Quick – Slow – Slow

James 19-20

Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow is the tempo for the Foxtrot. A tempo or rhythm is meant to produce harmony of movement and performance on the dance floor. What then is the tempo for spiritual harmony? James here presents us with a new rhythm designed to produce God’s righteousness and peace in the life of believers in Jesus Christ. The spiritual rhythm of quick, slow, slow, is a Holy Spirit rhythm between believer and believer and for the believer when living out the gospel to a disbelieving world. James is building on Old Testament wisdom and applying it to the contemporary church i.e. ‘Whoever derides their neighbour has no sense, but the one who has understanding holds their tongue;’ Proverbs 11:12 and, ‘A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.’ Proverbs 15:1

James’ words are not just good advice that can be taken or left without significant consequence. They are fundamental to living according to God’s righteousness. ‘Righteousness’ here means conducting one’s own life by the will of God, according to his standards. It is a matter of obedience. God’s standards apply to all believers, note James’ use of the word everyone, but they especially apply to those with Christian leadership responsibilities.

Failure to both listen and speak appropriately can quickly cause substantial, even life long harm. There are multiple examples of people who have given up on their faith or church attendance where they have felt they have not been understood or they have been put down or been subject to another believer’s temper. Life long friendship can be fractured in one quick short tempered exchange. Enquirers after Christ have given up their search for Jesus because they have only been spoken at and not heard. Witnesses to falling out between believers have rejected Christ because Christians are, ‘no different to anybody else.’ Churches have split and died because church leaders have failed to communicate with the grace God has provided. James describes the inability to listen and speak wisely and with the love of Jesus as, ‘moral filth’. v21 It really is something that all Christians should take seriously and not just pass off as, “how that person is”. We should make the practice of listening carefully, carefulness in speech and self control over anger priorities for church leadership.
Quick to listen – Firstly one should be quick to listen to the word of God through the scriptures. It is there he speaks the most frequently, completely and clearly. His words give birth to and shape the believer. Listening is not necessarily what comes naturally as our first instinct, especially when tensions are high and we are in conflict. Listening is far more than hearing the opening statement by someone, it is a careful process that usually requires clarification. For quality listening to take place we have to control our own speech. We may need to repeat the process of listening to more fully understand. We may have to put aside our initial assumptions. Listening carefully is a fundamental aspect of a church’s safeguarding culture. Countless vulnerable people, in our churches as well as in wider society, of all forms, have remained silent because they have not believed they will be heard appropriately.
Slow to speak – The evangelical church (I use the term in its widest sense) is based on a culture of preaching. The risk in being quick to preach is that it can prevent wise reflection taking place first. Being quick to listen has the effect of delaying our speech. Humility helps us consider who in any particular situation is the best person to speak. Once more this a fundamental principle of safeguarding, to not go beyond our expertise in a case of serious need. Being slow to speak and even taking the time to consult wise Christians, may well aid us in bringing God’s righteousness and mercy to bear on a situation which otherwise would have produced bad rather than good.
Human anger – as meant by James v20 is, “quick tempered, selfish, showing a lack in trust in God and a lack of love for others. Even when directed against wrongdoing anger cannot change another person’s heart. Thus, it does not produce the righteousness of God.” (ESV Global Study Bible)

Have you observed yourself when speaking and listening and asked, ‘Has that produced the righteousness of God?’

Do you pray for your church leaders that they will listen and speak wisely, formed by the word of God?

I’m Listening – Chris McClarney

Every Good Gift

James 1:16-18

What makes the perfect gift? Gifts we have been told is one of the five love languages. I have just taken an online quiz to find my dominant love language, I’m afraid gifts was my lowest score at 7% out of receiving gifts, words of affirmation, physical touch, acts of service and quality time, which sounds like bad news for my wife. How would you judge whether a gift was the perfect gift? Just for fun try ranking in order these criteria for a good gift. I have written them in no conscious order but it may reveal more about me than I would want anyone to know. By monetary value, by intimate personal connection, by what is good for you, by awareness of your needs, by how much it shows about the giver, by sincerity, by whether or not it is available at the local petrol station.

When reading James’ letter, it is helpful to remember that he is writing with the purpose of helping Christians live out their salvation whatever their circumstances. When he writes, ‘Every good and perfect gift is from above’ c17 he is contrasting that with his previous statement, ‘God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. v13 Good gifts come from God, bad ones cannot come from God. James cannot mean that all good gifts come directly from God as that is clearly untrue. The gift of flowers I gave my wife today to celebrate our wedding anniversary came from me. However, all of creation, of which the flowers are a wonderful part, have their source in God. The spirit of this is shown in our harvest festival and in the feast of harvest inaugurated in God’s law and communicated by Moses in Exodus 23:16. It is right to give God thanks and praise for the many good gifts that have their origin in nature, for the natural world is his. When we give to God we give him what is already his. As the Anglican liturgy says, ‘Of your own do we give you.’

Gifts can reveal something about the giver and it can also show something about how they view the person they are giving the gift to. When I gave my wife a kitchen appliance on our first Christmas together it could have been interpreted as I felt her place was in the kitchen, more generously it could have been interpreted as something we both needed now we were married or as I tried to explain without much success, I would have loved to have been given a drill for Christmas. It showed up a dreadful lack of insight into my wife’s feelings.

What do God’s gifts show us about him. They show a God who is unchanging and as such is utterly dependable. v17 He is all powerful and yet he is tender. Although he is the, ‘Father of the heavenly lights,’ v17 that is the celestial universe, he also took the form of a man and suffered as a man on our behalf.

His great and continuing gift is his word of truth. v18 This is our daily gift, it had the power to bring us to new life and now it has the power to sustain us. It is a gift that reveals to us the heart of the giver and more than that it guides us each step of our life. In doing so it turns us into our own harvest gift to God the Father as he sees the seed of his word bears much fruit.

How much is the gift that God gives worth? It is worth more than all money can buy because it cost the life of God’s Son. It cost him who is perfect paying the cost of all our sin. But incredibly to those who trust in him it is completely free and undeserved. On top of that he honours us with being the first fruits of his plan to renew all creation.

Let us return to those “just for fun” criteria when considering salvation through Jesus Christ. In monetary terms it is priceless, it could not be more intimate as his Spirit gives birth to ours, it is good not only because it meets our needs but our relationship with him is eternally satisfying, through Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension to glory it shows the true character of God, it is offered to all who would accept it by faith with utter sincerity. Is it available at the local petrol station? Yes, it is available wherever you turn to him, repent and believe.

Chris Tomlin – Gifts From God

Everyday this happens!

James 1:13-15

Every day I am tempted to sin. Sadly, there are times when I give in to the temptation to sin. After all there are many ways to sin and sin can come in the thoughts we indulge in, things we do and things we say. There are times when I am tempted to rank sin and so deceive myself into thinking that a particular sin is so common place it doesn’t really matter. God does not indulge in such muddled thinking.

One of the forms of self deception is to consider temptation to sin as a test or trial from God, sent by him to help us grow in our ability to combat temptation. James very firmly refutes that. ‘When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.”’ James 1:13 So let us be clear what is meant by sin. ‘Now the works of the flesh (Sin) are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.’ Galatians 5:19-20 Jesus made clear that sin does not just include our actions it also includes pursuing our sinful thoughts. Mathew 2:28

The bible as a whole, as well as Jesus, asserts sin comes from within not without. We can be just like a child when caught by their parent or teacher and blame others or circumstances for making us sin. In Jesus’ words, ‘For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person.’ Mathew 15:19-20 It is important to face up to our natural inclinations to sin.

Sin is serious. It is because of God’s desire to save us from our sin that Jesus died. When James says, ‘sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death’ he is not only referring to Adam and Eve. He is referring to permanent separation from God. Jesus taught us to pray each day, ‘lead us not into temptation,’ Luke 11:4 he knew the serious implications of succumbing to temptation.

Have we asked the Holy Spirit to make clear to us how we are tempted and what we are tempted to do?

Do we think in some way we are immune to temptation?

Do we avoid the seriousness of sin?

Do we choose to ignore what our sin cost Jesus?

More than conquerors – Rend Collective

What God wants to give you.

James 1:5-8

The bible is overflowing with wisdom but a repeated theme is also how wisdom is attained. James knows that if the scattered church is to grow and thrive then the church is going to need to be wise. However Godly and spiritual wisdom is different from the common currency of worldly wisdom or wisdom of the age. What does the bible teach us about how the church can acquire Godly wisdom?

Firstly by confessing that self wisdom is not sufficient or even reliable. Today of course this is counter cultural in a society that advocates self reliance as a virtue. However, the bible teaches that Godly wisdom does not come from within but is a gift of God. Solomon displayed this self awareness when as the ruling king he declared to God, ‘I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.’ 1 Kings 3:7 It would benefit the church greatly if those in leadership maintained Solomon’s level of humility and self awareness as there is a great temptation to fall back on trusting on one’s own capacity to be a reservoir of wisdom.

Wisdom is a spiritual gift that is given by God. Solomon’s wisdom was given to him as a gift when he met God in a dream. ‘I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so there will be never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.’ 1 Kings 3:12

Wisdom involves having the same heart attitudes as God. Later James elaborates on these heart attitudes, ‘the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.’ James 3:17 Paul prays, ‘that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened.’ Ephesians 1:16

Wisdom is born out of a relationship with God and brings with it an understanding of God and the blessings he has given to his children, the church. ‘That you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might.’ Ephesians 1:18-19

Despite God’s promise to Solomon that no one will ever have more wisdom than him God desires to give wisdom to all of his children. We do not need to feel awkward about asking for wisdom. James 1:5 However wisdom is a more all encompassing than simply making a good decision about what to do in a particular situation. It involves our entire relationship with him and obedience to his commands. Paul prays for the Colossians, ‘That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.’ Colossians 2:2-3 Solomon himself records ‘The wise of heart will receive commandments, but a babbling fool will come to ruin.’ Proverbs 10:8

James encourages the church to pray for wisdom, ‘in faith without doubting.’ James 1:6 James means them to have a settled faith based on the character of God and his promises. Doubt being tossed about refers to believers having an inner conflict between trusting in God’s wisdom and their own natural abilities or those of their surrounding culture. He says that to not trust in and obey God’s wisdom is to be two minded and uncertain, living a life torn between God and the world. James 1:8

The importance of being obedient to God’s wisdom is seen in the eventual life of Solomon who allowed disobedience of God’s wisdom and sin to come into his life and start a slide downward in national holiness which eventually led to the collapse of Israel as a nation. We need to maintain our obedience until the end of our life.

Are we bold enough to ask God for the gift of his wisdom?
Do we find ourselves tossed about torn between the world’s way and God’s?

Immortal, Invisible, God only wise.