Get angry and not sin: don’t let the sun set while you are still angry Ephesians 4:26
One of the most difficult aspects of Christian life is dealing with anger, specifically anger. With all the great cultural tides around us, it is very easy to get angry these days, angry at the changes we see in culture, angry at sin and angry at Christians or the church for not responding, or for responding in a way we perceive to be evil.
- Basically.
- We have to understand that there are two types of anger.
- Only anger.
- Which is nourished by the glory of God; and unjust anger.
- Fueled by our own glory or pride.
Only anger is a good thing, why is it good?It shows that sin saddens us. The church that does not mourn sin is a callous church; a Christian who does not feel that anger is a callous Christian.
John Stott said
“There is a great need in the contemporary world of more Christian anger. We are committed to sin in a way that God never does. In the face of evil, we must not remain apathetic and without feelings. If God hates sin, his people must hate it too. What other reaction can we expect wickedness to cause in those who love God?
But is this the hardest part?” Get angry, but don’t sin?We often lack reflection on why we are angry. Perhaps it is not only anger that we feel, but an idol of control or comfort that has been threatened. Loss of position. Loss of political power. Loss of reputation. None of these things justify anger, for they are fueled by pride. And none of these things should surprise us, Jesus told us that these things would happen.
We often mix a true sadness for sin with a victim mentality. Do we like to think that by expressing our anger, we are like Jesus turning our backs in the temple yard, when in fact we are unable to tame and do our tongues?Do not produce the fruit of the Spirit?self-control in our lives. Our anger against sin should not be reckless, because reckless anger never produces God’s righteousness. Our anger must be free from pride, despite evil, animosity, and the spirit of vengeance. That’s where it gets complicated.
At the same time, we must be careful in our discourse not to criticize so easily the wrath of christian brethren. We often harshly criticize our brethren, not knowing why a particular sin saddens them so deeply. Do we know his past? Worse, in some cases, some Christians criticize other believers mainly for the approval of the world or culture (?See, I’m not like them . . . ?) It is often more popular to criticize the church for the church than anything else.
Beloved, Christians can and should be saddened by sin, they will only express anger, perhaps not always in the best way, nor in the proper forum, but in any case, it would be cruel on our part not to allow them to cry. The sins of others, as the Spirit leads them to. Don’t assume your anger valve is the same valve for any anger. The question is whether our anger is just and free from pride and a spirit of vengeance. is that this is often not the case, but if so, they do not deny others a biblically justified emotion. In fact, you can turn off the Spirit.