Intentionality

 We do everything we do with a purpose; at least, we should. There ought to be intentionality behind everything we do because life is short, finite, and over before most people get a chance to figure out what it’s all about.

Usually, life lessons are hard learned, and by the time you figure out you can’t take any of it with you, you’ve spent the better part of your life amassing, hoarding, and sacrificing things that matter for things that don’t. I’ve had enough conversations with enough people to pick up on the pattern, and it’s a sad and depressing one.

The same goes for people who think they don’t need God until they discover they can’t live without Him. That’s the crux of it. When you have your moment of epiphany and realization, it’s not that you realize you need God but that you can’t live without His presence in your life. If His presence is anything less than an existential need, then you will not fully submit to His authority or obey His commands without question.

Jesus isn’t just a good alternative to buying a pet or someone nice to have around when things go sideways; He is everything, and those who have, throughout history, laid down their lives in service of Him understood this. It’s also the reason He would prefer that men be either hot or cold rather than the lukewarm amalgam this present generation is intent on remaining. We could go into the whole notion of lukewarm or tepid environments being a breeding ground for viruses or diseases, but the reality is that if you are lukewarm, you are not dependable, and you will falter and flail during those moments when you need to stand firm and be bold.

We’ve all heard that a friend in need is a friend indeed, but the same goes for a servant who must be faithful to be deemed worthy. What much of today’s church is comprised of are opportunists, not servants. They heard there was a great offer on fire insurance, and since they’ve always been bargain hunters and the sweaty guy behind the pulpit told them it doesn’t cost them anything, they decided to sign up. Apropos of nothing, the Jesus they’re supposed to be serving and representing said there was a cost, and we should count it, but I’m sure they can explain that away too.

Rounding out the trifecta of needful qualities in the face of trials is being slow to wrath. Not only should we be swift to hear and slow to speak, but we must also be slow to wrath because the wrath of man is counterproductive to the imperative of growing in righteousness. It’s what James is trying to convey in so many words. As he puts it, we should be slow to wrath because the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Everything we do produces something, whether for our good or to our detriment. That time you spend in prayer and reading the Word is not wasted; it produces the desire to know more of God in your heart and matures your understanding of His will in your life. Conversely, those ten hours binge-watching a television show about the Saxon raids on Roman Britain did nothing to grow your spiritual man, even though you learned what a berserker was.

Perhaps we are so ready to squander it because we don’t view time as a finite resource. I’m not saying you should not partake of any sort of entertainment. I’m not your momma or your daddy, so I’m not about to scold you. Still, I would encourage you to be intentional with your time and understand that everything produces something in your life, and you must be mature enough to know what you are producing.

If I’m sitting on my couch popping ring dings like they were tic-tac, expecting to get in shape, it will never happen, though I might wish it with every fiber of my being. The action I’m undertaking is incongruent with the desired result. If I want to grow in God but spend all my time pursuing everything other than Him, I’m never going to grow in God.

If you want to produce the righteousness of God, being quick to wrath is not the way because the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

There is a difference between wrath and anger, and the two are not interchangeable. While the Bible tells us to be angry but not sin, it also says we should be slow to wrath. While anger is a telltale sign that something is wrong and can serve as a motivator to address the source of our frustration, wrath is anchored in the desire for vengeance, revenge, or harm toward others.

James does not say we should never experience wrath, but rather that we should be slow to wrath. Yes, distinctions matter because some have taken to assuming that once we come to Jesus, we’re all supposed to be placid placebos, allowing everyone to walk all over us and thanking them for using us as their doormat. It’s gotten so pervasive in certain circles that showing no emotion and being akin to an automaton is now a mark of whether one is saved or not.

People glom onto all sorts of inane tertiary issues and make them the central tenet of their belief structure, but if the central tenet isn’t Christ and Him crucified, whatever it is they hope will buoy them in the days to come won’t.

That said, tempting as it might be to give in to wrath, we must be aware that the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God, and so it is a far better thing to forego wrath altogether that the righteousness of God might be produced in us.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.