Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. (James 1:19, NIV)
You bet I’ve got my opinions. About diets. About denominations. About democracy. About DeChambeau.
I bet you don’t want to hear them.
For everything we’ve grown tired of in the past 15 months or so, all the voices might top the list. The voices on TV and the radio and social media. The voices across the fence and on the clubhouse patio. Even some voices from the pulpit.
In the quieter days known as 2003, Switchfoot’s lyricists Jon and Tim Foreman wrote a song called “Adding to the Noise.” In it, they uniquely invited listeners to shut them off:
If we’re adding to the noise
Turn off this song
If we’re adding to the noise
Turn off your stereo, radio, video…
Now the whole goal of those who would capture our ears via podcast or broadcast is to keep us tuning in and listening. They have a lot of words to say, and they don’t want us to miss even one of them. Nor do their sponsors.
Whose voice are you more likely to parrot at the dinner table with your family or in the golf cart with your friend?
Consider what happens when we listen to all that. Let’s say you attend a church where the pastor really preaches. For about an hour, he unpacks Scripture with reason and in the Holy Spirit’s leading. That’s a lot of input. Then let’s say you spend an equivalent 60 minutes each day in your car or some other place where you can listen to your preferred political radio host. And you do this five days a week. Add ’em up and tell me who wins.
Then consider what may be the bigger question: Whose voice are you more likely to parrot at the dinner table with your family or in the golf cart with your friend?
I was struck recently by pastor/author Ray Ortlund’s observation on James 1:19, our verse for today. He tweeted: “God is giving us this privilege: being the people in this angry world the most eager to listen, the least opinionated, and the hardest to detonate.”
Look, we’re all going to listen to something. But what should it be? And we’re all going to speak. But what should way say and when should we do so and to whom? Finally, what should our tone be? Blowing up over worldly matters rarely serves an eternal purpose.
The title of today’s devotion is “When to Speak Up.” The broad answer is: When our words reflect the heart and wisdom of the Lord of our life, Jesus Christ. The harder question for you each day will be this: What do I say right now?
—
Jeff Hopper
July 7, 2021
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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