Anger
Daily Scripture
John 2:14-17, Ephesians 4:26-27, 31
John 2
14 He found in the temple those who were selling cattle, sheep, and doves, as well as those involved in exchanging currency sitting there. 15 He made a whip from ropes and chased them all out of the temple, including the cattle and the sheep. He scattered the coins and overturned the tables of those who exchanged currency. 16 He said to the dove sellers, “Get these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a place of business.” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written, Passion for your house consumes me [Psalm 69:9].
Ephesians 4
26 Be angry without sinning [Psalm 4:4]. Don’t let the sun set on your anger. 27 Don’t provide an opportunity for the devil.
31 Put aside all bitterness, losing your temper, anger, shouting, and slander, along with every other evil.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
Great Methodist hymn writer Charles Wesley (over 6000 hymns) wrote the phrase, “Gentle Jesus, meek and mild.” It sometimes troubles believers that Jesus himself not only encountered anger from his foes but showed anger when he saw wrongs (like the predatory Temple trade that exploited Passover pilgrims) (cf. also Mark 3:1-5). That is, of course, quite different from much human anger: “It appears that God’s anger is not automatic or predictable, nor is God ever ‘out of control.’” *
- John Wesley once wrote, “Give me 100 men who hate nothing but sin and love God with all their hearts and I will shake the world for Christ!” ** What are some of the evil attitudes and actions in the world that you believe make God angry? Note that Wesley wanted people who “hate sin,” not sinners. How would you distinguish “righteous anger” from the more common human expressions of anger that so often cause pain and suffering?
- “Paul saw anger as a basic element of the sinful nature. So he explained that displays of anger characterize unbelievers and not Christians (Galatians 5:20). Yet the New Testament writers acknowledge the presence of anger in a Christian’s life. Paul’s counsel is to avoid sin when angry (Ephesians 4:26). Yet he [also] urges the readers to avoid anger, among other vices (Ephesians 4:31).” *** How can Jesus’ model guide you to deal with your anger in ways that don’t damage other people?
Prayer
Dear Jesus, when you lived here, you showed anger—and got it right. People who twisted God’s image or hurt innocent people made you angry. I get angry, too—but I often get it wrong. Help me be angry about the things that make you angry. Amen.
GPS Insights
Melanie Hill
Melanie Hill, who serves as the Director of Operations at Resurrection's West location, wrote today’s Insight (but did so first in 2020, though the issue of angry speech she addresses then has not improved in the meantime). She is a Navy mom and mom of three teen daughters, a wife of 24 years, and an avid fan of nachos.
“If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak.” –Shaun Shane
I came across this quote and it struck me that if this were true, many of us would be walking around with fractured tongues, me included. The toxicity of discourse in our country is at an all time high. At least I don’t remember a time when it has seemed so polarizing. Words are powerful. They can be eloquent, creative and restorative. They can also be hurtful, destructive and polarizing. Our words are not neutral. As James puts it “With it we both bless the Lord and Father and curse human beings made in God’s likeness. Blessing and cursing come from the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, it just shouldn’t be this way!” (James 3:10) I bet you have felt this tension. It seems inescapable. We are confronted with it on social media, at work, with family, and on TV. It would seem we have forgotten how to talk to each other.
As a parent raising four kids, I am starting to see how the lack of civil discourse in our country is affecting them. My son Kaelin [now an upperclassman at the U.S. Naval Academy] is fond of asking me to go for a walk when he wants to chat about something. During one of our walks a few weeks ago he shared with me his frustration about not being able to have meaningful conversation with his peers at school. He shared one conversation that escalated so quickly it left him dumbfounded. After no more than a question or two about an issue the name calling started, voices were raised, and physical space was invaded. I was shocked–perhaps I shouldn’t have been. After all, what have we as adults been modeling for his generation? The next part of our conversation was bittersweet. My son shared that in order to try to combat this problem at his school he has decided to work towards starting a club on campus where students can come and learn how to have civil discourse. An “anti-debate club” if you will. A place to work as much, if not more, on listening as sharing. I am proud of him for working towards trying to help solve this issue on his campus. I am heartbroken it is necessary.
What are we doing? To again echo James, “it just shouldn’t be this way!” Pastor Adam’s has told us, “You can either influence or irritate.” You can’t do both. When we set out to prove we are right or make an inflammatory point, we lose all ability to influence anyone. I know that when someone starts a conversation with me with a pointing finger and name calling, I tend to tune out whatever they were saying. I bet you do too.
This has been on my heart for a while, not just because I see it affect my children, but because I follow Jesus. It has made me be more conscience of what I post on social media. I now ask myself before I post anything “Will this be divisive or open conversation?” As I monitor my intake of news and information, I ask myself, “Am I seeing both sides of this issue?” We need people with differing ideas and points of view to continue to be stretched. Lastly, I ask myself, “Am I listening?”
As you can imagine my son and I don’t always see eye to eye on every issue but we enjoy talking through them. It was at the end of one of our walks that I realized how important it was to affirm this with him. I shared with him that although we don’t always agree, I was thankful for the opportunity to talk about it. I said I had learned some important things from him and that he had challenged me to think differently on a few issues. He looked stunned. The look on his face said more about the state of our culture than anything else could. It made me more determined than ever to lead my conversations with love and listening, being slow to anger.
That may mean walking away from social media for an hour (or a day) before I post something. I’m going to choose to err on the side of love and hope that leads to influence. I don’t always get it right and neither will you. But together we can start to make a difference, conversation by conversation, post by post. Who knows? Maybe our world will start to look a little more like God’s kingdom as we love each other well.
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Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* Article “Anger” in Leland Ryken, James C. Wilhoit and Tremper Longman III, general editors, Dictionary of Biblical Imagery. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998, p. 25.
** From https://gracequotes.org/quote/give-me-100-men-who-hate-nothing-but-sin-and-love-god-with-all-their-hearts-and-i-will-shake-the-world-for-christ/
*** Article “Anger” in Leland Ryken, James C. Wilhoit and Tremper Longman III, general editors, Dictionary of Biblical Imagery. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998, p. 26.
