Sinful Anger
To keep our words from becoming destructive,
we must be able to control what we say.
Here's Gene:
Earlier in the book of James,
he addressed this subject of anger.
In fact, let me just review what he said
in James chapter 1.
It's a powerful, powerful statement:
My dear brothers and sisters,
understand this:
Everyone should be quick to listen,
slow to speak, and slow to anger,
for human anger does not accomplish
God's righteousness.
As you look at those three statements,
it's a powerful divine formula, I believe
for controlling anger.
This concept of quick to listen:
That takes discipline obviously,
when you're dealing with someone
that's making you angry or attacking you.
But if we're quick to listen and slow to speak,
it's amazing how we can disarm
the individual who is expressing that anger.
In fact, it even works with children
and I've seen it work.
Where the child is angry and sharing something,
and then you simply say:
Now, if I'm hearing you right,
let me tell you what I'm hearing.
And you give them feedback
on what you're hearing.
And frequently that will dissipate.
They feel listened to.
And that works with adults as well.
Not always, but it takes discipline.
And it helps us then control our anger
in response to anger.
And so here's this divine formula
that James gives us.
Now here in chapter 3,
as James frequently does,
he introduces us to a subject and then
he develops that subject more in depth.
And in this case, it's the whole
concept of anger.
And to be honest, I've seen something here
that I just never saw before.
And let me just share what that is.
Notice in James chapter 3, verse 1 to 2, he said:
Not many should become teachers, my brothers...
And that I think could be brothers and sisters
because later they talk about
brothers and sisters as they translate:
...Not many should become teachers,
my brothers, because you know that we will
receive a stricter judgment. ...
And the question is: Why a stricter judgment?
What is he talking about?
Well, he goes on to explain:
...For we all stumble in many ways.
If anyone does not stumble in what he says,
he is mature, able also to
control the whole body.
Now he's talking about the tongue.
He's talking about expressing
particularly anger.
Now, here's the interesting insight:
James is not just talking about
being accountable for what we say
or what we teach,
but as you'll see from context,
it's how we say it.
And it's clear as you go on
that it's not just the what--
correct doctrine--but it's your attitude,
your expression.
And in essence, he's talking about anger.
Expressing in anger in an inappropriate way.
So let's read on and you will see the context.
Well first of all, he uses some metaphors.
Controlling a horse with a small bit,
which is very illustrative.
And I can identify with this
because when I was young,
I had a horse that needed a strong bit
to be able to control that animal:
Now if we put bits into the mouths of horses
so that they obey us,
we direct their whole bodies.
And if you have ridden a horse,
you understand that.
A second metaphor:
Turning a large ship with a small rudder:
And consider ships: Though very large
and driven by fierce winds,
they are guided by a very small rudder
wherever the will of the pilot directs.
And then a third metaphor:
Igniting a raging forest fire with a small spark.
And so he says:
So too...and here he applies the truth, literally,
to the tongue with this metaphor:
So too, though the tongue is a
small part of the body, it boasts great things.
Consider how a small fire
sets ablaze a large forest.
And we all know about that. We've seen it.
Some of us have experienced it.
You know, a campfire that's not put out properly,
a hot coal, or someone throws
a cigarette down and all of a sudden it sparks.
And all of a sudden you have what?
This huge blaze.
And so consequently, the metaphor
is very graphic.
All three of these metaphors
are very graphic because they illustrate
the power of the tongue and how
the tongue can express evil.
Now here's the context--now remember
he's talking first and foremost to those of us
who are teachers.
And he goes on to say,
and I call this serious hypocrisy:
With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father,
and with it we curse people
who are made in God's likeness. ...
Now who is he talking to?
Teachers.
And you see the evil even through
the teachers that he's addressing
throughout the Roman world.
And that's what he's talking about:
That we are going to be held
more accountable, not just for what we say,
but how we say it.
And he goes on to say:
...Blessing and cursing come out
of the same mouth.
My brothers and sisters,
these things should not be this way.
You see what he's talking about.
Now it applies to all of us obviously.
And he ends this paragraph
with a couple of powerful questions:
Does a spring pour out sweet and bitter water
from the same opening? ...
The answer obviously, No.
And you can see where he's going
with this metaphor:
...Can a fig tree produce olives,
my brothers and sisters...
And you see he's really speaking to all of us:
...or a grapevine produce figs? ...
The answer of course is no.
...Neither can a salt water spring
yield fresh water.
And so here he's used metaphor after metaphor
to illustrate the power of the tongue.
And you see, that leads us now
to this this Principle which I stated
at the beginning but let me restate it.
I call it Sinful Anger:
To keep our words from becoming destructive,
we must be able to control what we say.
And that leads us to a
Reflection and Response question
in application to what James is saying here.
And I want broadened the concept
from the words of the apostle Paul.
And so I say:
According to Paul, in what other ways
can anger become sinful?
In a previous presentation, we talked about
what Paul wrote in Ephesians chapter 4.
And I've called this Bitterness.
Now first of all, Paul tells us,
and we need to understand this:
Be angry and do not sin. ...
And I have to simply say that
there are times when as believers
and as teachers and leaders,
there's a cause for righteous anger.
Jesus demonstrated that
when he cleansed the temple.
And so Paul says: If you get angry,
don't sin in the process.
Now the people that James
is addressing were sinning in the process
because of the way they were using words
and the anger they were expressing.
It was hypocrisy.
But Paul goes on to say:
Here is a way in which you do sin
with your anger. He says:
Don't let the sun go down on your anger,
and don't give the devil an opportunity.
And what he's simply using there
is a metaphor to say: Don't allow anger
to become bitterness.
Because once it becomes bitterness,
then it's going to be an angry expression
out of the will of God.
Something that's going to hurt people.
And obviously James is dealing
with that kind of anger here in relationship to
what's going on in these churches
throughout the Roman world.
Another way in which anger becomes sinful
is what we call vengeance.
And Paul addressed that. He said:
Friends do not avenge yourselves;
instead leave room for God's wrath...
God is the one that can bring vengeance
because of who He is.
And He's a righteous judge. We're not:
...because it is written:
Vengeance belongs to me;
I will repay, says the Lord.
So consequently, we have guidelines
in terms of anger and when
anger becomes sinful.
And certainly, as leaders and as teachers,
first and foremost we need to deal with that.
But imagine these people that
these teachers were teaching.
The people they were teaching
who are carnal also, or sinful.
And imagine how they would respond
with that kind of anger.
They would just simply model it
and pass it on down perhaps
to their children and other believers.
And as you'll see later, there were
tremendous, tremendous angry situations
going on among these believers
that James later addresses in this letter.
I also thought of three powerful
Proverbs in controlling anger.
Because controlling anger is not easy.
It doesn't happen automatically.
Now we saw the divine formula
and that is to be quick to listen,
quick to hear.
And the Proverbs that I want to
share with you underscore that
quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.
Proverbs 14:29:
A patient person shows great understanding,
but a quick-tempered one promotes foolishness.
In other words, what helps us to control
our anger? Great understanding. Perception.
How do you gain understanding?
By being quick to listen. By getting the perspective.
Understanding where that person
is coming from in terms of their anger.
And being able to try to understand
the motivation behind their anger.
Here's another Proverb 17:27--
it really emphasizes the same truth:
The one who has knowledge
restrains his words...
The first Proverb refers to understanding.
This uses another word--knowledge:
...And one who keeps a cool head
is a person of understanding.
Knowledge and understanding
of course work together.
Here's a third Proverb:
A person's insight...
And that's a key word--insight.
You put all these words together--
knowledge, understanding, insight:
...gives him patience, and his virtue
is to overlook an offense.
Or we might paraphrase and say:
Really try to understand the cause
of all of this anger and be able to
respond to it in a proper way.
But as I was thinking about this,
we have so many Proverbs that give us
the positive in terms of
how to communicate with people.
And let me just share one--it's one of my favorites.
I call this the Power of Positive Words,
rather negative words:
Pleasant words are a honeycomb...
I love that metaphor--a honeycomb:
...Pleasant words are a honeycomb:
sweet to the taste and health to the body.
And another translation actually says:
sweet to the soul and health to the body.
In other words, with words we can
make a person feel good all over
when we respond in a way that
reflects the fruit of the Spirit
rather than our flesh and the sins
of the flesh in responding.
So let me just repeat the Principle once again:
To keep our words from becoming destructive,
we must be able to control what we say.