come to a passage of scripture that truly hits home with me
I can tell you
I don’t have any tattoos
I don’t want ant tattoos
I am not prejudice against those who have them
And
I believe that the Pharisees in today’s time that preach that they are unbiblical
Need to read their bibles in context
But for me
I have enough scars on my body
Due to things sometimes beyond my control
And sometimes due to my own stupidity
That paying someone to put more marks on my already marked up body
Does not compute
In my mind it just don’t make sense
But
If I were to decided to spend my hard earned money on some skin ink
I can assure you this is what I would have written on my body
James 1:19-21
Hits home with me
And I choose to hide this verse in my heart instead of having it written on my arm
But
I can tell you there are times when a visual would help me get past issues that I sometimes struggle with
Please open your bibles to James 1
Let me read verses 19-21 for you then we will come back and break them down and apply them to our lives
In an effort to become Bona Fide
“Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Human anger[a] does not produce the righteousness[b] God desires. 21 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.”
James has been laying out principals for us
He has been drawing us a picture with dots
And for the last few weeks we have been connecting those dots
Last week we looked at the source of temptation in our lives
And we saw how God can use the storms and wrecks that come from surrender to temptation
And how Old slick can use temptations to lure us into sin
But that he can only use the ammo we give him
And we saw how it is our own hearts that is the source of temptation in our lives
Today’s message jumps right on that line of teaching
James gives us practical tools for Genuine
Bona Fide Christian living
I need you to hear me on this
The world outside those doors often sees Christians as Hypocrites
Why
Because we often act different than our guide book tells us we should
We Read
This stuff
We talk about it
Even preach it
But we don’t apply it to our lives
And so when they look at a believer who does this
They instantly think
He ain’t Bona Fide
He ain’t genuine
So in order to help teach us how to be Bona Fide
And be seen as Bona Fide
James addresses so issues that are common to all humans
But that are obstacles to the gospel in the lives of believers
So the first thing James addresses from today’s teaching is listening
Notice first in verse 19 a
Who he is talking or writing to
“Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters:”
James is writing to the believers
The ones who have already placed their faith in Jesus for salvation
He is talking to those who have surrendered to his Lordship in their lives
We often make the mistake of holding non believers to the same standards that we are held to
But
They often don’t know the standards
So
We must introduce them to the one who laid out the standards and let him change them
So he continues
In Verse 19 b
“You must all be quick to listen”
Quick to listen
I understand quick on my feet
I very seldom am
Unless something is chasing me or about to fall on me
I understand quick witted
It often comes out as sarcasm
But I get it- I understand it
But quick to listen
When I first hear this I tend to want to think of a game show
Imagine sitting with a buzzer in your hand and
Trying to be the first to hear what is being asked
Buzz
But that is not what James means here
What James means is
Pay Attention
Active listening is what he is talking about
You can listen without hearing—right
James is saying pay attention
When you are listening
Clear your mind
Give your full attention to what is being said
Quick to listen
Means getting quiet or being quite
A good listener is a good learner
But also a good teacher
In regards to our Walk with God
It means being attentive to his word and the Holy Spirit speaking into our lives
It means accepting his truth and following his desires for us
In regards to our relationships it means hearing what is being said
I can tell you this
Many marriage problems could be solved if one or the other spouse would listen and truly hear what the other one was trying to tell them
I also believe this spills over into any relationship we are involved in
Listening shows you care
Listening shows compassion
Listening takes works
Hard Work
We all have the right to remain silent
But few have the ability
But in order to be Bona Fide
We must develop this skill in our lives
Psalm 46:10
Says
“Be still, and know that I am God!”
Stillness and quietness
Listening
Active listening
In 1 Kings Chapter 19
Elijah was in a tight spot
He was feeling neglected – dejected
And God told him to go stand on a mountain and he would show himself to him for comfort and reassurance
The Bible says there was a terrible windstorm- a tornado
But God was not in the tornado
And then the bible says there was an earthquake but God was not in the earthquake
And after the earthquake there was a fire
But
God was not in the fire
And then
Then
A gentle wind blew
A quite wind
Just a whisper
And Elijah heard the voice of God
But he had to listen
Actively listen
Pay attention
In order to hear
James goes on in verse 19c
He says we need to be
“slow to speak”
I know there are people in other parts of the country who think we in Texas have this one down
But
James is not referring to the speed in which we talk
Michael Cain when being considered for a role in a western movie
Asked John Wayne
How should I do this?
The Duke said
Talk Low, Talk Slow and don’t say too much
This is not what James means
He means
In real common terms
Exercise your right to remain silent
In real terms
Shut up
Think before you speak
These tie directly to the listening part
You can’t listen
When you are talking
James is saying
First
Be quiet and listen
Then be slow to respond
Think about your words
I referenced the school yard song “sticks and stones “a few weeks back
Words unlike that song says truly do have the ability to hurt people
Slow to speak would mean thinking about a response
Responding instead of reacting I like to call it
We are called to speak truth
But we are called to speak truth in love
Sometimes that means we need to be quiet
We need to ask ourselves if what we are about to say is first off true
Is it true?
Is it necessary?
Is it kind?
Does it build up or tear down?
I will add
Is it biblical?
And would Jesus say what you are thinking of saying
Being slow to speak gives us time to show the love of Jesus
This is important as well
Being slow to speak minimizes the need to recant what we said
Or to apologize
Judgment of others, gossip, slander, rudeness is not considered slow to speak
I could go on and on
Most of these come from the lack of slowness in our speech
James says think before you speak
In cowboy terms
Engage your brain before you engage your mouth
James continues
19d
“And slow to get angry.”
This is the part
That I need tattooed on my arm
Slow to get angry
I can tell you honestly
I get mad often
Sometimes my anger is justified
Sometimes
Most of the time it is not
You may ask what do you mean Justified
I can tell you I get mad when I see someone abusing a child or someone weaker than themselves
I get mad when the society we live in calls the murder of our unborn children a choice
I get mad when some bleeding heart liberal changes or attempt to change God’s word in order to justify their sins
I get mad when my fellow brothers and sisters, those serving Christ here and in faraway lands are abused, mistreated, and even killed for Christ
I get mad when my God given rights to worship and pray and stand a give glory to my maker are removed or stepped on
I get mad when the name of Jesus is blasphemed
I get mad when I hear false teachers and prophets telling lies and using the name of My Lord to sell their lies and leading people who God loves and created into the darkness
This is the same kind of anger that Jesus had when he cleared the temple
This type of anger is justified
But
Listen
We cannot sin even in this anger
Violence is not the answer
Hatred is not the answer
The love of Jesus is
So
We must try to change these things that make us mad
By doing what we are called to do
Spreading the word in love
Teaching the unbelieving world about Jesus
Speaking up
In love
Unifying our voices in love
But not sinning in our anger
But
This is not the anger James writes about
And oh how I wish this were the only anger I struggled with
The anger he writes about
Like the temptation that we discussed last week---comes from our hearts
Human anger he calls it
Getting mad because you were wronged or feel you were wronged
Getting mad because someone disagreed with you or your opinion
Getting mad because you did not get your way
Or you were criticized, overlooked, unnoticed, misunderstood, ignored, and unloved
Getting mad because you were unappreciated, overworked, under paid, left out or disappointed
Getting mad because someone said something you did not like’ or did something you did not like
Or looked at you in the wrong way
Disrespected you
Sometimes getting mad – Just for the sake of being mad
Like we hear so often
This is the anger James is teaching us about
But like we hear so often
“ You can get glad in the same britches you got mad in”
What this means is we need to get over it
Why
Well Let’s read what the bible says
Verse 20
20 Human anger[a] does not produce the righteousness[b] God desires.
You see God expects us to get upset
Expects us to get mad over the things that go against him
Things that hurt others
Things that lead people into the darkness
He wants us to act
He expects us to act
He wants us to spread the word
He wants us
To stand up to the attacks of Satan
But he does not
Want us to sin
Ever
But this human anger
That James teaches about
Does not please God
Human anger is inconsistent with the command to love our neighbors as ourselves
Human anger usurps God’s role as judge
Human anger keeps us from living as God desires for us to
Our human anger comes from selfishness
Self centeredness, pride
A focus on self instead of Christ and others
Ironically so does not listening
Ironically so does talking before we think
And these things do not show the love of Jesus
These things do not please God
So we have to ask ourselves
When people are talking to us
Are we truly showing the love of Jesus by actively listening to what they have to say?
Or are we more concerned with what we have to say
When we speak
Do we speak love?
Do we consider others feelings before we blurt out a comment?
Do we engage our minds?
Or better of hearts before
Before we shift our mouths into gear
Is judgment
Condemnation
Gossip
Slander
Rudeness
Leaving your mouth
Or is love the focus of your speech
When we get mad
Righteously mad
Notice
I said
When
Not if
How do we respond and react
In violence
Or in a desire out of love to change the circumstances
Do we respond in hate or in love?
What does the world see in our actions?
What does it hear in our words?
In the area of personal anger
Human anger James calls it
When we get mad
Notice I said when again
Not if
Now do we act?
What do we show the world?
We must look at human anger
And find the root
And
I can tell you
It ain’t from God
It ain’t from Old Slick
It is in our hearts
We must work hard to put away anger
Put away the selfishness that often causes this type of anger
Then
When we do
We are moving more towards becoming Bona Fide Believers
Genuine believers
Believers that when the world looks at us
They see Jesus
Not a hypocrite
Who says one thing and does another
Let me close this morning with this
James 1:21
1 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.
You see in order to be Bona Fide
We must rid ourselves of the things that separate us from the word of God
We must accept his word
All of his word
And use it to change first our own hearts
Our own desires
Our own actions’ and then by example
We can use it to help to change others in this world
You see the word has the power to save souls
And your words, lack of words and your actions
Have the ability to spread the word
Close from the heart
Pray
