Stop Tripping

This phase can be used with several connotations; however I want to deal with the one where it describes the acts of those who are out of character.  Those who act out of balance with reality.  Not just crazy, but, people who seem not to ever get it together, because they refuse to have the proper perspective when dealing with life. 

In fact, those were the type of people James was addressing.  They would become angry and unresponsive with the word of God and wreak havoc in the church.  James in this sequence of scriptures responds to their behavior by saying, Stop tripping. 

Now don’t be so eager to judge these people because there are very well some who are church goers and claim to be Christians, which are very well, even today still tripping.

In this passage of Scripture, James shows us the proper attitude that should be rendered by believers as believers.

He begins in verse 19 with two words; “So then”. This phrase is very similar to what Paul uses in the word therefore.

James is saying so then, I reference to what I have just said, and this should be your attitude.

James also calls by name those he is addressing, “My beloved brethren”.
This is a term of endearment, a phrase of tenderness. He is addressing those Christians whose attitudes are disrupting the fellowship of the Body of Christ.  They are tripping, Some of the greatest causes of disturbances within the church come not from those on the outside, but Christians with bad attitudes.  They are tripping!

Those that say I am not going to do this because it was not my idea. All I’m going to do is this and that’s it.  Lets see how far they get without me contributing. I don’t think we need a new building.

I don’t want our church to get any bigger than is right now. 

Tripping

James addresses these issues first by:

I. Admonition

A. “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.”
B. Most of us are anxious to speak, but not willing to hear.
1. Someone once said God gave us two ears & one mouth, so we should listen twice as much as we talk.

2. If we could only follow this rule more.

C. But this is not what James is addressing; he is talking about the Word of God.
1. So what James is saying is, “When you are listening to the Word of God, give careful attention. Be quick to hear what God has to say.
2. Many folk are tripping, because they can not handle the word of God.  When the word of God deals specifically with our own shortcomings we start tripping. We close our minds; we close our hearts, because instead of hearing and receiving we think we are being picked on.

C. He goes on to say speak little or be slow to speak.
1. I find it very rude to be interrupted. I don’t like to have people talking when I’m talking, and I try to show people the same respect.
2. But I often wonder if God feels the same way about us.
3. When we come to God are we doing all the talking, when in reality God wants to speak to us?
4. Some people know every thing and never show it. But some people have a little knowledge about everything but what I like to call them is educated idiots.
D. Then James tells us be slow to wrath, or do not become angry.
1. It takes so little to upset folks these days. You can see it everywhere.
2. Anger is an emotion, which should be a controlled emotion.
F. What James is speaking of here is a deep internal resentment and rejection, of God’s Word.

II. The Adversary
A. Man’s anger does not produce the kind goodness and righteousness God desires for us.
1. Anger that produces grumbling against God, criticism of fellow believers and resentment toward others will not bear the fruit of righteousness.
2. So when we are angry we must ask ourselves
a. Am I angry because this upsets me
b. Because this goes against something I want.
B. Ephesians 4:26 Paul says, “Be angry and do not sin.”
1. So there is a godly anger.
2. Yes, if we see things in our lives and that are around us that is not holy and righteous.
C. Then James says our anger will not produce the righteousness of God
1. What is the righteousness of God?
2. Someone has said, “This is a life that is in agreement with God, a life that is consistent with His ways, a life lived within the context of God’s will and purpose.”

Now James calls us to

III. The Action. Verse 21
A. “Lay aside”
1. This means to take off or shed
2. It implies getting rid of something that is not useful.
B. “All Filthiness and over flow of wickedness”
1. The word filthiness is a medical term referring to wax in the ears.
2. Just as excess of wax in our ears keeps us from hearing properly, so filthiness in our lives keeps us from hearing God properly.
4. But James is speaking of the filthiness of sin in our lives.
C. Then he says, “Receive with meekness the implanted word.”
1. Some of us have heard the Word of God all our lives but we have never received it.
2. What I believe this verse is telling us is God desires us to have a teachable spirit.
3. We must agree to the truths of God’s Word
4. Meekness is not weakness, but a spirit of controlled dedication.
5. When we receive God’s Word with meekness we are willing to hear our faults and desire to be molded and formed by the doctrines and precepts of the Gospel.
6. This is the life that can bear fruit for the Lord.
D. “Which is able to save your soul.”
1. James is speaking to those who have been saved. The Word has already brought forth salvation, but you have a life to live as a Christian.
2. William McDonald gives a wonderful definition of this verse; “ The Word of God is the instrument God uses in the new birth. He uses it in not only saving our soul from the penalty of sin, but also from its power as well. He uses it in saving us not only from damnation in eternity, but also from damage in this life.