Quick, Slow, Slow Series

Today, as we return to our study in the book of James, we are confronted with some helpful and convicting words that relate to how we interact with other people and even respond to sticky situations. Even as he presents this information - James does so with a specific outcome in mind:

James 1:19–20 ESV

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Essentially, it seems like his…

Objective - Righteousness of God revealed in our interactions.

As he lays out this objective for us, he’s not challenging us to simply conform to some externally imposed norms. Rather argues for transformation through God’s word. He calls us to receive, hear, and live God’s word.

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Receive the Word (19-21)

James begins with the end in mind.

James 1:19 ESV

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;

For the brothers and sisters who would have heard these words in the first century, it’s difficult to know exactly what would have prompted this kind of instruction - it may have been reaction to persecution or I can imagine circumstances where even in the gathering of the church, people could be quick to speak and quick to anger with each other as they confront sin or address differences of opinions.

But there are a variety of ways that this can be helpful for us:

responding to social media or events in the news

reacting to children who are getting on your last nerve or whose actions make it seem like your authority is big questioned

neighbors

brothers or sisters in Christ who are frustrating you - after all, we are not perfect and so we will disappoint, frustrate and even anger each other from time to time.

He seems to urge that we slow down, take a beat and process things, …

James 1:20 ESV

for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

We may think that we have the right answer or the right perspective, but a little patience allows time for processing, reflecting, formulating a godly response. Earlier in the letter, James urged us to ask God when we need wisdom (1:5-8). Sometimes it will take a bit of time to be able to discern God’s wisdom. It may also take a bit of time to listen carefully and closely to what someone else is saying.

(possible illustration - processing through things with the elders)

But James is not only pursuing certain actions in our lives, but actually teaching toward transformation which requires that we…

Repent and Receive

James 1:21 ESV

Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Just as Paul does in some of his letter, James urges us to make a two-step process.

repent - is essentially putting off. Just as we might remove an article of clothing, James calls us to remove the things that will corrupt the righteous life that God intends for us to live.

Have you ever noticed that spending time listening to or watching certain things will cause us to begin speaking, thinking, or acting in a way that may be contrary to the way a Christian should speak or act. Or when we hang around certain people, we begin to pick up their mannerisms and speech. Some of this is difficult to escape, but James calls us to put it off.

But this might also involve repenting of our own self-righteousness or pride - our own assumptions that we may think we have all the right answers. In this case, it’s not so much a corrupting influence, but our own sin nature that we need to address. Especially before we come to faith in Jesus Christ, everything we do, every perspective we have is tainted by the stain of our sinful nature. Even as Christians, while we’ve been redeemed, we still live within these bodies that wrestle with sin, that fall back into our old, un-sanctified ways of doing things.

Repenting or putting off requires us to walk in humility.

(it’s a bit like planting new plants in a garden - weeding is needed to make the planting successful - then ongoing weeding to make it effective and fruitful)

Jesus even referenced this in the Parable of the Soils and his explanation ( Mark 4:1-20). When the soil is good or clean, it’s ready to go to the next step - receiving the word and bearing fruit.

Mark 4:20 “But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.””