bridgewater community church

When my children were little, I thought it would be fun to be an assistant soccer coach. I signed up to be an assistant. I quickly found out, however, I would not be the assistant coach, but the coach.  I didn’t grow up playing soccer and had to become a quick study on the rules of the game. I rented videos and studied guides from the library. I also took a soccer reffing class in order to learn the rules more thoroughly.

My children are now well past their youth soccer years, but I continue to officiate games. I really enjoy the sport; however, I am saddened by the explosive anger and frustration often expressed by parents and coaches because of the official’s call.

Anger, in all its forms, is a problem on the field, in the home and everywhere in between—including the church.  It’s a problem for all of us.

Jesus said, “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ ²² But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court (Matt 5:21-22a).”

Anger in our hearts is murderous.  Because we have a desire to have our own way, we’re tempted to play God and to judge and punish people in our hearts.

The anger itself is not necessarily sinful (John 3:36 and Romans 1:18).  God gets angry (Exodus 4:14, 15:8).  Jesus got angry (Mark 3:5; Matthew 21:12).  The apostle Paul tells us to be angry yet do not sin (Eph. 4:26).  However, righteous anger is rare.  Biblical anger is anger when a real sin has taken place (1 Sam. 11), your concern is for God’s kingdom and not your own (John 2:13-17) and when you express that anger righteously (Romans 12:17-21).

Anger is deceptive and dangerous.  It can so quickly get out of control. Often we become angry because we want something too much (James 4:1-4)—that’s idolatry.

The only ability we have to overcome anger is by God’s grace.  Managing anger by just keeping it at bay is not a permanent solution.  It does not deal with the root issue of the problem. This problem is only overcome when the heart issue is addressed and that is only possible with gospel truth (Philippians 4:8-9, Proverbs 4:23).

So, here are five biblical truths to tell yourself when you are getting angry: (1) I want something too much (Romans 1:25); (2) I am not the Judge (Gen. 50:19); (3) God has been very gracious to me in Christ (Eph. 4:31-32); (4) God is in control and will not give me more than I can bear (I Cor. 10:13); and (5) I need to remember who I am—a new creature in Christ (Romans 6:11).

It is only as we trust our Creator and His provision can we deal with the root of our anger and be at peace.

Have you ever been in a situation when you were sure you were the smartest person in the room–until you weren’t?  Conversely, was there a situation when what you thought was foolish turned out to be wise?  The apostle Paul says it is possible to do that with the cross of Jesus Christ.  “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing” (1 Corinthians 1:18).

 

Paul writes that comment to a church struggling with major problems.  They were quarreling and creating divisions among themselves in part because of various church leaders: “I am of Paul, still others, I am of Apollos.”  In other words, my leader is smarter than yours, which makes me smarter than you.  Therefore, I am the smartest person in the room.

 

In the first century, Greeks had as many as 50 different philosophical parties or systems—each with its own view of the meaning of life, relationships, purpose, destiny, and interaction with the gods.  They loved philosophy—meaning “love of wisdom.”  Paul picks up that message when he says, “For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom” (1 Corinthians 1:22). Your alignment is only as good as your source.  If you do not have a reliable source, your search does not lead to consensus; instead, it leads to proliferation.

 

People are “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7). The issue really becomes one of epistemology–your source of truth or and who you choose to follow.  The biblical worldview would identify our source of truth as God as revealed through Scripture.

 

Isaiah 55:8–9 say: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”   God’s ways and thoughts stand in stark contrast to our own.  The wisdom of God is not the wisdom of man.

 

Here is why this matters to us.  “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12).   You can be absolutely convinced you are right while simultaneously choosing a path that leads to destruction.  There are many people convinced that what determines whether a person goes to heaven is their goodness or their works.  They believe they are a good person (certainly better than others).  How good does one have to be to merit heaven?  The answer is perfect.  The only perfect provision to satisfy God’s justice is Jesus Christ.  It is his sacrifice on our behalf (the wisdom of the cross) that deciares us righteous before God.  But it only applies to those who believe by faith.  The only means of salvation is Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone.

 

“There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 16:25).  Whose wisdom are you going to follow?

 

“But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God” (1 Corinthians 1:27–29).

 

#2. My Daily Need

The gospel is so foolish (according to my natural wisdom), so scandalous (according to my conscience), and so incredible (according to my timid heart), that it is a daily battle to believe the full scope of it as I should.  There is simply no other way to compete with the forebodings of my conscience, the condemning of my heart, and the lies of the world and the Devil than to overwhelm such things with daily rehearsings of the gospel.*

I Corinthians 1:21-23–For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the ^[a]message preached to save those who believe. ²² For indeed Jews ask for ^[b]signs and Greeks search for wisdom; ²³ but we preach ^[c]Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness,

I John 3:19-20–We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will ^[a]assure our heart before Him ^20 [b]in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things

2 Corinthians 4:4–in whose case the god of this ^[a]world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving ^[b]so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

 

 

 

*A Gospel Primer for Christians: Learning to See the Glories of God’s Love, by Milton Vincent, p 14