Quick to Listen

“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; or the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”

James 1:19-21

I remember being in a small church in Georgia where people were shouting “amen!” after every application. After one particularly pointed application I heard someone say, probably semi-jokingly, “Now you’ve gone to meddling pastor, now you’ve gone to meddling!” Every time I read this passage I think, “Now you’ve gone to meddling James, now you’ve gone to meddling!” Of all the verses and passages I have memorized over the years; I think this is one of the passages I frequently quote to myself. I’ll be honest, this is one of the passages I find myself applying to my own life most frequently.

Why do we struggle to apply this passage to our lives? It isn’t because it is complicated or difficult to understand. It isn’t because it doesn’t make sense, or we can’t think of times when we should heed these words. Consider what he is saying. We should be quick to hear. This hearing is more than the words reverberating off our inner ear and sending a signal to our brain. James means, listen, truly listen to what another person is saying. Understand both the words and the heart behind those words. Listen in such a way as to understand the perspective of the other person. Often, we are so busy thinking of what we want to say next that we do not deeply hear the words someone is speaking to us.

Conversely, we should be slow to speak. It has often been said that God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason! Proverbs 17:28 says, “Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.” Or as has been paraphrased, “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.” (By the way, there is no proof that Abraham Lincoln or Mark Twain originally said this. https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/17/remain-silent/)

James adds, “slow to anger.” Anger is one of those visceral emotions this is often our response when we feel like we are under attack or something we love is under attack. (I’m indebted to the late Dr. Tim Keller for this observation.) So often we perceive something – a slight, an offense, a criticism, a disagreement – and we are quick to fly off the handle and say the first thoughts that come to mind. This may give us a momentary sense of satisfaction, but it is foolish and the results short lived.

James doesn’t leave us to wonder why. “The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” What is your goal? Is your goal just to get back at the person who made you upset? Is your goal to put down the person who stirred up your anger? Is your goal to justify and vindicate yourself from whatever you’re being accused? Sinful human anger does not result in God’s will being accomplished. It does not result in our children listening to us and obeying from the heart. It does not result in the other person coming under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and repenting. It does not bring real and lasting peace to a tense situation. In fact, sinful human anger does no spiritual good. James tells us to put it away and cultivate a Christlike response in these situations. Often the first step is seeing how sinful our angry responses are then repenting of them and asking for forgiveness from God and the ones you have offended.