Part 1 of 2

Recently Mt. Kilauea erupted again. As the lava descended, it destroyed everything in its path. People sometimes act like volcanos, they spew out burning words like deadly missiles in all directions, their violent behavior destroys everything about them, and others often flee from their presence for fear of what might happen next.

Although most people may visualize violent outbursts when they think about someone who is angry, anger can also express itself in other ways as well. An angry person might talk quietly, but he or she might release anger toward someone by trying to hurt that individual by "accidentally" breaking something of value or spreading gossip. Anger comes in many packages.

Can Anger be Controlled?

Some people assume that anger is simply a personality trait that can't be changed. Over the years I've heard people claim, "that's just the way I am. You'll have to accept me this way." They might believe that they can't change, but the New Testament teaches otherwise. It describes anger and fits of rage as something that a disciple of Christ should cast off. Ephesians 4:31, Colossians 3:8 How can someone overcome anger?

Understanding what causes anger can assist in controlling it.

Why Do People Become Angry?

Typically, people become angry when something, which they place value upon, has been adversely affected. There are many different possible scenarios that can lead to an explosive outburst, but they all have one thing in common. Something, which someone considered to be important, was significantly hurt, threatened or blocked. Anger is love related. People get angry over something they love.

Most of our values (if not all of them), are ultimately rooted in how I derive my personal security and self-worth. In other words, people love what takes care of them and makes them somebody. All values, which someone holds, arise out of a personal belief system. In turn, these values and their associated desires lead us to behave in particular ways and exhibit various attitudes.

Consider road rage: If someone believes that being late to work will affect his reputation and if he also believes that his reputation contributes to his identity and security, then being stuck in slow traffic becomes personally threatening. Compound this with other beliefs such as: "I left on time. I should be further down the road, but this traffic is holding me up" and the cocktail for becoming explosive at the obstacles to his well-being have greatly increased. Or perhaps a person might believe, "I should be able to drive down the road without someone putting my vehicle (and me) in danger by how he (or she) drives." If another driver then weaves and threatens his safety, it may be that he will try to "teach him a lesson" by "showing him what it feels like." The predictable result is an escalating situation of anger and rage.

If a young child tears a piece of scrap paper, most parents won't get angry. They don't value a piece of paper. But if that same child destroys an heirloom or some other object, which is typically highly valued, some parents immediately burst into anger because of the value they place upon that object. The greater the value, the greater the anger. The more that the parents might perceive something of their identity or security being destroyed, the more likely it is that they will explode.

Did Jesus ever get angry? Did he care about anything deeply? Because Jesus cared deeply about his Father's house, he made a whip and drove out the money changers. The reason for his anger was "zeal for your house has consumed me." John 2:17 People get angry when what is important to them is destroyed, mistreated, abused or their access to it is blocked.

Because many people value many different things, people get angry for many different reasons. Some of the reasons why people blow their top is because they place great value on:

their appearance,
their personal space and independence,
their opportunities for advancement,
their possessions,
their time, (punctuality, how they use their time, the ability to use my time as I want, etc.)
their ability to accomplish a particular task or project, their reputation,
their independence,
their self-sufficiency, etc.

Why do people place such a high value on these items? As already suggested, it often seems that they derive their identity and security based on these elements of the created world. People get angry when their self-worth and security are threatened or when an obstacle lies in their path toward becoming more secure and "somebody."

Whenever a person's sense of well-being is built upon this world, that individual is a prisoner of "situation and circumstances". As long as that person maintains this worldly belief system, which fuels a worldly value system, the predictable result is a worldly behavioral system.

Good and Bad Anger?

Since God is described as being slow to anger, but nonetheless capable of being angry to the point of wrath (Exodus 34:6; Numbers 11:1; Romans 1:18), therefore when the Bible speaks of casting off anger, it is not advocating that we should be passionless. As we have already seen, even Jesus who is our model became angry. Rather, it is calling us to put away fleshly anger, anger, which stems from embracing worldly values and concerns. In Galatians 5:19, 20 Paul puts it this way, "The acts of the flesh are obvious: ... fits of rage." James' words make it even clearer, "You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God's righteousness. James 1:19-20 Here then, is a key. Anger driven by fleshly values and worldly beliefs does not produce God's righteousness.
[ End of Part 1 of 2 ]

Note: Part 2 begins with: How Can I Control My Anger?

Copyright © 2001 Barry Newton (Revised Version 2003)