“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” – James 1:19-20 (NIV)
Doesn’t it seem like anger is the default emotion these days?
Any sense of being able to “agree without being disagreeable” feels like it’s ancient history. Rage and anger are the new norm.
Just check out the “comments” section on a new article or a Facebook thread about (insert the polarizing topic of the day). It is very rare indeed to see individuals having a back and forth that doesn’t include some form of anger.
I wish I could say that was limited to people who didn’t know Jesus. Unfortunately, it’s not.
Even for those who follow Jesus, anger and rage seems to be the default when it comes to what happens in culture.
That’s not a good thing for at least several reasons, not the least of which is this:
It’s impossible to become who God made you to be when you’re constantly angry.
Look back at what James says above when it comes to anger:
#1- We should be slow to be angry
Unsurprisingly, this is one of God’s character traits.
Yes, God has great wrath against sin. But He has a seriously long fuse (see Exodus 34:6). He is slow to anger. He isn’t a rage-aholic. He isn’t quick tempered. Anger is not the Lord’s default.
Instead, the Lord describes Himself first as compassionate and gracious (see again Exodus 34:6).
Being slow to anger is a reflection of becoming more like Jesus.
Being quick tempered simply means you’re not yet where you need to be.
I will point this out: James doesn’t say to never get angry, and it’s probably because there are some things that should anger us.
But even with things that should anger us, I tend to think the primary reaction should be heartbreak and compassion rather than anger and rage, and the reason for that is because…
#2- Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires
Put another way: our anger doesn’t lead us to becoming who God made us to be.
If you check out the fruit of the Spirit, you’ll discover that anger and rage are not listed (Galatians 5:22-23). Rage, however, is listed as a work of our sinful nature (Galatians 5:20).
In other words: It’s impossible to become who God made you to be when you are constantly angry.
But why is that?
Probably because we do a really poor job as human beings at separating our anger over an action or an issue from anger being directed at a person.
And that’s the primary problem with today’s culture.
I have zero problem with having passionate feelings on things- even on matters that are debatable.
The problem comes in when we get so angry at the viewpoint of another person that we go straight past discussing the point of view to attacking the other person.
That’s to be expected from someone who does not have the Holy Spirit in them.
But Christians should be different.
We should not be like culture. We should be a breath of fresh air, an alternative to culture.
And that means we need to tone down the anger. Because it’s impossible to love our neighbors as ourselves when we’re constantly directing anger at them.
Before wrapping up, let me add a closing thought: anger is not always expressed in out and out rage.
You may be reading this and think “I’m glad I don’t have an anger problem”“, when the truth is you do. A deep one.
You may not be a raging volcano, but you are nasty passive-aggressive. You’re snarky and sarcastic.
You may not explode when you’re upset, but your words still cut like a knife, slicing people down to size and humiliating them with your speech.
How do you know you might have that problem?
Ask yourself this question: How does what I just said make me feel?
If what you just said made you puff out your chest a little bit, if it gave you a little air of superiority over “that person” or “those people”, if it made you think less of someone else…then, yes, you’ve got an anger issue.
It just looks different.
Bottom line: we’re commanded to put away anger (Ephesians 4:31-32). In it’s place, we are to be kind, compassionate, tenderhearted, and forgiving.
That’s how Jesus was, after all. Towards us- His enemies- no less.
And if Jesus is our Savior, Jesus is Who we follow and imitate.
The world needs an alternative to anger. Let’s be the alternative.
______
This post originally appeared at dillonschupp.com.