Seven-Day Practical Faith Blog: Respond Rather Than React

Carrollton (TX) police officer Shawn Henderson showed up at Parkland Memorial Hospital full of rage. His best friend, a SWAT officer, had been shot while executing a search warrant. Henderson's gut reaction was the craving for vengeance against the shooter.

The SWAT team leader explained to Henderson that after firing his weapon and striking the officer, the shooter immediately threw out his weapon and lifted his hands in surrender. He was cuffed and taken to jail without incident.

Henderson realized the enormous restraint shown by the team leader and the rest of the unit. How difficult it must have been in an emotionally charged situation to step over a bleeding brother cop to arrest the shooter and transport him to jail unharmed. Henderson identified that the team leader had responded rather than reacted.

We live in a reaction-filled society. We see a news item, and we react immediately, without having all the facts. We strongly react when we hear an opposing opinion or when someone stands against us. We double-down on our initial reactions rather than revisiting them once we have facts, clarity, and time to think.

A response is different from a reaction. Henderson writes:

A response requires synthesis, reason, thought, and ultimately, a decision. In that gap between a reaction and a response, productive things happen; the seeds of problem-solving take root. With enough practice, care and cultivation, solutions emerge.

What does this have to do with living our seven-day practical faith? Our role model for faithful living, Jesus, specialized in responding rather than reacting. His responses were carefully and wisely crafted. Several incidents come to mind, but his classic response (not a reaction) is captured in John 8:2-11. Read it freshly, looking for how Jesus responded using synthesis, reason, thought, and problem-solving to produce a solution.

At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

It strikes me how Jesus didn't feel a need to instantly answer the question. We live in a world of immediate gratification and quick reactions. Why not take the time to carefully think and consider before responding? Silence, of course, can come across as consent. But it's OK to say you want to think about your response before stating it aloud.

I'm reminded of the story of Abraham Lincoln and his fiery Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton. Angry at a colleague, Stanton asked Lincoln what to do. Lincoln suggested writing a letter. Stanton wrote it and brought it to Lincoln for review. Lincoln exclaimed as he read the letter, "That's it, Stanton! Prick him good!" Stanton asked, "So you like it? Shall I send it?" Lincoln replied, "Heavens, no! It felt good to get that anger out of your system. Now go and write the letter you should write." Again, response, not reaction.

Let's practice biting our tongues until we've considered what we should say. Let's make our words full, impactful, and gracious. Let's turn away from simply reacting and perfect the ways in which we respond. In doing so, we'll actually become more like Jesus.