Quick & Slow

Aesop’s Fable The Tortoise and the Hare is a well-known story. The hare mocks the tortoise for being slow. The tortoise, sick of the smug hare, challenges the hare to a race. The quick hare and the slow tortoise compete. In our passage today, quick and slow are not at odds. They work together reflecting an aspect of spiritual maturity, an aid in trials and temptation, and a good gift from God (James 1:2-18).

19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. [1]

James 1:19-21

As I read different commentaries and looked up some of the Greek words, there were different approaches to this passage. It is not always clear in James’ letter if he is jumping around in themes or what themes he may be connecting. However, as I looked at the two main approaches to this passage, I think both are valid, and like quick and slow they actually complement each other. We will also perceive that although these verses contain their own theme, they also tie to the preceding and following verses.

Let’s begin with verse 19: “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;” I have always heard this talked about in the horizontal – pertaining to our relationships with other people. We will get to that aspect, but it is in the context of the Word of God (vs 18, 21-25) and even the broader context of trials. We would be wise to consider verse 19 within the vertical context first.

Know this connects verse 19 to both trials (preceding verses) and hearing and doing the Word of God (succeeding verses). We need to heed what James is saying in both areas. Know this can be taken as an indicative – “You know this,” – or as an imperative – “You ought to know this” (Doriani). Either way, it is something we should know.

What should we to know? Be quick to hear. Are we quick to hear God’s Word? Are we diligently pursuing it? Are we teachable? Do we delight in reading and meditating on God’s Word (Psalm 1:2)? Is God’s Word what we look to for everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3)? Do we believe God’s Word is sufficient? We can never hear or read too much of God’s Word. There are infinite new things to learn, understand, and apply. Hearing God’s Word takes effort and commitment.

Be slow to speak. How often do we read or hear a verse and run with it, taking it out of context or misapplying it? How often are we quick to spout our Biblical “knowledge” when we haven’t really taken the time to study Scripture? Are we faithful to what Scripture says or do we add our own opinion? This doesn’t mean that we don’t share or discuss God’s Word with others, but we need to be slow in that we are faithful to what God’s Word says and reverent in how we handle it. Paul wrote to Timothy about rightly dividing or accurately handling the Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). We need to do the same.

Be slow to anger. We can see how being quick to hear and slow to speak relate to God’s Word, but what about being slow to anger? That seems out of place, but the Greek word (orgē) carries the idea of being opposed to something. Have you ever read something in God’s Word that you didn’t really like? Have your ever argued with God over a passage? Have you dismissed something entirely because you thought it didn’t apply? Is there something you ignored because it didn’t line up with your idea of who God is (like His wrath)? We need to be careful how we respond to God’s Word. God’s Word is sufficient, infallible, and inerrant. If something isn’t right, it is with us not God’s Word. As we will note in verse 21, we should receive God’s Word with meekness.

To further show how these three things in verse 19 are tied together, imagine if you are quick to anger over something in God’s Word that you don’t like. You will likely be slower to hear the Word and quicker to speak God’s Word in a unfaithful way.

The right response to God’s Word equips us in trials. It keeps us rooted in God’s Word and what is true, instead of giving in to despair or anxiety. We will be equipped by God’s Word to recognize temptation and flee from it. We will not so easily be deceived.

As we grow in quickness to hear God’s Word, slowness to speak, and slowness to oppose God’s Word, it will have horizontal effects. I personally know the damage I have done by being slow to hear another person, cutting them off or forming my response without really listening to what the other is saying. I have been quick to speak without fully understanding the other person’s situation or feelings because I have been slow to hear. I’ve been quick to throw out Scripture that may be out of context, misapplied, or used with poor timing. I have been quick to anger when I didn’t like what the other person said or felt like I wasn’t being heard. We can be angry about the wrong things (I.e., hurt pride) or we can express anger in a wrong manner.

As we saw in the vertical aspect of verse 19, anger also impacts hearing and speaking horizontally. When we are angry, we are even less likely to hear the other person, and we are more likely to spew rash, hurtful, words we can’t retract. We are less likely to bridle our tongue (vs 26).

As I read “slow to anger,” I thought of God’s character. “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” (Psalm 145:8). Responding to others the way God responds to us in our sin would foster unity and mutual building up.

James continues, making it clear that man’s unrighteous anger does not produce the righteousness of God (vs 20). Conversely, the one who is quick to listen to God’s Word intently will produce righteousness. James gives us helpful instruction: “Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (vs 21).

If we want to produce the righteousness of God, we need to put away or put off all filthiness and rampant wickedness. Put away is the imagery of taking off dirty clothes. Filthiness refers to moral vice. Wickedness is evil desire or intent, superfluity of naughtiness. James describes wickedness as rampant. It can be like weeds that quickly take over a garden or a lawn. The author of Hebrews instructs: “let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

How do we put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness? We “receive with meekness the implanted word.” We are brought back to verse 19. We are foolish if we do not prepare our hearts for God’s Word. Our hearts are the soil for the seed of God’s Word (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23). If we don’t want weeds growing, we need to put away the sin and instead receive and hear the Word of God. We receive it with meekness (gentleness, humility). Meekness is teachable and avoids arguing with God. Meekness recognizes our need for God and His Word.

God’s implanted Word can then take root and transform us – “which is able to save your souls.” God’s Word, the Gospel, is able to save us (the past). Gives us birth, making us a new creation and the firstfruits (vs 18). God’s Word promotes righteousness (present, vs 20). It sanctifies us. And God’s Word saves and keeps us for all eternity transforming our earthly bodies to our glorified bodies (future, vs 21) (Daniel Doriani).

These three verses today are challenging. We could be tempted to discouragement. We can never be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, able to put away sin, produce the righteousness of God, and receive God’s implanted Word with meekness apart from God. He is the one who implants the Word in us. He is the one who works in us both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). Jesus was always quick to listen to His Father, always faithfully spoke God’s Word, and never opposed it. Jesus was always quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger in His interaction with sinful, rebellious, ignorant people who opposed Him. Jesus is the Word. Jesus took our sin, paid the death penalty, and rose to life defeating sin and death. He gave us His righteousness. James challenges are framed within the good news of the Gospel. We are equipped to be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, to put away sin, produce the righteousness of God, and meekly receive the implanted Word.

Reflection

1. “What kind of mindset does it take to receive the word of God? How would slowness to hear, quicknessto speak, and quickness to anger hinder the word from taking root in a person’s heart?”[2]

2. Think through and answer the questions in the above devotion for quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.

3. Describe a time when you were slow to hear, quick to speak, and quick to anger with another person? What was the result?

4. What filthiness and wickedness might be hindering you producing the righteousness of God? How does the Gospel encourage you as you put it away.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jas 1:19–21. [2] Greg Gilbert. James: A 12-Week Study. Crossway, Wheaton, Il, 2013.