The minister of music at my home church recently said something that started me thinking about all the anger we see in the world today. He was talking about how different points in history have been marked by different things. He used the example that the 1960s was largely defined by a culture of rebellion. He went on to observe that today we have a culture of anger. I had never thought of it in quite that way but I would say that is an accurate description of the times in which we find ourselves. From social media to the news to some of the people we pass on the street, there is so much anger. People want to find someone to blame for everything and they want to make their finding of fault known to everyone. Yes, I would say that we do live in a culture of anger.
That fact is bad enough but, as I see it, here is the really big problem. This culture of anger has managed to invade what should be the one port of peace and calm in this see of anger, the Christian Church. This certainly isn’t true of everyone in the Christian Church but it is true of way too many of us, especially on social media.
James 1
19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;
20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
A pastor that I follow on social media recently said “One of the most dangerous temptations when engaging the Scripture is assuming God is talking about somebody else”. He is correct about that. The above Scripture is talking to me. I must stand on the absolute Truth of God’s Word but how I do that very much matters. In this culture of anger, we see and hear rants everywhere about everything but it will accomplish nothing for God if I simply do my own ranting about the other ranting.
1 Kings 19
11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake;
12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
What was Elijah doing there? He had been running for his life and was hiding from Jezebel, who was then queen of Israel. She had promoted the worship of Baal, a false god. Elijah had just executed 450 of Baal’s profits on Mount Carmel, for which Jezebel had threatened to kill him. He was scared. God had just given him a stunning and undeniably miraculous victory on Mount Carmel and, in the process, ended the long drought which had plagued Israel. Given this, he should have trusted God but he didn’t and so there he was, hiding in that cave. God told Elijah to come out of the cave and stand on the mountain to listen to what He had to say. Then, there was a wind (basically a strong tornado) and an earthquake and a fire. God wasn’t in the wind or the earthquake or the fire. Apparently, Elijah knew this because he did not come out until these things had passed. God often speaks in a still small voice, as He did here, which prompted Elijah to come out and listen to Him.
There are a lot of scary things going on in the world today, things that scare the lost world and the Christian Church alike, and often fear manifests as anger. As Christians, we should trust God to bring us through these trials but, like Elijah, too often we don’t. We must also remember that the lost world doesn’t have a relationship with Him in the first place and you cannot trust in Whom you do not know. We must try to correct and comfort the Christians who are not trusting God and reach those who do not know Him. When we do that, we must let Him speak through us. Too often, we try to be the wind or the earthquake or the fire. God was not in those things and, during the wind and the earthquake and the fire, Elijah continued to take refuge in a cave. Do we want to rant and drive people to continue to take refuge in the false comforts of this world or do we want to do something that God will actually be in and use to change lives?
Don’t misunderstand what I am saying. We must boldly and unashamedly proclaim the Word of God. I do my best to do that, both in my writing and in my preaching, and my next post will probably get some of this culture of anger directed at me. That’s okay, that happens sometimes when proclaiming God’s Word, but I must not join that chorus of angry words myself. There are things in the world that do make me angry and they should make me angry but I must be angry and yet not sin (Ephesians 4:4). I must not sin by disregarding God’s Word and trying to simply prove myself right rather than glorifying Him.
2 Timothy 2
22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
23 But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.
24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient,
25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,
26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.
We must take note of what verse 24 says and not get it backward. It says that a servant of the Lord must not quarrel and be able to teach. Too often, we seemingly try to teach through quarreling. That won’t work. Verse 24 also says that we are to be gentle and verse 25 tells us that we must correct in humility, if we are going to let God work through us to lead people to repentance. Ah yes, repentance. We must remember that our ultimate goal is not to be right, satisfying as that may sometimes feel, but to lead others to repentance. It is the goodness (kindness) of God that draws to repentance (Romans 2:4). If we are not letting His kindness shine through us, then we too need to repent.
I certainly do understand the desire to, when faced with the world’s anger, lash out in kind. One thing that holds me back from doing that is this ministry that God has blessed me with. I know that many people look to me for guidance and answers. That is a huge responsibility because it is God from Whom those answers and that guidance must come. This is not my ministry. It is His. Guess what? You have a ministry too. Christian ministry may not be your vocation, as it is for me, but all of us who proclaim His name are called to minister for Him, in various ways, depending on what spiritual gifts we have been given and how the Spirit leads us to use those gifts. One way that every single one of us is called to minister is letting others see Christ in us, simply through the way we live our lives and how we interact with others. Ask yourself this question and pray for God to help you to answer honestly. How well are you handling your ministry? If your answer to that is not what it should be, ask God to help you to handle it better. After all, ultimately, your ministry is His ministry, for it is He you represent and Him you are to glorify. Please remember that.
