010 James and Me Podcast 8 Selfish Anger
Introduction
Good day, and thank you for joining in on our fictional conversation with James, the Lord’s half-brother, and some special guests. Today, our conversationalists are:
Conversationalists
· Zoe (Life Application Bible, NIV)
· Bill (William Barclay Translation)
· A.T (A.T. Robertson’s Word Pictures)
· Finis (Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible)
· MO (James Moffatt Translation)
**
I had been looking forward to this conversation since we all left the seashore last week. While I have learned so much from these conversations, the upcoming discussion was the main draw in sitting in. Today, we will consider what it takes to be a doer of the Word and not a hearer only.
We gathered in our usual place inside the house; everyone was beaming with winter sunshine after experiencing several drab and gray rainy days.
James joined us quickly as he walked to his place at the front of the room; his humble gate reflected hours in prayer—one really can’t pray in heartfelt earnestness and not be humbled in the presence of God nor mimic such a step.
His opening caught me a little off guard:
“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:19-21 KJV).
He followed with the words I longed to hear,
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:22-27 KJV).
And with that, he strode off until we were to meet again.
I wondered why he left so quickly, not that he owed us his time to stay, but it had been such a while since we had been together. Two reasons came to mind, both of which were just my thoughts: 1) James spent so much time in prayer that his faith allowed the Holy Spirit to teach us (after all, that is what the Master said the Holy Spirit would do, lead and guide us into all truth); 2) maybe we were to experience his opening, mainly being slow to wrath practically.
I shared my second reason with the group,
“Do you think James left so we could practice his opening—swift to hear, slow to speak, and (especially) slow to wrath?” I spoke.
Zoe took my rationale and painted the big picture as he commented,
“James warns against anger that erupts when our egos get bruised: “I am hurt”; “my opinions are not being heard.” Outrage has become the normal reaction to anyone who disagrees with us. When injustice and sin occur, we should become angry because others are being hurt. But we should not become angry when we fail to win an argument or when we feel offended or neglected. Selfish anger never helps anyone.[1]
“Selfish anger never helps anyone.” I let that sink in, as did all of us.
Bill shared his translation,
“Human anger can never produce the kind of conduct God desires.”[2]
A.T. added,
“It means that a man’s anger (settled indignation in contrast with thumos, boiling rage, or fury) does not necessarily work God’s righteousness. There is such a thing as righteous indignation, but one is not necessarily promoting the cause of God by his own personal anger.”[3]
Finis followed up,
“This [verse] explains why men should be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath. The wrath of man cannot work the righteousness that God requires. For example, the zeal of Israel in murdering the prophets, their own Messiah, and His followers.”[4]
Finis’ statement could be very inflammatory if one weren’t swift to hear, slow to speak, and choosing instead to burst forth a tirade through the guise of righteous indignation.
MO offered the solution to human anger in his translation,
“For human anger does not promote divine righteousness; so clear away all the foul rank growth of malice, and make a soil of humble modesty for the word which roots itself inwardly with power to save your souls.”[5]
MO’s translation immediately took me to the Lord’s Parable of Sower with its cultivating terminology: clear away, rank growth, soil of humble modesty, and a Word that roots itself.
I recalled the verse having memorized the parable:
“And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful” (Mark 4:19 KJV).
I had never considered “human anger” as “the lust of other things,” but now I can see how it can choke the Word and demote God’s righteousness.
Bill jumped, unknowingly, into my thoughts as he shared his translation,
“So then, you must strip off everything that would soil life and all that malice that is like an alien growth on life, and in a teachable spirit, you must receive implanted in your heart the word which is able to save your souls.”[6]
To clear away, as MO stated, and strip off, as Bill said, requires a conscious act from me. Yes, it is empowered by the Holy Spirit, but I still must do my part.
Bill adds the means to remove the weeds and receive the Word: having a teachable spirit.
I then surmised that a teachable spirit allows the heart’s soil to be the garden of God.
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[1] Tyndale House Publishers, ed., Life Application Study Bible, Third edition (Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 2019). Page 2162.
[2] William Barclay, The New Testament A New Translation, two vols. (Great Britain: Collins, 1968). Volume 2, page 198.
[3] A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Public Domain, 1930).
[4] Finis Jennings Dake, Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible (Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, Inc, 1963). E-Sword edition.
[5] James Moffatt, A New Translation of the Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments (New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1935). Page 287.
[6] Barclay, Volume 2, page 198.