The Argument

Hey, it's the Internet. Someone is wrong. And it's your job to hunt them down and correct them. Or so it would seem.

The Bible has an interesting take on this concept.

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. (James 1:19-20)

"Oh, now, come on, Stan! Nothing in there about Internet arguments." True, but imagine what our exchanges would look like if we practiced this as a guideline.

There are three components here. The first -- the starting point -- is to be "quick to hear." Now, in today's world we have a term -- TL/DR. "Too Long/Didn't Read." (Was that too long?) We all seem to think that almost anything is too long, so we'll read the first paragraph to get the idea and respond. We won't analyze the text. We won't examine the meaning. We won't hear the arguments. We'll skim and shoot. "Instead," James is saying, "rather than being quick to fire off a response, how about being quick ... to hear?" How about listening to all that is said? How about examining their position, arguments, intent? I mean, isn't it a fundamentally sound idea that in order to properly explain what's wrong with another position you have to first understand it? How about hearing attitude, intent, motivation? How about paying attention before responding?

Second, be "slow to speak." That, obviously, doesn't mean "talk more slowly." That means weighing our words, our attitudes, our intentions, our ideas. Are we first motivated by love? Or is it "righteous indignation" or "I will be right" or some unconscious competition? Then, are we expressing ourselves in a way that can be understood? Are we addressing the real issue(s)? Are we guarding our tongues (Prov 15:4; Prov 18:21; James 1:26; 1 Peter 3:10)?

Third, or, perhaps, more at underlying it all, we are to be "slow to anger." James tells why this is: Man's anger doesn't produce God's righteousness. If we, as followers of Christ, want to produce God's righteousness in others, it would seem obvious that our anger is not the way to go about it.

Think of it. What would our Internet interactions look like if we were, you know, intending to follow these instructions from God? I'm pretty sure too many of mine haven't. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone. And I'm not convinced that those times I've been not quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger have been the most effective interactions.