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. (James 1:19-20)"Know this." Can you imagine what our world would look like today, right now, at this very moment if we did?
We seem to have been engaged in a lengthy period of prolonged, loud hate. I suspect it has grown over time. It didn't just start out this way. And I realize this isn't the first time. There have been these kinds of segments in this country throughout its history. As such, I'd guess that it's true throughout the history of the world. But we're living in this one right now. We're seeing, right now, the explosive anger against racism burning, literally, in cities around the nation. We're seeing the hate against hate and the intolerance against intolerance and the rage against apathy. Right now it is peaking, but it has been going on here for years.
What would it look like if we were quick to hear and slow to speak? How would things be different if we aimed first to understand fully and completely what is being said ("quick to hear") before responding to it ("slow to speak")? We have hair-trigger keyboards these days fully loaded, sometimes set to automatic fire. We have canned responses to anyone we perceive even hints at sounding like what we hate. What if, instead, we were slow to anger? How would things look today?
Of course, I'm only dreaming here. James wrote to believers. We don't expect nonbelievers to join in. I say that without malice. It just isn't reasonable to expect people who the Bible says are "hostile to God" (Rom 8:7) to be concerned about producing the righteousness of God. So let's not throw this at them. Let's lay it on ourselves. Do we know this? Do we know that our "righteous indignation," our "moral outrage," our angry outbursts do not produce the righteousness of God? Are we swift to hear and slow to speak? Do we even consider hearing all of the other side before trying to shoot it down in flames? Are we the peacemakers Jesus talked about (Matt 5:9) in a world of unrest? Are we hoping that our quick wit, fiery passion, and holy anger will cause people to see God's glory? Or are we trying a more biblical approach (Matt 5:16)? At times like these we should start by looking to ourselves first (Matt 7:3-5). "Quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger." Does that describe your general approach? Shouldn't it?
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