From political polarization to protests.
From social media angst to online vitriol.
From racial tension to riots.
It seems that just about everyone is angry about something.
Yes, there is injustice in the world…injustice in our nation…injustice in our communities.
There is no way to minimize it.
And anger is a legitimate reaction to the tragedies, atrocities, and inhumanities of our world.
But, face it, if you are going to be angry about every injustice, then you are going to be angry for the rest of your life.
There are 7.8 billion of us on this planet. All of us sin. All of us fall short. All of us harm our neighbor in some form or fashion…either by action or inaction, commission or omission, intentionality or complicity.
We can be angry about injustice but we must see our own culpability at the same time.
Yes, anger can be legitimate…but it is also incomplete…insufficient…incapable of bringing healing, reconciliation, restoration, rest, peace.
The Bible is quite clear about anger.
Refrain from anger and give up your rage;
do not be agitated—it can only bring harm (Psalm 37:8)
Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person,
do not associate with one easily angered,
or you may learn their ways
and get yourself ensnared. (Proverbs 22:24-25)
An angry person stirs up conflict,
and a hot-tempered person commits many sins. (Proverbs 29:22)
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. (James 1:19-20)
At best, anger identifies a problem. It lets us know that something is wrong. It stirs up our soul about the destructive nature of sin around us…among us…within us.
But it fails to bring a solution.
It stirs up the emotions but disengages the mind.
It stirs up action but increases division.
It may seek to squelch injustice but it often adds to it.
Victims become perpetrators and the vicious cycle continues.
Anger leads to hatred which leads to resentment which leads to bitterness which leads to conflict which leads to violence which leads to injustice which feeds more anger.
The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
It is a dead end…literally.
But, wait, wasn’t Jesus angry? Isn’t God angry?
Yes and yes.
But Jesus, God in the flesh, is also omniscient…perfectly seeing the whole picture. He is also sinless…perfectly balancing anger and compassion, justice and mercy, wrath and grace.
Our problem with anger is that we can’t see the whole picture…and we inevitably add our own self-righteous attitudes, self-focused agendas, and self-justifying actions to the mix.
That’s why the Bible puts a time limit on our anger.
“In your anger do not sin”:
Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,
and do not give the devil a foothold. (Ephesians 4:26-27)
Don’t carry your anger from one day to the next.
It always grows…simmers…boils…explodes.
Instead cast it away…cast it into the hands of God…trust the justice of God…receive His grace and peace…and then act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him.
Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ. (Ephesians 4:31-32)
This is the path of love.
This is the road to justice.
This is the way to a better community…better nation…and better world.
Everyone is NOT angry. This post seems so worldly.
The quotes above from Ephesians relate specifically to Christians being transformed into images of Jesus Christ – (For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; (2 Corinthians 10:4-5 KJV)
I go to the store, meet people on the street, talk to family and friends, communicate with people on fb, at church, etc. They most of them are not angry. The are concerned about the evil in the world, but they are not angry.
It is the devil who is angry and getting angrier every day. Those who are his followers follow suite. We chase after Christ, who expresses Himself with Love, for “God is Love.” And thus we become transformed.
The trouble with Israel in the days Jesus walked the earth is that they didn’t see or understand the signs of the times. Because they didn’t understand then, Jesus laid out the sings for His second advent for Israel to be looking for and in Matthew and in Luke. He said, “But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28 NASB).
One problem is that most of the Church is just like the Jews, and don’t see the signs of the time. It isn’t just “A” sign here and there. It is the CONVERGENCE of all the signs at once. When we see stores beginning to decorate for Christmas, we know Thanksgiving is right around the corner. We we see the convergence, which are here, we know His second coming is close and the rapture is even closer.
We children of God, brothers and sisters in Christ, need to be focused on our Lord and Savior, not the world. The world will be angry and the anger will continue to grow. But we should be in peace, in Christ, for the good news is that our kingdom is not of this world.
Thanks for the comments! I think you misread the intent of my post. My point was that anger is not the proper ongoing response to the issues that we see in the world. We are called to a different response as believers. And even unbelievers should see the danger and foolishness of holding onto anger, as it says in Proverbs. I don’t see the post as “worldly” since it is pointing people back to the Word of God and the grace of God in Christ. That was my intent.