Part 3: True Faith Listens and Controls Anger

Introduction

The famous phrase “Houston we have a problem.”

Command Module Pilot John L. “Jack” Swigert

Although well known, it is actually a misquote. The actual quote is “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” Nevertheless, the meaning is the same: the Apollo 13 mission to the moon was in jeopardy.

Flight Director Gene Kranz got on the internal Mission Control loop to talk to his controllers with some of the most memorable words spoken in human spaceflight:

“Okay now, let’s everybody keep cool, we got the LM still attached, the LM spacecraft’s good so if we need … to get back home we’ve got a LM to do a good portion of it with. Okay, let’s make sure that we don’t do anything that’s going to blow our CSM electrical power with the batteries or that will cause us to lose the main or the fuel cell number 2. Okay, we want to keep the O2 and that kind of stuff working. We’d like to have RCS, but we got the Command Module system, so we’re in good shape if we need to get home. Let’s solve the problem but let’s not make it any worse by guessing.”

[taken from John Uri, “Fifty Years Ago: Houston, We’ve had a Problem,” https://www.nasa.gov/history/50-years-ago-houston-weve-had-a-problem/; accessed 1/21/25]

1. True Faith Knows to Listen (1:19a)

James 1:19 NASB95

This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear . . .

We Must Know

The NASB puts it as “This you know,” as if we already know. But this is not a good rendering. The ESV captures the meaning better:

English Standard Version Chapter 1

19

This is a command; it is an imperative. It is not something we can take for granted that we already know. James is commanding us to know.

What does James command? In short, to listen.

It is Wise to Listen

James 1:19 NASB95

But everyone must be quick to hear . . .

OR:

English Standard Version Chapter 1

let every person be quick to hear . . .

BETTER YET:

“Every man is to be quick to hear/listen.”

What do we miss when we do not stop to listen but rather continue talking?

Illustration: Peppermint Patty in “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.”

[PHONE RINGS]

CB: Hello?

PP: Hi, Chuck. This is Peppermint Patty. How you been, Chuck?

CB: Okay, I guess.

PP: Do you kind of miss me, Chuck?

CB: Well, I, uh...

PP: That's okay, Chuck. I know you probably can't talk because someone's listening. We'll keep these intimate things to ourselves, okay, Chuck?

CB: Well, I, uh...

PP: Listen, I really have a treat for you. My dad's been called out of town. He said I can go to your house and share Thanksgiving with you, Chuck.

CB: Well, I, uh...

PP: I don't mind inviting myself over because I know you kind of like me, Chuck.

CB: Well, I, uh...

PP: Okay, that's a date. See you soon, you sly devil.

CB: Oh, brother.

Sally: Now what?

CB: Peppermint Patty's coming to Thanksgiving dinner. We won't even be home.

We can miss a lot of things because we are too concerned with telling our side of the story, making our point, trying to flex our intellectual prowess, or airing our opinion.

But James is not necessarily concerned about being quick to listen because we may miss important information. He actually has something much more significant in mind. When we are quick to speak, we are more likely to vent unrighteous anger and wrath. What James is specifically concerned about is an uncontrolled tongue that lashes out at others.

We are to be quick to listen because it is the wise thing to do for one who has true faith. True faith controls the tongue and anger.

2. True Faith Controls the Tongue and Anger (1:19b)

James 1:19 NASB95

This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;

The Wise Man controls His Anger

The one who has true faith is wise, and if he is wise, he controls his anger, which in turn controls his speech.

Proverbs 17:27–28 “He who restrains his words has knowledge, And he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise; When he closes his lips, he is considered prudent.”

Why is a person a fool who allows anger to control him? Because, as commentator Gordon Fee says:

The Letter of James A. Hasty Speech and Anger Do Not Please God (1:19–20)

Uncontrolled anger leads to uncontrolled speech.

Anger is like a pot of water that is left too long on a stove top that has been left on: it bubbles and boils over. And anyone close to the post will be scalded.

Anger is a can of coke shaken and the opened: it explodes making a mess over everyone.

Anger has led to verbal and physical abuse. The fallout is broken relationships, depression, anxiety, suicide, murder, unstable emotions and psyches, and even to a loss of faith in Jesus Christ.

We must take this seriously. Houston, we have a problem.

James 3:6 “And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.”

We are not only fools if we do not control our anger and speech; our own faith may even be questioned.

The Wise Man controls All His Emotions (Passions)

He does not allow his passions to control him.

“lusts” and “lust of the flesh” and “living according to the flesh” ideas here

Galatians 5:19–21 “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Lust = any kind of sinful passion; saw this last week with how temptation works: Lust > temptation > sin > death

We are called to not let the passions/lusts of our flesh control us. We must learn how to control them.

1 Peter 2:11 “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.”

“Waging war” - We saw this last week in the passage of Romans 7:15-25 where Paul explains how there is a war between his inner self/mind that wants to please God and the sinful passions. He puts it succinctly this way in Gal:

Galatians 5:17 “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.”

Galatians 5:24 “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

The question that arises is “How do we do this? How do we engage in this war against the fleshly passions, esp as it relates to anger? What does this look like?”

Application

One primary way: practice spiritual disciplines. What are spiritual disciplines?

Dallas Willard: “The disciplines for the spiritual life . . . are time-tested activities consciously undertaken by us as new men or women to allow our spirit ever-increasing sway over our embodied selves. They help by assisting the ways of God’s Kingdom to take the place of the habits of sins embedded in our bodies.” [The Spirit of the Disciplines, 86]

“Activities” = things we do

“Consciously undertaken” = we have to be proactive and intentional

“to allow our spirit . . . sway over our embodied selves” = this is what Paul was referring to in his description of the war he finds himself in. The passions of the flesh must be tamed.

Some examples of spiritual disciplines:

Obvious ones: prayer, study, worship

Not so obvious ones: fellowship, fasting, solitude, submission

It is through the practice of these disciplines that we train ourselves to battle (and sometimes overcome) the sinful passions. If we want to be men and women of true faith with wisdom so we can have control over our speech and anger, we must allow the Holy Spirit to work in us through the practice of spiritual disciplines. Our bad, sinful habits must be replaced with good, spiritual habits.

Note: Sometimes we need the aid of a good, Christian counselor to help us overcome obstacles so we can get on the right track, so we can get to the point of practicing the disciplines.

The ultimate question is this: are we serious about becoming wise? Are we serious about having a true faith that controls our speech and anger? Do we WANT to?

It’s time to get serious for a moment: “What is the matter with us?”

HOA criminal activity update: 3 thefts, 7 cases of domestic violence and battery

Our world tells us that if we are just nice, accepting, and tolerant of every way of life that we will overcome all the anger, division, and factions in society. But where are we? There is as much anger, crime, and hatred as there was when the first sin was committed. What’s the matter?

AW Tozer answers the question: we are empty. And he is right. We crave to be filled but do not know what with. . .

But the problem is even deeper: “What is the matter with US Christians?”

Do we not have anger problems and difficulty holding our tongues?

AW Tozer: “Why is it that Christians know Christ and God so little?” To put it in our context of James: “Why is it that many Christians seem to be in Christian in name only, allowing their anger and passions to control them and their speech to destroy others?

=> Because, oftentimes, Christians want God’s gifts but not God himself. If Christians wanted God himself, they would desire to reflect his goodness and image and get in control of their anger and tongue.

May it’s also due to that we do not quite grasp that:

3. Anger Produces Unrighteousness (1:20)

James 1:20 NASB95

for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.

Man’s Anger is Unrighteous

Matthew 5:21–22 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”

Ephesians 4:31 “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.”

Colossians 3:8 “But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.”

Does this mean there is never a place for “righteous anger?” No. Wisdom is general truth. There is a place for righteous anger. But let us make sure we understand what righteous anger is.

It is NOT being angry because you think you are right or think you are righteous.

It is being angry with what God is angry about: sin in the world, injustice, mistreatment of the innocent, etc.

We must remember that most of the time, in general, man’s anger is unjustified. God’s anger, however, is always justified and righteous b/c he is perfectly holy and morally perfect (sinless). God’s anger is based upon his holiness in response to sin. Man’s anger is more often than not based upon his ego, desire for control, power, or hurt feelings.

When we realize this, we come to understand what our goal is as a human: we are to conform to God’s standard of righteousness.

Divine Righteousness is Man’s Objective

Matthew 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

Conclusion

When it comes to controlling our tongue and anger, let us be able to say the actual quote: “Houston, we’ve HAD a problem,” not the misquote, “Houston, we HAVE a problem.” Let’s put the problem of anger behind us. Let us remember that true faith has the wisdom to control our sinful passion of anger. And let us put into practice spiritual disciplines to replace the sinful habit.