Anger

ANGER

When Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, he gave warnings and solutions for one of life's most basic experiences - anger. 

THE WARNINGS
Matthew 5:21-26

Jesus emphasized that anger (without proper cause) was a very serious thing.  First of all, he related anger to murder, thus emphasizing that uncontrolled anger was not a petty thing.  Secondly, Jesus warned that the consequences of anger included judgment, council, prison and Gehenna. 

Gehennah was a dump outside of Jerusalem where dead animals and garbage were burned.  In Israel, it was used as a metaphore for hell.  Because Gehenna is a physical place that is used figuratively, there is debate over how to read this passage.  Is Jesus talking about hell or is he talking about the place where dead bodies are burned.

Westerners of the 21st Century are not nearly as concerned about our dead bodies as the 1st Century Jews, so when Jesus mentioned the threat of Gehenna, it is very likely he was warning his listeners that Gehenna was the place their bodies would end up if they didn't heed his warnings.  We cannot know all the horror or feelings people felt about the area called Gehenna because we are so removed from the day, but it is possible to compare it to Auschwitz. 

Auschwitz is a real place in Poland that has real history; but in the mind of millions it is associated with real memories of horror and cruelty.  Although I don't have any historical records, I believe the Romans dumped Jewish bodies in Gehenna, thus making it a First Century Auschwitz.

Either way, whether Jesus was referring to a literal place or to hell, he was telling his audience that the consequences of undeserved anger are extreme, something many of us consider trivial. 

To make things even worse, Jesus dished out the worst of these judgments to those who in anger call other people names like "raca", which means "idiot".  I think Jesus may have been overemphasizing the consequences of anger, because, people do not generally go to court because they call other people names.  However, Jesus was making a statement that we need to take this issue very seriously.  Anger and name calling can ruin relationships and destroy communities.

TYPES OF ANGER

When Jesus warned about the evils of anger, he was talking about "anger without a cause".  Here are some examples of anger I have seen that I would call "anger without a cause":
1.  Childhood Anger - This is sually from childhood injustices that were not properly dealt with.  These people get angry very easily and are angry a lot.
2.  Transferred Anger - Someone who is angry at someone or something but takes it out on another or others.
3.  Brooding Anger - The type of anger that hides behind self-righteousness or denial.  It hides until some unexpected time and then comes out inappropriately and unexpectedly.  People with this type ustually don't think they have issues with anger.  In fact, they may believe that they are very self controlled.

The rule of thumb is this: Anytime anger is inappropriate, overblown, out of context, uncontrolled, or misdirected, it is wrong; it is what I would call "anger without a cause".

EXCUSES FOR ANGER

Angry people make excuses. Here are some of the better of them:
1.  "I'm not angry, I'm just frustrated."
2.  "I have righteous indignation."
3.  "So and so deserves my anger."
4.  "I never get angry."

Everybody gets angry.  If you think you don't you are hiding it from yourself.  It is there, deep enough to avoid detection.  It also influences your behavior and the decisions you make.  If you want to get over anger issues, you have to be willing to admit you have a problem.

WHEN IS ANGER OK?

Ephesians 4:26-27
In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

Anger is a natural response to injustice, and is permitted and even rewarded by God in rare cases.  But injustice (that we care about) is usually done to one's self or to one's own group, or in some cases to people we can relate to.  Although we are designed self-centered for the sake of survival, self-centered reactions can easily get out of whack, and need to be brought under control.  Ephesians gives us perameters for anger:
1.  Get over it - Even though the Bible says not to let the sun go down on your anger, it is in fact telling us to work through and get over our angers.  Some can be handled in a day, but some will take much longer. As a rule of thumb, the bigger the injustice / betrayal, the longer it will take to get over the anger.  No matter how big anger is, it must be dealt with and worked through - not stuffed down inside, ignored, or fed.
2.   Don't sin - When we are angry it is very easy to hurt others either by action or by inaction, either by vengence or by holding a grudge.  Either way, relationships are hurt, if not destroyed.
3.   Don't let the devil take advantage of your anger. This is very closely related to sinning, but I would say that it is when sin is taken to a whole new level.  I have experienced times when I was angry and I felt it moving on to a new level.  I felt it move in deeper and stronger.  Because of Ephesians 4:26 & 27, I knew I had to let my anger go.  I knew that it was going to far, so I focused enough to make sure that I didn't sin by giving in to the deep seated anger that was rising.  When I felt this, I didn't want to let it go.  I wanted to nurture it, but knowing what the Bible says about anger, I refused to feed it, and it went away on its own.

REBUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

Jesus strongly warned against being angry without a cause (Ephesians said be angry with certain limits), and calling people names such as, "worthless," and "idiot", because these attacks make us in danger of eternal damnation.  Jesus used extreme consequences to illustrate the importance of this issue. 

Relationship was incredibly important to Jesus, so much so, in fact, that he told his followers that before they bring themselves before God, they should get right with people they have offended.  That means that whatever we do for God, fasting, praying, going to church, reading the Bible, etc, God wants us to do these acts of faith only after having made peace with others first.  Good relationships are that important to God.