-Anger. Strong feelings of annoyance or displeasure or even hostility which can easily erupt in hurtful words and actions. Here we have yet another challenge to oneness and growth of the Body. But note that there is a place for anger. Anger is a natural and sometimes necessary emotion, and unlike the lie, Paul does not carve out a zero-tolerance posture vis a vis anger. While no quarter may be given to falsehood in any way whatsoever, the emotion of anger is actually allowed a place in both the lives of believers and in their local assembly. There perhaps is no way to prevent feelings of anger from arising within us, subject as we are to all the vagaries of life in a broken world among broken people. Stuff happens (or doesn’t), and sometimes it can make us angry. People have warts, they carry around a lot of junk, and the closer we get to them in community, the more their junk is likely to put us out and make us angry. Hey, God Himself gets angry. The problem is not the feelings per se. It is the sources of the anger and then what we do with the anger that makes all the difference.
-Studies have shown that anger uncontrolled and/or undealt with in fact increases my risk of heart attack, coronary disease, stroke, respiratory problems, weakens the immune system, is linked to greater levels of anxiety and depression, and generally shortens my life. Turns out that God’s plan is actually some pretty good medicine, for both my body and my soul.
-So what we’re told here is, do not sin when you are angry. Sin is about what I want, as opposed to what God wants. So I first require enough self-control to be able to step back and look into my heart and at whatever is provoking me in order to be able to discern how much self is wrapped up in my anger. Am I concerned more about what God wants, about His honor and reputation? Or am I more concerned about me, about how I may have been injured or otherwise inconvenienced in this situation? The more I find that this is about me, the more restraint I must show in my response. And I may find that I just need to let it go (Matthew 5.39, 1Corinthians 6.7, Philippians 4.5) - that is mercy. Which in fact is the same way that the Lord has dealt with us over and over, with kindness and tolerance and patience and forbearance (Romans 2.4). If (when) a brother or sister makes me angry, I need to be careful not to respond in a way that injures them or the body. That’s what the world does - the natural response. The world lashes out. The world gets even. The world makes my brother pay for what he did. The world divides and comes apart over offences and warts. Not so with God’s people. We come together and we hang in there, we build up in love and never tear down, thru think and thin, warts and all, even when things aren’t right or the way we like or how we think they should be. And no, that’s not natural - it’s supernatural. Out-of-this-world. Uncommon goodness (for the common good). And exactly what the world is dying for the bride of Christ to be.
-Now part of this coming together, this hanging-in-there in community depends on me doing something with my anger, something healthy and constructive and which shows off the goodness of God. We’re not talking about simply ignoring an offence or a situation which isn’t right. Nor are we stuffing our anger. We’re dealing with it, not necessarily right away but sooner rather than later - we’re letting it and the offence go (true mercy, unfeigned forgiveness - not conditioned upon an apology), and we’re communicating directly yet gently with the responsible parties in order to possibly try to rectify the situation if we can. We can talk about how this situation made us feel. We can lovingly speak truth to the other person(s) involved. And we’re taking care to not be talking about the situation with other parties (gossip), unless of course they need to somehow become part of the solution. We cannot control the situation or their response, but we can and must control ours. And while it’s not possible to do so in our own strength - things like love, peace, long-suffering, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control are all fruit of God’s Spirit (Ephesians 5.18) - we guard the oneness. We love one another with God’s everlasting love, and His love bears all things (1Corinthians 13.7) - there is no escape clause, no get out of the jail free card in the Body of Christ. We are family, and leaving is not an option. Not what God intends, at least. Oh Lord, have mercy on our fractious, schismatic, petty, partisan ways, on a Body we have chopped and spliced and beaten and bloodied and divided almost beyond recognition. Are we beyond hope?
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