We live in dangerous times, let’s face that fact.  Why do I say this?  I say this because I believe that people are angry!

As I drove home today, I was at a stop light and saw a man that was clearly upset (something we can all recognize interestingly enough without hearing words).  At first I couldn’t tell if he was alone or not.  I quickly started to evaluate what was going on: ‘Is he on the phone yelling at someone?’,  ‘Is he just having an angry moment by himself in the car?’ (ever been there, I have).  Then I saw that there was a lady sitting next to him.  I don’t know if this was his wife, his girlfriend, or a friend, (I would guess this isn’t just an acquaintance, we as people don’t tend to act out like this in the company of strangers) but his disposition was very demonstrative and clearly upset.  Also, each time she expressed something his facial expressions and body language showed his displeasure, which would lead me to think she is either who he is upset with or whatever she is saying about what he’s upset with he doesn’t like.  All this in no more than 30 seconds at a stop light!

Why do I bring this up?  I do this because I think it is something we are all to familiar with seeing, to the point where I can recognize all those dynamics, but perhaps we are becoming numb to.  I see people on their cell phones being loud, expressive, angry, even cursing, in public places causing a scene.  I regularly see motorists in their cars as they are driving yelling violently into their phone or at another person with them.  I notice it in the tone and general disdain that I often hear when people are talking about others (employers to/about employees, teachers to/about students & students to/about teachers, parents to/about children & children to/about parents, and even ‘friends’ to/about each other (a totallly optional relationship by the way), and on and on).  People are angry and are both aggressively and subtly expressing it constantly in day to day life.

But why are we ok with these things in the world around us (especially for those of us who have made a commitment to follow Jesus Christ, and receive His instructions for life)?  Even scarier, why has this behavior, if not completely accepted, become at least widely understandable in society?  And what is making everyone so angry?

First of all, I know that this is not a new phenomenon.  People have been angry for all recorded history.  Because I believe the Bible as the truth for life, I personally would identify anger in people as a direct result of us all being born into a world that is broken as a result of sin and seperated from God (a valid reason to be upset on the inside).  As a result, things in life are just simply not fair, and not the way we know in our heart they should be.  Most often this results in people taking this natural frustration out on those around them or on those that have let them down, which many times are those people closest to us in relationship (not typically acquatances… we just cut them off and disdainfully deem them as unimportant most of the time).

So why the alarm now, and why would I say that the times we live in are ‘dangerous’?  I say all this because we as people born into this world that is seperated from God by sin are out of control of so much in life, yet we by nature are constantly trying to be in control of ourselves, in control of other people, in control of lifes circumstances (avoiding hurt, pain, loss, and striving for pleasure, enjoyment, and gain), and no matter how hard we try we cannot do it!  This is why people are angry, something is wrong and there is nothing we can do about it.  What’s worse is most of the time, this anger we are all experiecing in our lives is many times the tool we then use to try and control ourselves, others, life, even God.  If not recognized this will lead to a maddening and endless cycle of trying to grasp control, which sadly we all know takes some people to point of losing total control of their lives, destroying both themselves and often others.  The Bible talks about all this (sin leads to death), God’s word is always the truth!

As for the days we live in, it’s not that we have a new problem, it’s that our world makes available and sells more ‘solutions’ for our brokeness than ever before in human history.  It’s all the same the vices throughout history but the number of avenues and  quantities is like never before: drugs, medications, alcohol, entertainment and pleasures of all kinds, fantasy & sex, and above all ‘knowledge’ is available as in no other time in all of man’s history.  AND for the first time in history these things are available to all people (socio-economic ‘classes’, races, genders, cultures).  For the most part anyone can, to some degree, get the things he/she desires (in an attempt to gain back control).  To me it’s so obvious, people are angry at levels like never before because we have all the things available to us that this world says should satisfy, and we as people still aren’t satisfied.  More than that, we have more knowledge available to us than ever before, so if we can’t get what we want the resposibility naturally falls back on us.

‘IT’S NEVER ENOUGH’, ‘I CAN’T CONTROL CERTAIN THINGS IN MY LIFE’ = I’M ANGRY (cause this is my last ditch effort to gain control)

But what about the follower of Christ, they are supposed to have the answer for what satisfies (and they truly do in Christ), why are Christians angry?  I would say it’s the same answer.  Just because you are a follower of Christ and have had your sins forgiven and redeemed, doesn’t mean you just get to escape the brokeness of sin in this world (something we have all contributed to), and thereby we are all subject to the feeling of being out of control, and with it a temptation to use anger to gain back control.  This is why the Bible says in Ephesians, “Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity” (Eph 4:26-27)

If you have accepted Christ to be the Lord of your life, you have in that trusted Him to be ‘in control’ (which gives you access to so many amazing promises from God in the Bible).  However, situations will come to us daily to challenge that trust and try to get us to trust ourselves.  Knowing this, God in His wisdom pointed out that we will be angry as part of this process (it’s unavoidable), BUT God shows there is a difference between being angry and sin.  The difference for someone who follows Christ is that instead of allowing the anger you feel to control you (giving the devil an opportunity to control you with it), the way you ‘do not sin’ is by recognizing that you are angry because something is not as it should be, and you have the ability to choose to allow God to still have control of your thoughts, emotions, and actions.  Never fall into the trap of doing something yourself without His instruction and leading, it is always less than God’s best!  (There are so many examples in the Bible, and I’m sure we can think of many in our lives too)

Let’s be honest, the world we are living in is an angry and thereby dangerous place, but you don’t have to be!  If you don’t know Jesus Christ, though you may be able to contain your anger and emotions, I tell you the truth you can never be fully satisfied in life without Him because you were made for that purpose (please contact me if you want to know Jesus today).  If you have Jesus in your life, you truly have all you need because you have life and all the promises of God, including this promise that you don’t have to let this out of control world defeat you and get you into anger.  Believe the Bible and it’s promises today with me as I give Him control over all the things I cannot control, so I can show others the hope I’ve found in trusting Jesus!

No matter how ugly and angry this broken world can be, God’s love for you and me wins and has made the way for our victories in life!!