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Grumpy. Bad temper. Short fuse. We have many cute names to assign to our anger, and those names make it so easy to excuse our behavior. We don’t want to take the blame for our anger, so we assign titles to ourselves. But at the end of the day, there’s really only one word that can explain nearly every instance of anger: idolatry.
Fruits and roots
So often, we find ourselves in a place of anger and rarely know why. We might be able to point to a few situations that triggered our mood, but on any other day we know those situations wouldn’t bother us. So why, in this moment, are we so angry?
In previous articles, we’ve discussed that the sin problems we see are rarely our true problem (link). More often, the sinful behavior we see is just a fruit, while the root of the behavior is a deeper sin issue that may be completely unrelated. Anger is no different.
What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? (James 4:1)
However our anger manifests itself, whether it’s through biting words, bursts of rage, or just a quiet seething that we try to hide from others, the anger isn’t our problem. Just like a fever tells us something is wrong with our bodies, anger is our warning sign that something is wrong in our hearts.
In James, we very plainly see the source of anger. It’s not our upbringing, brain chemistry, or impulse control. Very simply, it’s our desires. Those things we want to badly, yet don’t have, are what cause our anger. We are willing to sin because someone is keeping us from having what we truly want.
Idols of the heart
You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. (Exodus 20:4)
Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. (1 Corinthians 10:14)
We often think of idolatry as something ancient, picturing things like giant statues and crude altars filled with animal sacrifices. We’re too clever and rational for something as superstitious as thinking a little wooden statue represents a powerful being.
Yet what was the purpose of idols in the Bible? Was the problem really that a little piece of wood or stone was chipped away until it resembled a bird or fish? There is something much deeper going on with idolatry, and it all comes down to why people would worship idols.
Summed up, idolatry came down to reliance. People had needs and desires, whether it was healing or wanting a fancy piece of clothing, so they would turn to gods. Ancient people had a list of items that, if they could just have them, they knew they’d be satisfied. The problem was that they were trying to find satisfaction in life and salvation from their troubles from something other than God.
That’s idolatry. And that’s what we do every day.
We all have something we worship. Often, our idols are things that don’t seem like they could possibly be idols. Podcasts, books, hobbies… even things like wanting our children to behave can be an idol.
Although the options for idols are limitless, the test of an idol comes down to two simple questions:
- Am I willing to sin to get this thing?
- Am I willing to sin if I can’t have it?
Taking the test
With anger, that second one will often let us find the root of our sinful behavior. We don’t sin accidentally, though we often sin without knowing why. But first, we need to acknowledge the seriousness of our anger if we hope to hate it like God does.
You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. (Matthew 5:21-22)
That jerk who cuts us off in traffic? We murdered him in our hearts. Our kids who wouldn’t stop arguing until we screamed at them? That doesn’t come from love. Slamming the door and stomping around the house because our spouse set us off again? That’s on us, not them.
You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. (James 4:2-3)
Continuing the passage in James that we started with, we see even more clearly that it’s our wrong desires that create a problem. We react in anger when we don’t get what we want. We have an idol we want so badly that, when we don’t get it, we embrace the same heart as someone who could take the life of another person.
So often, these idols come from a sense of entitlement. We deserve something, and we are angry when someone would deny us of what we deserve. Let’s be honest, when we’re angry we are little better than spoiled children who kick and scream because Mommy and Daddy won’t let us get a candy bar at the store. There is, truly, no difference.
What are some ways we may feel entitled without realizing it? It always starts with “I deserve.” When we’re angry, it’s because we deserve…
- Kids who obey or do well in school
- A spouse who keeps the house clean
- To win a game
- A job that satisfies us
- People’s respect or appreciation
- A new TV, car, or whatever else we want but can’t afford
- To move into that lane
- Time to sit and watch TV or enjoy a hobby
The list could go on, but most of us can probably find at least one thing in this list that we’ve felt entitled to and gotten angry when we didn’t have it. And indeed, none of these are really wrong desires to have.
Desiring the unfailing ultimate
He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 5:10)
The problem comes when those good desires become ultimate desires. When we are so reliant on them that we would sin when they are threatened or not given to us, we turn good desires into gods. They become what we depend on for our satisfaction. And in the end, even getting them won’t ultimately satisfy us.
Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,” (Hebrews 13:5)
If we ponder this verse, we’ll see a contrast that doesn’t often occur to us. A lack of contentment is the opposite of trust and satisfaction in God. Our sinful desires come when we stop believing that Christ is sufficient for all our needs. Idolatry comes when we take our eyes off the savior, looking around and telling ourselves “Ooh, if I just had this, then I’d be truly happy.”
But Christians cannot be satisfied with worthless imitations of a true savior. We weren’t meant to put our trust in things that can fail us. Good gifts were never meant to be worshipped as gods. They were merely meant to be good gifts from the true God.
God hates our anger. More than that, He hates the idolatry that leads to anger. If we want to pursue Christ with all our hearts, we must identify and kill those things that hold us back. Our anger is a wonderful reminder that we still have something we’re trusting in for our joy and satisfaction more than we’re trusting Christ. When we kill those things we think we need, we’ll find that Christ fulfills us infinitely more than those weak, temporary things ever could have.
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)
