Managing Your AngerSample

It Matters to Your Church

A man once told me how, when he was young, his mother took him and his brother to visit a new church.

One thing led to another, and fisticuffs broke out between two men during the worship service! As his mother led her two sons out of the building to escape the melee, police cars approached the parking lot.

Maybe the men involved weren’t Christians. I don’t know. The point is that I can see it happening even with believers, because we’ve all heard about Christians behaving badly sometimes.

You may be familiar with Jesus’ famous “Sermon on the Mount,” in which He taught the crowds and emphasized the importance of one’s interior thoughts rather than merely displaying acceptable outward behavior.

In Matthew 5:21, Jesus highlighted the commandment, “You must not murder”, and how breaking it would lead to judgment. The crowds knew this commandment. They probably thought, “I’ve never murdered anyone, so I’m fine.”

However, Jesus went past the outward offense of murder and dove straight to the heart of the matter, saying, “If you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment!” (v. 22 NLT).

In effect, our Lord was explaining that anger alone was just as sinful as murder. He goes on to warn that name-calling and cursing are also right up there with anger.

We might scoff at all this, if we’re being honest, protesting that schoolyard-like name-calling, swearing, and anger are a far cry from the actual act of murder.

However, we need to pause and realize how much a holy God values a pure and loving heart. Though our focus this week is on anger, Jesus would teach about lust, generosity, greed, and many other heart issues in His Sermon on the Mount. He values pure hearts so much that He would eventually die for us sinners so that we might be forgiven of our sins and live with a new heart (2 Corinthians 5:17).

God calls men to live in peace in our churches. Unchecked anger can destroy this peace, unless we manage our anger issues with the help of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us. The Spirit loves and champions peace.

It’s a powerful witness in our churches when men allow the Spirit to guide our masculinity to fight for each other instead of against each other.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, please fill me that I might glorify Jesus by getting along with my brothers and sisters in church. Help me to be slow to become angry. Help me to bear Your fruit of love, peace, patience, and self-control as I worship and serve with other believers. Amen.

Reflection: Are you a “problem” or “solution” at church when it comes to harmony and unity? What is a biblical way to react if someone at church offends you? If you disagree with church leaders or others, what is a biblical way to speak up?