This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                   James 1:19-20 

If there is one thing that I am convinced of today regarding the church, it is that we seem to get so easily distracted away from our purpose and the reason that we exist. This purpose of course is to spread the good news of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world (Mark 16:15, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19). Of course, the church also provides an opportunity for believers to grow in their faith. This is done through the preaching and teaching of the Word of God and by the comradery that comes from building friendships with those who are like-minded. But the trends that I see today seem to involve divisiveness, ridicule, and scorn. A quick glance at “Christian” social media is all the evidence one would need to draw the same conclusion. Instead of building one another up, we seem determined to take accusatory tones, fixating on differences between believers rather than elevating and celebrating the things that unify us. All the while, the world is watching to see if believers will actually live up to the faith in which they profess.

I believe that this is what James has in mind as he instructs us on how to behave with one another and, by extension, how we should handle unbelievers as well. Being “quick to hear” and “slow to speak” indicates that we are placing value on the thoughts and feelings of others rather than trying to force our doctrine or theological leanings on them. And when we differ with others we are to be “slow to anger.” Of course the opposite of these instructions is what I often see being modeled as the ideal for Christian behavior. Always speaking, never listening, and when people differ from us, accusatory, hateful, and condemning rhetoric is carelessly thrown about. And this lack of self-control sends a loud message to the unbelieving world and doesn’t validate what we proclaim rather it acts as a way of our working against ourselves. Scripture has much to say about this misbehavior and why it is so destructive to the Christian cause. Here are three principles we can apply to these unfortunate situations.

1. Christ has not and never will be divided!

 Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” Has Christ been divided?

                                                                                                       1 Corinthians 1:10-13a 

We need to make sure that none of us are pledging allegiance to a man or man-made doctrinal system rather our loyalty is to be to Christ and Him alone. I see it all the time. People will espouse a thought or preference developed by a human being rather than weighing it to see if it conforms to the truth of all of scripture. So much of the faulty thinking out there could be corrected and laid to rest if we would only keep scripture as our sole basis for making decisions on all things doctrinal. Of course, faulty thinking usually originates with scripture but then begins to skew off course as it is run out to its illogical conclusion. Loyalty to a particular approach and a dogmatic allegiance to that viewpoint usually leads to division. If we are to be dogmatic, it should be for the name of Jesus. This is what was happening to the 1^st century church and nothing seems to have changed. They were selecting their leaders and elevating them above the principle of having the “same mind” and “same judgment.” This divisive behavior was what Paul was warning them about and this admonition should still be considered today.

2. Love is the name of the game!

Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

                                                                                                               Romans 13:8-10 

I find it amusing that many who will elevate keeping the Law as a means of demonstrating righteousness, tend to have an unloving and condescending attitude when articulating this particular point of view. In other words, by being unloving in their hearts, they violate the very Law to which they claim to be adhering. Paul reminds us that the entire Law…all of it… can be summed up in how we treat others. Jesus declares the same truth (Matthew 7:12). But despite the clear instructions of Christ and Paul, this continues to be an unpopular truth to the religious who are looking to their own behavior as a means of being justified. Nevertheless love is the fulfillment of the Law of God. No matter what we do, without love it ultimately will not matter (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). Love is the litmus test to Christian authenticity (1 John 4:7-8). It was easy to pick out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and likewise it is still easy to discern today.

3. Our words, methods, and attitudes matter!

Let no unwholesome (putrid, worthless) word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 

                                                                                                            Ephesians 4:29-31 

Our words, attitudes, and methods absolutely alter the effectiveness of the work of the church. Otherwise, it would not be necessary for us to even discuss our behavior as believers. This is the reason that Paul instructs us on our words. If our words cannot be categorized as promoting “edification” or “grace” then we fail in this area and we grieve the Holy Spirit of God. And by grieving the Spirit, we rob ourselves of His influence and participation in what we are doing. Again, I see so many people attempting to declare their position on an issue and while vocalizing their viewpoint they do so without even the slightest hint of grace. By doing so, they undercut their message, demonstrate their lack of understanding, and essentially work against what they are trying to accomplish. This should not be the way it is in the church and we should treat this kind of moral failure with the same sense of urgency that we would other situations like sexual immorality.

Jesus tells us that, “a kingdom divided cannot stand” (Mark 3:24). While these comments were not a direct reference to the church rather a response to the misrepresentation of Jesus’ authority, I believe that the same applies for local congregations that wish to make an impact in their communities. We need to make sure that we are following the instructions of James by listening to one another and keeping our anger in check. This honors God as well as serves the whole church, keeping our eyes fixed on what really matters…our mission!