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Pandemic Perspective – Part 24 Anger

Ephesians 4:26-27

And “don’t sin by letting anger control you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

Anger is something we all experience and we all deal with it in different ways. Some are screamers, yet others while they present a stoic face on the outside are seething on the inside. Some get in your face. Some give you the silent treatment, but one thing we all have in common is that we all get angry. The truth is that when you let anger get the best of you, it brings out the worst in you because it gives the enemy a foothold. Right now there are a lot of angry people in this country and we are giving the enemy a foothold. John 10:10 reveals his goal, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. Is it any wonder that what we have seen in most of the protests is theft, death, and destruction! So what do we do with this strong emotion called anger? Is it possible to be a Christian and still get angry? How can we honor Jesus in our anger? Paul gives us answers to these questions in the fourth chapter of Ephesians. First:

  1. Use your anger for good

Maybe this point sounds strange to you. Some folks believe that anger by nature is sinful, so how could you ever use your anger for good? Verse 26 tells us that anger is not a sin. It says, “In your anger, do not sin…” So, by that statement alone, you can be in a state of anger and not be sinning. After all, Jesus got angry. The biblical writers had the same hang-ups about anger that we do today. Only one of the gospel writers was courageous enough to say that Jesus got angry. Do you remember the occasion? Most people think of the time he knocked over the tables of the money changers in the Temple and drove out the animals. People were being cheated and swindled in the very act of worship. Jesus certainly could have been angry there yet the scripture describes him as full of “zeal.” But the writers never called it anger. The only time scripture records that Jesus got angry was when he was staring down the prideful Pharisees who preferred keeping their manmade rules about the Sabbath over seeing a man healed of his withered hand. Mark calls it like it is in Mark 3:4-5, “Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent. 5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.” The truth is that some things ought to make you angry. You should be angry when someone is discriminated against. You should be angry that your Christian brothers and sisters are being imprisoned and tortured and murdered around the globe. You should be angry whenever someone gets raped or murdered. You should be angry when a Veteran commits suicide. Some things ought to make you angry. If you never get angry you might want to check your pulse! The key is that in your anger, do not sin. At its core anger is a protest and we need to ask the question is my protest constructive or destructive? Use your anger for good, not for evil. We need to explain our anger not express it, when we do we will immediately open the door to solutions instead of arguments. James urges us to be “quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires” James 1:19-20. Choose to build constructively with your anger, not to tear down. Look for a solution, make the world a better place. Speak the truth in love, not in hate. Take a stand when you ought to, but do it with careful humility, not careless pride. Not only should we use our anger for good but we should:

  1. Deal with your anger quickly.

The last part of verse 26 and verse 27 read, “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” If you nurse that anger past sunset, you’re likely to move into the kinds of things verse 31 talks about like bitterness and rage. And guess what? Your body was not designed for that! God did not create us to carry bitterness, resentment and rage. Ever heard of psychosomatic illness? Your rage will show up in other ways, like ulcers and migraines and insomnia. Or we displace our unresolved anger on innocent others like a spouse or friend. Our anger will grow out of control consuming us because we’ve given the devil a foothold. Our body houses the Holy Spirit, but when we let anger last longer than a night, we’re opening up opportunities for the devil to work through us. Unresolved anger is undoubtedly what Jesus had in mind when he said, “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell” (Matthew 5:22). Jesus spoke of strong language that betrayed an unforgiving heart. And he disturbingly portrayed unresolved anger as mental murder. Now you won’t always be able to resolve everything literally before sunset. But what you can do is to resolve to resolve it. If you’re angry with your spouse, you can at least admit it and plan together to talk it through the next day when you’re both at your best. Some of us think we’re great because we hold our anger in. Use your anger for good, deal with it quickly, and lastly:

  1. Learn to let it go

Is it time to cut the line and let that person off your hook. Maybe it’s time to release the offender to God. That’s one area where our faith gives us a distinct advantage over unbelievers. We don’t have to settle every account, because God will. Of course, what we’re talking about here is the dreaded “F word”: forgiveness. When it comes to living as the church, verse 32 is one of the most beautiful verses in the Bible. It reads, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” We need to show each other some kindness and some compassion, the kind of kindness and compassion we would like to receive. And we need to forgive each other. Why? Because in Christ, God forgave us! Christians of all people should lead the way in forgiveness. Yet when it comes to forgiveness it often doesn’t feel like it’s the right thing to do. Even though it doesn’t match what you’re feeling on the inside it is still the right thing to do. We live in a world where there’s a lot of pain and heartache, a world into which we are to bring love and forgiveness, and break the cycle of hatred. Are you protesting with anger and projecting hurt or promoting love? Christian singer and songwriter Matthew West wrote a song entitled, “Forgiveness.” And there is a line in the song that says, “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”  How about you? Are you a hothead? Or are you the silent type that stews forever on the inside? Neither one is good, because both are damaging. Both grieve the Holy Spirit. Both give the devil a foothold. How about yielding your anger to God? Next time your angermometer is about to blow a gasket, how about slowing yourself down by talking to God: “God, you know I’m hot right now. Why am I so upset? And how can I use this strong emotion to honor your name and grow your kingdom? How can I use my anger for your righteous purposes?” That’s a prayer worth praying, as we seek to put the brakes on our anger. I am thankful that God in His wisdom wired us with such strong emotions that help us to know something is not right. But we need to monitor our emotions not multiply them.


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Pandemic Perspective – Part 23 Hate

Romans 12:9-10 “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

It’s here in Romans 12 that we see some powerful and pointed words, we are called to hate evil and cling to what is good. What if we stopped hating skin and started hating sin? How different would our world be if we would choose to have a sincere love that honored others above ourselves? Proverbs 10:12 says, “Hatred stirs up conflicts, but love covers all offenses.” How serious are you when it comes to sin? James 1:14-15 reminds us that sin seeks to kill, “Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” We need to realize that just because we are finished committing the sin, doesn’t mean that sin is not finished with you. Sin may be fun for a season, but the season is always short, and the payment is long. While the initial cost is often high remember it is only the initial down payment. Often, we keep paying in our conscience, our body, in the suffering we bring on our family, friends, and community. We can be forgiven but we don’t escape the consequences. Ravi Zaccharias put it so well when he said, “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.” Sadly, in many churches we have split sin into the serious and the socially acceptable. We are ok with gluttony but notsmoking. We preach against alcohol but not gossip. But how much damage is done by the sins of gossip and gluttony? Instead of killing sin we have become comfortable with it. Do you know why most diets don’t work? Because on that diet you are asked to go without and say no to things that you really enjoy. Often you can have as much of the things you are allowed to have as you want. But in a fairly short amount of time all of the things that you like and are allowed to eat begin to lose their appeal. The diet says I can have as much as I want but you know what I want. I want the doughnut I can’t have. I want the starch and all the things I am not supposed to have. As with any diet over time, what really starts to sound good is what I am not supposed to have. The diet plan tells us to use our human willpower to avoid eating things you really enjoy. But what if the real key to diet is understanding why certain foods are unhealthy and learning to “hate” all the foods that are bad for you! Why do so many experience this rollercoaster ride with sin, where we have seasons of success followed by seasons of slavery? Because we see sin as a dieting instead of a lifestyle change. What we want to do is diet for a season and then go back to sin. Let me ask you a seemingly strange question, if I were to ask you to make a solemn commitment to not knowingly eat any insects for an entire year how many of you could commit to that? No more flies! No more spiders! Laying off the ants! Not even one more cockroach, could you do it? I think with confidence and enthusiasm, we could commit to that. Why, because we don’t want to eat insects! We don’t like them and probably the thought of eating them makes you feel sick. So why is it so hard to follow through on our spiritual convictions and commitments and to stop a particular sinful behavior? Why do we have certain patterns of failure and weakness that plague us for years? Because we don’t hate sin. In fact, we like sin, we enjoy it and so we crave its sinful pleasures. Like the dieter who is waiting for a secret moment to sneak and indulge in a handful of potato chips or a piece of chocolate cake we find ourselves surrounded by temptation and don’t know how to handle it. While some “human strategies” may work with chocolate cake they won’t work with the temptation to sin. Things like just trying to ignore it or the temptation to compromise and make a deal with it. When we say just this once or just once more and then I will stop. Fortunately, God doesn’t call us to fight sin with willpower. In fact, the Bible gives us some specific strategies for dealing with sin. So, let me share a few practical steps to learn to hate sin:

1.) Know God better.

Psalm 97:10 says, “Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.” Focus on the Savior not the sin. Those who love the Lord, this is not a casual acquaintance this is the one we love. How much time do you spend with Jesus, in prayer and in His Word? Because either sin will keep you from the bible or the bible will keep you from sin.

2.) Remember the price of sin.

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Remember that our sin cost Jesus His life. The bread of communion reminds us that Jesus took the punishment for our sin in His body. He was bruised, beaten and broken in our place. The cup reminds us that “without the shedding of blood there is no way for the stain of sin to be removed from our souls”. Don’t minimize the seriousness of sin.

3.) Remember God’s Spirit lives in you.

1 Corinthians 6:15-20 “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” Paul uses a very graphic temptation to make this point. The believers in Corinth were being tempted to go into the pagan temples where immorality with prostitutes was a part of the “worship”. Paul makes it clear that they drag their Savior into that immorality with them because His Spirit is in them. The same is true for us, everywhere you go He goes. Everything you see He sees. Every secret place you take HIM too. Every relationship you put HIM right in the middle of it. Proverbs 5:21 says, “For a man’s ways are in full view of the LORD , and he examines all his paths.” If your Pastor spouse or kids were tied to you so that wherever you went they had to go, are there any places that you currently go that you would avoid. Any flirtations you would cool off? Any conversations you would skip? Any entertainment you would change? If you would answer yes then my question is why? They are just human not the Holy God. Why would you change things for their sake but be willing to do it in the sight of God?

4.) Recognize the results of sin.

Hebrews 11:24-25 says, “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.” While sin advertises itself as fun, adventure and excitement it always leads to pain, prison and death. Sin is a cockroach not a cookie. Its death cloaked in desire. We must be aware of our desire to be easy on ourselves. We all tend to be most understanding and forgiving of our own passions and prides while being quick to take offense at another people’s attitudes or behaviors. So, let me ask you what are you hating, are you hating the right thing? Because if we are not careful we will love sin and hate the wrong thing.