Uprooting Anger: Biblical Help for a Common Problem1

Robert D. Jones
Assistant Professor of Biblical Counseling Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, NC

Introduction
Anger The Bible

1. What Is Anger?
Anger is a _________-personed response arising from a negative _________ ______________ against perceived _______. An activity, not a thing, a force, or a fluid. Engages the whole person. A response to something. A moral judgment we make. Anger = judgmentalism Arises from our personal _______________ (accurate or inaccurate) of evil. Done before God, who sees and judges

2. Is Your Anger Right or Wrong, and How Do You Know?

Some anger, of course, is righteous anger 1) Gods anger (Deut. 32:41; Ps. 2:4-5; 7:11; Isa. 34:2; Rom. 1:18; John 3:36; etc.) 2) Jesus, the God-mans anger (Mark 3:1-6; Mark 10:13-16; John 2:13-17)

3) Righteous human anger (Moses in Exodus 32:19-20; Saul in 1 Samuel 11:1-6; Jonathan in 1 Samuel 20:33-34; the Psalmist in Psalm 119)

Three marks to measure righteous human anger: 1) Righteous anger reacts against actual ______.
1

Condensed from Robert D. Jones, Uprooting Anger: Biblical Help for a Common Problem (P & R, 2005) Uprooting Anger: Biblical Help for a Common Problem

2007 Robert D. Jones

2 2) Righteous anger focuses on God and Gods kingdom, rights, and concerns, not on ____ and my kingdom, rights and concerns. 3) Righteous anger is accompanied by other ______ qualities, and expresses itself in godly ways.

But, to be quite honest, most human anger in the Bible and in our lives is _________. Beware of self-deception! (Jonah 4; Prov. 28:13; Jer. 17:9; Eph. 4:22; Heb. 3:12-13)

3. How Do You Deal with Your Sinful Anger?

A. Identify its cause within your heart Our culture offers many theories about the _________ of anger: Past mistreatment Present hardships and unmet "needs" Physiological factors Direct Satanic activity Unconscious psychodynamic drives

God's diagnosis of the cause of sinful anger and conflict in James 4:1-3: What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:1-3)

1) James describes angry people (3:13-18; esp. 4:1-2,11-12)

2) James addresses the _________ of anger (4:1)

3) James roots the cause in ones sinful ___________ (4:1-3)

2007 Robert D. Jones

Uprooting Anger: Biblical Help for a Common Problem

3 How do you determine when a desire is sinful? When you desire a __________ object When you desire a good object _____ _______inordinatelyfor selfish reasons (4:1-3) What did Jamess readers want? What was the problem with their desires? The problem: Good desires _____ _________

Paul David Tripp2 How desires take control of your heart: Desire Demand Need Expectation Disappointment Punishment
I want I must I will You should You didnt! Because you didnt, I will.

Ken Sande3 The progression of a heart idol: I desire I demand I judge I punish

Some criteria to assess if your desire has indeed become inordinate and mastering: When it consumes you When you sin to get it When you sin if you dont get it Throne Diagram4

B C

I J

Paul David Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemers Hands: People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change (CCEF Resources for Changing Lives, P & R, 2002). 3 Ken Sande, The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict , 3rd ed. (Baker, 2004), 102-109; also Ken Sande with Tom Raabe, Peacemaking for Families: A Biblical Guide to Managing Conflict in Your Home (Tyndale, 2002), 17-23. 4 Robert D. Jones, How Good Desires Go Bad, Journal of Biblical Counseling 24:2 (Spring 2006), 42-46. 2007 Robert D. Jones Uprooting Anger: Biblical Help for a Common Problem

4 When you are angry, in conflict, depressed, afraid, etc., complete the following statements: 5 "I must have ? to live a meaningful life" "What I think I need or desperately want is ? " "You must give me ? or I'll be angry at you or cold toward you" "If only ? would change, I would be satisfied or content or joyful"

B. Humble yourself, repent, and receive Gods ________ (4:4-12)

C. Based on Gods grace, change your various forms of revealed and concealed anger behavior: Revealed anger: Case Studies: Potiphar (Gen 39:19-20); Moses (Num 20:6-12); Herod (Matt 2:118). Commands: Prov 12:18; 14:16-17, 29-30; 15:1, 18; 16:32; 19:11, 19; 22:24-25; 25:28; 29:11, 20, 22; Matt 5:21-26; Eph 4:29-32 Concealed anger: Leviticus 19:16-18; Luke 15:25-30; Ephesians 4:26-27,30-5:2 Commit yourself to active, concrete steps of ____________ your angry behavior with Forgiveness Self-control Godly speech Biblical peacemaking and problem-solving Christlike ministry.

Conclusion: Why Must You Deal with Your Sinful Anger?

Ephesians 4:30-31

James 1:19-21

Ivan Denisovich, you shouldn't pray to get parcels or for extra stew, not for that. Things that man puts a high price on are vile in the eyes of Our Lord. We must pray about things of the spirit--that the Lord Jesus should remove the scum of anger from our hearts.6

See also the questions in the two Sande books above: The Peacemaker, 115-116; and Peacemaking for Families, 30; and David Powlison, X-ray Questions, chap. 7 in Seeing With New Eyes (P & R, 2003). 6 Alexander Solzhenitsyns character Alyosha, in his novel, A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, 1963, p. 154. 2007 Robert D. Jones Uprooting Anger: Biblical Help for a Common Problem

5 Recommended Resources on Anger Arthur, Kay. But Im So Angry, chapter in Lord, Heal My Hurts (Multnomah, 1989) Anon. Anger and Gods Grace: A Case Study, Journal of Biblical Counseling, 14:3 (Spring 1996), 21-23 Baxter, Richard (1615-91). A Christian Directory: Christian Ethics (reprint, Soli Deo Gloria, 1990), 283-87 Jones, Robert D. Angry at God? Bring Him Your Doubts and Questions (CCEF RCL Ministry Booklet, P & R, 2003) Jones, Robert D. Uprooting Anger: Biblical Help for a Common Problem (P & R, 2005). Powlison, David. Anger: Escaping the Maze. RCL Ministry Booklet (P & R, 2000) Powlison, David. Series of articles on anger in the Journal of Biblical Counseling: #1: "Understanding Anger," 14:1 (Fall 1995), 40-53 #2: "Three Lies About Anger and the Transforming Truth," 14:2 (Winter 1996), 12-21 #3: "Getting to the Heart of Conflict," 16:1 (Fall 1997), 32-42 Priolo, Lou. The Heart of Anger: Practical Help for the Prevention and Cure of Anger in Children (Calvary Press, 1997)

2007 Robert D. Jones

Uprooting Anger: Biblical Help for a Common Problem