Slow Your Roll

So the word that’s been on my mind these past few months is “STOP.” It could be because the summer went way too fast. It could be because my kids are growing up way too fast. While those things are true, the evocation of my exclamation comes almost entirely from the negative rhetoric being spewed everywhere I turn. Social media, news media, print media, in the coffee shop, at morning workouts, in churches, on the street… I just want to yell or post, “STOP!” I suppose I’m not surprised, but I am disappointed. And I’m exhausted. I’m no saint – I’ve definitely let a comment slip here and there – and I’m disappointed in myself as soon as it comes out. These contributions, whether offered privately or publicly, are not upbuilding. They’re not loving. They’re not moving anyone or anything toward righteousness. And they come as a result of mouths (and fingers on keyboards) moving more quickly than brains. They come from places of fear and frustration, anger and anxiousness. They come because we let our tongues get away from us, allowing our words more space than we allow God’s Word. So the word that’s been on my mind these past few months is as much for me as it for all of us. STOP! We are a people who claim a God of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We are a people claimed by that same God and called God’s prized possessions. Yet our behavior so often reflects rotten fruit rather than the beautiful and fruitful image of the Spirit in which we were created. This week we’re going to look at a text from the Epistle of James and be challenged to think about how we (and God) would be better served if we slow down a beat and allow what emerges from our mouths and minds to look more like light and love, and less like libel and slanderous loathing. As we prepare to be together, may the words of our lips and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing to our gracious God. Pastor Sam Perkins