James Notes (2)

 The Third Rail

When I was a lad living in the D.C. area, I loved riding the streetcars. There was something about the swaying back and forth, the creaking, and watching the overhead electrical connections spark again and again. There was no belching diesel smoke as with transit buses, no sudden starts and stops. Because the streetcars received power from an overhead grid, you could safely walk across (and on) their tracks in the street without fear of electrocution. 

Not so with subways which derive their electrical power from a third rail on the ground, adjacent to the two track rails. To touch the third rail of a subway line means either severe electrical burns or death. Why would anyone, in their right mind, want to touch a third rail? 

Have you learned to recognize third rails in life, and having recognized them, have you learned to avoid them? 

James writes about a third rail in James 1:19–20:

“This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.”

Many years ago, as I was pondering this passage, I was struck to the core by the realization that the anger of Bob Withers does not achieve the righteousness of God. As the Holy Spirit drove a convicting dagger into my heart, I took a pen and wrote above the word “man,” Bob. From that time on, when I read this passage, I read, “For the anger of Bob does not achieve the righteousness of God.” I realized that anger is a third rail, a rail of destruction and death, not only for me but for those around me. 

When we touch the third rail of anger, we conduct a destructive charge to those touching us. This is not just about us, it is about others. 

It seems to me that our society, and much of the professing church, operates on anxiety and anger. We are driven by anxiety, manipulated by anxiety, and intoxicated with anger. Rather than being repelled by the third rail of anger, we seem to be attracted to it. 

I know that many of us read a chapter of Proverbs a day, and yet I wonder if somehow we gloss over its many warnings about anger. How can this be? Of course this is a danger we all face, myself very much included. It reminds me of a typical Sunday morning after preaching, when greeting people after the service there are two kinds of comments a preacher often receives, one is, “Thanks Bob, that challenged me, it gave me something to think about.” The other is, “Thanks Bob, people need to hear that.” What the latter might as well say is, “The other guy really needs to hear that.”

Well, again, we all face that danger. 

“Do not associate with a man given to anger; or go with a hot-tempered man, or you will learn his ways and find a snare for yourself” (Proverbs 22:24–25). Do we really think we can imbibe with immunity so-called news outlets, or so-called Christian movements, or political and social movements, that are energized by anger and vitriol?  This has been a mystery to me for decades, yes, decades. Again, I have been deeply convicted of this in my own life, I am looking in the mirror.

Jesus says that the peacemakers are blessed, that they are the sons of God, not those who are on a perpetual rant. How do we miss this?

James returns to this theme in Chapter 3, where we read, “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (James 3:17–18). 

Many times I have been convicted of my anger by 2 Timothy 2:24–25, “The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth.”  

Even though for many years I have been conscious of my anger not achieving the righteousness of God, I still have occasions when I touch the third rail. One difference between now and years ago is that now I fear the third rail, I fear my anger. I know I am not drinking from the cup of the Lord when I drink anger. Another difference is that I am quick to repent and ask forgiveness and apologize – the sooner the better because the longer I wait the worse I feel and the more likely the wounds will fester. This is a matter of obedience to Jesus and a matter of putting others before myself. It is a matter of survival with me – there is absolutely no merit to it.

Sin is stupid, and anger is sin (yes, yes, there is a godly anger but we aren’t talking about that exceptional condition, which certainly needs to be under the Lordship of Jesus – let’s not justify our behavior and attitudes). 

If you’ve ever had food poisoning, that is the way I feel when I have been angry; the difference is that food poisoning only hurts me, but my anger hurts both me and others and pollutes my relationship with Jesus (and my testimony!). 

How can professing Christians align themselves with the poison of anger, vitriol, sarcasm, and violence? How can men and women who are supposed to be Christian leaders lead their people into such poisonous pastures? To some degree I understand the fears that other leaders have in speaking out against such practices, for they need to eat and pay their bills; however, our collective failure of nerve is a collective shame and an indictment on the professing church. 

As individual disciples of Jesus we can say “No” to Satan and “Yes” to Jesus. We can say “No” to the demons of anger and “Yes” to the Lamb, the Prince of Peace. 

We can refuse to touch the third rail, and when we do touch it, we can run to Jesus in repentance and seek forgiveness and reconciliation with others. 

The streetcars of my youth drew their energy from above, subways draw their energy from below. It may seem like a mundane analogy, but maybe the visual will help us. 

Isn’t there enough hell on earth without us adding to it? 

Aren’t we called to be the Peace and Presence of God to our generation?

“Each will be like a refuge from the wind, and a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a huge rock in a parched land” (Isaiah 32:2). 

Let’s watch those third rails!

END NOTE: It puzzles me that so many brothers and sisters think they only have the options of earth, disciples of Jesus always have the choice of following Jesus, for we are citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20). Is it really all that terrible if we stand alone with Jesus, even if no one else stands with us? Jesus never calls us to choose the lesser of evils, that would be like a Dad consenting to his daughter marrying a criminal convicted of ten hideous crimes instead of a criminal convicted of twenty hideous crimes.

Once again, Jesus never calls us to choose the lesser of two evils, He calls us to choose Him. His Way is the Way of the Prince of Peace, the Way of the Lamb.