True confession time: Every time I have a big decision to make,
I go to the Bible for insight. Why? Because it is the only place I
have found to be consistently true. There is, however, a big
problem.
True confession time: Every time I have a big decision to make, I go to the Bible for insight. Why? Because it is the only place I have found to be consistently true. There is, however, a big problem. I discovered early on that there is a big difference between knowing what I should do and doing what I should do. For the next two weeks we’ll look at James 1:18-27 and gain some insight on how we can use the Bible to learn what’s right and, more importantly, do what’s right.
Step one is rather obvious: If the Bible is going to do us any good, we need to read it! Verse 21 says we must “humbly accept God’s word.” The word translated “accept” (dekomai) was a common term of welcome. When someone came to your home, you might say, “dekomai… come on in.” So the first step to being blessed by God’s Word is to welcome it into your life. But how, on a practical level, is this done? Verse 19 says, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” Here James shares several attitudes we can adopt that will allow us to welcome the truths of Scripture into our life.
The first attitude we need to develop is to become “quick to listen.” Listening is almost a lost art these days. Instead of listening, many of us just wait for the other person to shut up so we can talk. It is said that during his presidency, Franklin Roosevelt once became concerned that people weren’t really listening to him, so he did an experiment. As he personally greeted each guest at a reception, he inserted this line in the conversation: “I killed my grandmother this morning.” All he got in return were smiles and comments like, “That’s nice,” or “How lovely,” or “Keep up the good work.” This went on until he reached a foreign diplomat whose English was weak and had to listen carefully to understand. He smiled and said, “Well Mr. President, I’m sure she had it coming.”
A second attitude James says to develop is to “be slow to speak.” Far too many of us speak before we think and say damaging things. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warned us not to call others “Raca.” Before you say you are not guilty of that, let me share a literal translation: “empty-head” or “airhead.” How fond we are of sharing “blonde” jokes and saying things like, “she’s about as smart as bait” or, “he’s big like ox, smart like tractor.” When we say such things, what are we really saying? Raca!
In conjunction with being slow to speak and quick to listen, we are to “be slow to become angry.” One of the most obvious drawbacks to anger is that it makes us unreceptive to God’s will. Verse 20 points out that “a person’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” If you doubt that anger blocks your receptivity toward God’s will, next time you get angry, pick up a Bible and start reading. You will either become less angry or toss the book away in frustration.
A fourth attitude we can develop in order to welcome God into our heart is to clean up our life-style. Verse 21 says it this way: “Get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent…” The word translated “filth” is instructive. I don’t want to gross you out, but a more literal translation would be “earwax.” The point God is making by using this word is simply this: sin blocks your hearing! Then there’s the word translated “evil” (“kakia,” from which we get the colorful little word, “caca”). That’s an earthy, yet accurate description of the nature of evil.
At the risk of sounding crude, let me explain how these four attitudes are tied together: it starts with the heart. If it is full of “kakia,” it will come out the mouth (hence I’m never shocked by the language I hear many people use). God’s solution: get the “earwax” out so you can receive his Word which will, in turn, cleanse your heart, thoughts, words and actions.
