Let's get Angry and get the Hell out!

The congregation parted like the Red Sea
When that old drunk stumbled in down the aisle 

And took a seat
Right in the middle of Amazing Grace
He could feel the judgment they were passing
Thought to himself "Ain't that just how some folks acting”
He'd rather be on the street than in this place
And with tears on his face
Well, he's got problems nobody wants a part of
When he got up and slipped out nobody stood up
They don't wanna make a scene
So they let him walk outta there without a prayer
You'd think somebody would put their arm around him
You'd think somebody would hit a knee
Pull him in, say a prayer
That's what I'm talking ‘bout right there
You'd think somebody would practice what they're preachin'
Well, I wonder who that somebody could be
Prob'ly somebody like me

 Somebody like me

 by Jason Crabb 

I was inspired by a Facebook post by a friend of mine today.  It brought to mind a lesson I don't think we hear enough.  We, as a society, have a tendency to judge an individual for the actions they do, and sometimes...many times...what we think they do.  But let's think about this for a minute.  If God responded to us whenever we did something wrong the way we do to each other, well, there would be no grace...no love...no forgiveness.  We need to point our anger towards the right target.  That target is Satan, and the sin he encourages us to commit, not the person or ourselves.  Let's break it down.

The Importance of Holy Anger:

As with anything spiritual, there are two types of anger; unholy anger  and God's holy anger.  Unholy anger is what we feel when we judge ourselves or another with condemnation.  I have extensive experience with this type of anger.  I get angry with stupidity, with politics, with idiots on the highway, with myself when I make mistakes...over and over again.  This type of anger has no mercy, no love, no forgiveness.  It is this type of anger that sets a judgement line that cannot be erased, that is without the grace of God.  Let's face it, each individual determines their course of action, and many times it includes thoughtless, careless and meaningless results.  Right?

Take the song above by Jason Crabb.  This is a story about a drunk that stumbles into a church while Amazing Grace is being sung, but instead of accepting him as a child of God, the congregation shuns him, causing even more hurt, resentment, and finally judgement.  We all do this in one way or another.  We see things we don't agree with and immediately judge it with the wrong spirit.

But holy anger comes at the problem from a different angle.  Holy anger sees the root of the problem and deals with it right there(John 3:36).  Now, don't miss this!  The Holy Spirit Characteristic of Anger fixes it's sights on the sin, not the person.  He has done everything to help us see Him and believe (Romans 1:20).  God hates the sin within us, not us.  You see, God's Holy Spirit, or that inner man that we've been learning about, sets a hedge of protection around our hearts like layers of an onion (1Thessalonians 4:8)(Romans 8:26-28).   

God's righteousness shows us what is sin and Anger gives us a healthy hatred of sin.  Faith gives us the opportunity to experience grace (Ephesians 2:8).  Love is the impetus for grace (Romans 5:8).  Love is the motivation for all God's actions towards us, which in turn gives us the ability to be experience joy.    Joy gives us the ability to experience patience and peace (James 1:3,4), which in turn gives us hope.  Hope gives us a future to look forward to sealed by promise.

But all of this has the potential to trip us up if we use our anger with the wrong spirit driving it.  That's when we get sideways (Matthew 5:21,22).  Holy anger recognizes that the soul is precious, that God is to judge, and God alone (Matthew 7:1-5).  But, we can be angry at the sin, and the evil spirit that encouraged it.  James tells us that sin begins with the thought.  Christ says the same thing, using adultery as an example (Matthew 5:27,28).  Christ goes on to explain that our minds are a temple of God, that Satan tries to sit in that temple to nudge God out.  

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?  1Corintheans 3:16

Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.  2Thessalonians 2:3,4

It is an old battle that Satan has been waging with God since before time began for us on earth.  Satan wants to be God so bad that he was cast out of Heaven for it.  Now, he is the ruler of this world.  His only move at this point is to be the god of our minds, to rule over our lives here.  But, God has devised a way for Satan to be cast out of this world as well, by sending His Son, Jesus, to be the propitiation for our sins (1John 4:10), and cast Satan out once and for all!  

That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.  

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also [in the likeness] of [his] resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with [him], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.   Romans 5:21-6:7  

The Practical application of Anger

We should be angry at sin as Christ is angry at sin, because it is sin that separates us from God.  But, once we accept Jesus into our hearts, sin holds no sway on us any longer.  This is why we should be angry when sin is able to work in us.  We may be the reason why another soul doesn't follow Christ.  We must hate sin enough to want to truly get rid of it, to keep it from working out of us, especially towards others.  

Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with [his] hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.  

And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.  Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:  And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.  Ephesians 4:26-32

When we see sin working in others, our immediate response should be to pray for them (Matthew 5:44), and to pray for ourselves as well (Matthew 26:41)!  We should pray that we will not act out in contradiction to God's Holy Spirit and His Word.  We have to be the light on that hill.  As joint heirs with Christ, we are responsible for being an example of Christ and His word and Spirit...all of it.  Love, Mercy, Longsuffering, Grace, Peace, Patience, Faith, Joy, Wisdom, Counsel, Might, Kindness, and so on.  To practice all this, we must recognize sin for what it is, and stop it from working! 

This is the crux of being a Spiritual Warrior!  I hate judging, selfish, lazy, non-caring and abusive spirits.  They are all killers and need to be dealt with in a Godly way...and with persistence!  But, this is a key point, because God's love corrects a believer in Christ, it never condemns the believer (Hebrews 12:5-11).  But, God's holy anger will condemn sin, and without Christ's protective covering of righteousness, a person will certainly be condemned to death (John 3:23).  Since we are not God we must not condemn either.  

We do not know the spiritual condition of another person as God does.  It is His job, and His alone, to judge another person.  Having said that, we must then treat all persons as a child of God, with loving correction, not condemnation!  We can certainly hate the sin, and the spirit behind the sin, but we are called to love the soul.  

Here's our homework for the week.  Let's practice being loving towards others by using kind, non-judgmental words when speaking to others.  Also, if necessary, be firm in corrections with our children, but lovingly firm.  This is not a license to beat them over the head, but to lovingly correct them.  Correction is a way we can express what is important to God, without condemnation.

Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Hebrews 12:11

Remember, God loves us, and will do whatever it takes to get our attention back on Him.  May you be angry with the sin in your life this week, and filled with wisdom, understanding and mercy, always acting in love when dealing with that ugly barrier called sin.  Here are a few scripture to consider for our personal quiet time this week.

Psalms 30:5                       Joel 2:13
Mark 3:1-6                        Ephesians 4:31
Colossians 3:8                   Colossians 3:16-21
1Thessalonians 3:12