Chapter 18
Anger
Just this week the news media have been carrying some reports of research done at the University of Arkansas suggesting that the anger outlets are not constructive and don’t help with anger management. People often argue that you need to blow off steam or you’ll just explode but research seems to show the opposite. The researcher said, “Expressing anger does not reduce aggressive tendencies and likely makes it worse.” The more common line is to argue that if we are intemperate (lack self control) then we’ll be more temperate (express self control). It sounds like the sin nature talking to me. I think the Univ. of Arkansas researchers may have it right in which they suggest that we learn self-control by practicing self-control.
We don’t generally get angry as a result of seeing something unrighteous but we often get angry because we are unrighteous. We take great comfort in the Scripture that says,
Ephesians 4:26-27 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.
Paul was quoting Psalm 4:4. But if we are angry because we are selfish and impatient then we’ve sinned in our anger. You can’t be angry for sinful reasons and still be angry without sin. It is a contradiction. God is simply saying that unrighteousness that we face on the outside may make us angry and yet that may be without sin. The family of a martyr may be angry. If you’re yelling out the window at some guy who cut you off in traffic then you’re in sin. It is relatively simple. If you find anger in your heart as a result of sin you see in the world then you may yet be angry without sinning if you do not let the sun go down on your anger. If you let the sun go down on your anger then you are developing a grudge. God knows we don’t handle anger well and quickly will feed our sin nature. Listen to this Psalm.
Psalms 37:7-9 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.
We are called on to leave it in God’s hands. Even if our anger is right in response it will quickly lead us to say something stupid or hurtful. Most people don’t get angry and then say something that builds up other people; at least not on purpose.
Morley categorizes the way most men handle anger. First, he discusses the guys with short fuses who just blow up frequently. Second, he discusses the guys with long fuses that make a huge mess when they blow up. Third, he discusses the guys who nurse and grow a grudge looking for a way to get even. Working around people like this is something that we all will likely participate in even if God in His Grace works these things out of our hearts.
Morley lists the following as things which generate anger in our hearts. We can be on our guard against the motivation to anger that these things can bring. Also, if you pay attention, you’ll see these things bring anger to others in your life and you’ll be able (Proverbs 15:1) to speak the soft answer that turns away anger rather than the harsh word that stirs it up. Morley lists the following areas of challenge:
1) Violation of your rights
2) Disappointment with where you are in life
3) Blocked goals in your life
4) Irritations in your life
5) Feeling misunderstood
6) Unrealistic expectations
7) Pathological/Psychological causes
The root causes of selfishness and impatience are expressed in response to these challenges. Unfortunately, while anger can be a right, but limited, response to unrighteousness it generally begins with sinful motivations and ends with additional sin. I think one reason that God says that we should not let the sun go down on our anger at unrighteousness is that while we say we love justice we generally love it for others and not for ourselves.
Our responses to the temptation to anger should be controlled by the fruits of the Holy Spirit. We should ask God’s Grace to:
1) Keep control – ask for self control
2) Overlook offenses – we don’t need to fight back against each wrong
3) Avoid angry men – men without temperance do not make good counselors
4) Appease anger – often you can calm a situation rather than aggravate it
Chapter 19
The Desire to be Independent
We are raised by our parents to be independent and most of us raise our children to be independent. It gives God an uphill battle when He begins to teach us how frail and fallible we are. We just don’t believe it. We figure He must be talking about someone else and we move on in the assumption that we’ll get back to Him when we need Him.
We actually become unfaithful stewards. Everything you have is God’s. All your resources including you and your time are His. You are just a steward and I’m guessing since we are all who we are in our natures … it can justly be said you are, at least in part, an unfaithful steward. I hate the sound of that. It makes me angry and that means I need to go back a chapter and study that chapter on anger again. You are nothing more than a steward. Can you wrap your head around that and on your knees say, “Yes, Lord. I call you Lord because you are Lord and I am nothing but a steward.” If I meditate long enough on that then I’m uncomfortable and really don’t care for all the implications of stewardship.
Are you a good steward or a lord? Are you the lord of your little mole hill?
Listen to Jeremiah describe the bad steward and the good steward:
Bad Steward – The Independent Man
Jeremiah 17:5-6
Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.
Good Steward – The Dependent Man
Jeremiah 17:7-8
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
The independent man doesn’t want a Lord. The problem is that there is a Lord and He has claim to your life and He will not drop the claim. He will work to get your attention. Morley says the turning point is “when you stop seeking the God you want and start seeking the God who is.”
We start to sell the God we want in churches. We talk about how God can “fix” your life, make you prosperous, give you peace of mind, help make your family life happy, and make you feel fulfilled. We can appeal to the independent man in evangelism and avoid the “difficult” aspects of the Gospel. It is really a sort of bait and switch evangelism. Jesus said that you had to lose your life to find it and that you needed to take up your cross and follow Him daily. He said a bunch of other hard stuff too.
When you say “Jesus is Lord” you had better hear what you are saying.
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