Three Essential Questions

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. (James 1:19-25 ESV). Will Rogers was known for his laughter, but he also knew how to weep. One day he was entertaining at the Milton H. Berry Institute in Los Angeles, a hospital that specialized in rehabilitating polio victims and people with broken backs and other extreme physical handicaps. Of course, Rogers had everybody laughing, even patients in really bad condition; but then he suddenly left the platform and went to the rest room. Milton Berry followed him to give him a towel; and when he opened the door, he saw Will Rogers leaning against the wall, sobbing like a child. He closed the door, and in a few minutes, Rogers appeared back on the platform, as jovial as before. If you want to learn what a person is really like, ask three questions: What makes him laugh? What makes him angry? What makes him weep? These are fairly good tests of character that are especially appropriate for Christian leaders. There are times to laugh. Someone has said that laughter is the air-conditioning of the soul. However, I have found that there are some things that simply are not funny. The ridicule of another because they are different is not funny. Yet, we have seen so many others become the focus of laughter such as this. There are times for anger also. However, our anger must always be directed correctly. Our enemy is not others. The apostle Paul was very clear about this truth. We fight against “principalities and powers of the darkness.” What makes a man angry is an indicator into his character. And, then we ought to answer the question of what makes us weep. What is the source of our grief? Is it the injustices of the world in which we live, or is it our own selfish desires going unmet? I hear people saying, “We need angry leaders today!” or “The time has come to practice militant Christianity!” Perhaps, but your anger can never make things right in God's sight. I believe what we need today is the practice of grace! What kind of grace is there at work in your life? It is a question worth asking. It is a question worth answering!