The Root of Sinful Anger
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | - A few years back I had a chance to sit down
00:00:06.640 | with some friends of ours at CCEF,
00:00:08.680 | the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation
00:00:11.760 | in Philadelphia.
00:00:12.840 | I had a chance to sit down with Dr. David Powleson,
00:00:15.920 | a biblical counselor and one of my favorite authors.
00:00:18.140 | And I asked Dr. Powleson, what is sinful anger
00:00:22.200 | and what does it express?
00:00:23.940 | Here's what he said.
00:00:24.940 | - Sinful anger is an expression of the fact
00:00:28.120 | that I am not pleased with what is going on right now
00:00:32.720 | with you, you jerk, or whatever's the variant thereof.
00:00:37.480 | Sinful anger presumes a, and the Greek or Norse mythology
00:00:43.320 | is just great in this.
00:00:45.480 | I mean, it presumes a Zeus or a Thor
00:00:47.960 | or some guy throwing thunderbolts
00:00:50.280 | 'cause the world's not going the way he wants.
00:00:52.360 | And the Bible just so enters that metaphor
00:00:57.080 | that the mythologies capture
00:00:58.640 | and just puts us right in the seat of the kingdom builders,
00:01:02.920 | the ones who attempt to live for my way
00:01:06.200 | and the ones that when my almighty will gets crossed,
00:01:08.680 | I throw lightning bolts at all offenders
00:01:11.440 | or I sulk or I passive aggressive in some way demonstrate
00:01:16.440 | that you are not giving me what I want
00:01:19.000 | and you are in the doghouse in some way.
00:01:22.120 | So the Bible has these absolutely unmistakable
00:01:27.120 | heart-searching, pride-devastating analyses of sinful anger.
00:01:32.240 | One of the ones that I have found most convicting
00:01:34.880 | and then from conviction the most nourishing
00:01:38.480 | is in James 4.12 where James says,
00:01:42.760 | and it's in a context of anger and interpersonal conflict
00:01:45.980 | and all kinds of fussing and fighting and quarreling.
00:01:48.960 | And he says, "There is only one lawgiver and judge.
00:01:52.680 | "He who is able to save and to destroy.
00:01:55.800 | "Who are you that you judge your neighbor,
00:01:59.680 | "that you speak against your brother?"
00:02:02.040 | And it is one of those that just peels off,
00:02:05.800 | it just peels away the front story
00:02:07.720 | and gets to the back story behind anger.
00:02:11.360 | Seeing that inner core of anger is tremendously helpful
00:02:15.240 | in one's sanctification, in pastoral counseling,
00:02:18.280 | preaching and so forth.
00:02:20.040 | I'd liken it to, let's take a typical parent-child
00:02:24.440 | or husband-wife interpersonal conflict
00:02:27.200 | and I'll sometimes literally physically pick up two books
00:02:31.320 | that are closed, two fat books,
00:02:33.640 | and I'll bang them together cover to cover.
00:02:35.960 | You know, here's the conflict and why are we fighting?
00:02:40.800 | And this book says, "We're fighting 'cause of you."
00:02:43.040 | And this book says, "We're fighting 'cause of you."
00:02:45.320 | And the Lord opens the books to reveal the heart
00:02:48.720 | and says, "You are fighting because of you, yourself.
00:02:52.680 | "You're fighting because of your heart."
00:02:54.640 | Even if the other person's not doing right
00:02:56.840 | and in fact is doing wrong,
00:02:58.800 | sinful anger is an expression of your playing God,
00:03:03.800 | according to James 4:12.
00:03:06.080 | Who are you if you judge your brother?
00:03:08.000 | Who are you if you speak evil of him?
00:03:11.720 | Well, you're God.
00:03:12.640 | You're acting as though you are a lawgiver and judge.
00:03:14.600 | And that inner core of anger is something
00:03:19.040 | that none of the self-help books in Barnes & Noble
00:03:22.080 | or on Amazon is going to tell you.
00:03:24.540 | It's one of those things that from a biblical point of view
00:03:27.680 | is utterly obvious and so sanity-inducing
00:03:32.680 | to be able to see that.
00:03:34.320 | You know, the covers of the human heart are peeled away.
00:03:38.200 | The book is open.
00:03:39.160 | I can actually look at, well, why am I embittered?
00:03:43.080 | And why is there that cutting, sarcastic edge in my voice?
00:03:47.720 | And why am I raising my voice?
00:03:50.300 | And there's a tone of real disdain or disgust
00:03:54.680 | towards the person that I'm angry at.
00:03:57.040 | And as you really open the book as the way God opens it,
00:04:02.040 | you see yourself that there is a pride, a God playing,
00:04:07.120 | a passion for my will be done
00:04:10.040 | that has taken over the controls.
00:04:12.080 | So, godly anger.
00:04:13.880 | I think of this as, it's one of those things that,
00:04:16.760 | again, the delightful way scripture,
00:04:18.740 | it is just an inch away,
00:04:22.040 | and yet it is 10 million miles away.
00:04:25.080 | One example I like to think in this is that
00:04:28.400 | both Satan and Jesus point out our sins
00:04:33.400 | and express anger.
00:04:35.800 | But Satan expresses anger driven by pride
00:04:39.240 | and self-will and condemnation unto his own purposes.
00:04:44.240 | Christ expresses a holy anger unto God's glory
00:04:48.600 | that is an anger that has chosen to bear the wrath himself.
00:04:53.600 | And so, they're both pointing out what's wrong,
00:04:56.980 | but one voice is pointing out what's wrong.
00:04:59.440 | The log is not in Jesus' eye
00:05:02.120 | when he's looking at our specks.
00:05:03.840 | And he's able to, he is thus able for his children
00:05:07.140 | to put his finger right in our eye
00:05:09.320 | and to rummage around and get rid of the speck,
00:05:12.200 | whereas sinful anger would go in there and go,
00:05:15.320 | and stick you in your eye.
00:05:17.940 | It's, both have to do with right and wrong.
00:05:20.620 | Now, righteous anger sees right and wrong
00:05:22.440 | more clearly, typically.
00:05:24.280 | But you can actually see what's wrong
00:05:27.280 | and be sinfully angry.
00:05:29.820 | It is a different issue.
00:05:31.360 | The seeing what's wrong is your circumstance
00:05:35.200 | that's coming at you.
00:05:36.760 | And the choice of whether your anger
00:05:38.800 | will either be fundamentally godless
00:05:41.040 | or fundamentally, though firm and vigorous,
00:05:44.320 | also laced with mercy
00:05:46.440 | and fundamentally submitted to Christ's kingdom.
00:05:49.320 | That is the life and death difference
00:05:51.320 | for a person tempted to be angry.
00:05:55.020 | - That was Bible counselor and author,
00:05:58.400 | Dr. David Powleson of ccef.org.
00:06:02.000 | His books include "Speaking the Truth in Love"
00:06:04.600 | and "Seeing with New Eyes."
00:06:06.680 | We will hear from him again next week.
00:06:09.160 | And on this topic of anger,
00:06:10.680 | it reminds me of an episode we recorded a while back.
00:06:13.280 | I asked John Piper, if God is so happy,
00:06:16.080 | why does he seem so angry?
00:06:18.720 | That was episode number 133,
00:06:20.420 | which you can find at desiringgod.org.
00:06:23.860 | But another weekend is upon us.
00:06:25.440 | I'm your host, Tony Reinke.
00:06:26.620 | I'll see you on Monday.
00:06:27.760 | (silence)
00:06:29.920 | (silence)
00:06:32.080 | (silence)
00:06:34.240 | [BLANK_AUDIO]