Angry Christians

[TrueFollowerOfChrist]

I'm just wondering why I see so many Christians get angry and mad. We are supposed to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. But how can we do this when we act just like the unsaved? Why do we live angry and depressed at our fellow man? Why doesn't the world see the joy that is supposed to be in our hearts. Why do we attack each other instead of lift each other up and encourage each other? Why do we judge others instead of love them? I'd love to hear some viewpoints on this.

[Selah7]

6 minutes ago, TrueFollowerOfChrist said:

I'm just wondering why I see so many Christians get angry and mad. We are supposed to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. But how can we do this when we act just like the unsaved? Why do we live angry and depressed at our fellow man? Why doesn't the world see the joy that is supposed to be in our hearts. Why do we attack each other instead of lift each other up and encourage each other? Why do we judge others instead of love them? I'd love to hear some viewpoints on this.

I also don't understand it because we are all sinners.  I mean, given that we all fall short in some way every single day, why should we accuse others of sin, and why so vehemently?  As Christians, when it seems necessary, we should be able to correct our brothers and sisters with grace, not hate.

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”   Romans 3:23 

Selah

[Starise]

I guess if we all came out of our salvation experience perfect this wouldn't be a problem.

Of course none of us do. Even the disciples fought among themselves 

To be fair, believers are much less prone to the kinds of things those not led of the Spirit partake in.

Speaking the truth in love,even when it's hurtful isn't a sin. 

[ayin jade]

My opinion ...

Too many cant let go of pride, of Im right and you better get it type attitude. Far too many do not edit their posts before they post. All of us need to listen to the Lord, to post in the Spirit instead of posting in the flesh.

[missmuffet]

Anger is an emotion and it is not good for us. The question is not who gets angry, but why we get angry.

[JohnR7]

1 hour ago, Starise said:

I guess if we all came out of our salvation experience perfect this wouldn't be a problem.

How can we come out "perfect"? I was divorced before I got saved. Getting saved does not change that. May churches do not allow a divorced person to be a pastor or serve in ministry.

Good came out of the divorce because that is what caused me to seek God for answers and to get saved in the first place. 

[NCAP]

2 hours ago, TrueFollowerOfChrist said:

I'm just wondering why I see so many Christians get angry and mad. We are supposed to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. But how can we do this when we act just like the unsaved? Why do we live angry and depressed at our fellow man? Why doesn't the world see the joy that is supposed to be in our hearts. Why do we attack each other instead of lift each other up and encourage each other? Why do we judge others instead of love them? I'd love to hear some viewpoints on this.

Well, anger is a part of being a human being in this life. I don't think any one thing is the cause of someone's anger. It may be that a person becomes angry because they see someone else as abandoning right principle. It could be for other reasons. Maybe a person feels disrespected by others.

But I always say this, too. You don't have to live with other people, especially someone who is constantly trying to ruin your day. But you have no choice but to live with yourself. So maybe the answer to anger is to step back when a person feels anger within and do a self-checkup and ask questions like: Why do I feel angry? Why have I allowed myself to become angry? What am I assuming to be true about someone else or myself?

[missmuffet]

6 minutes ago, NCAP said:

Well, anger is a part of being a human being in this life. I don't think any one thing is the cause of someone's anger. It may be that a person becomes angry because they see someone else as abandoning right principle. It could be for other reasons. Maybe a person feels disrespected by others.

But I always say this, too. You don't have to live with other people, especially someone who is constantly trying to ruin your day. But you have no choice but to live with yourself. So maybe the answer to anger is to step back when a person feels anger within and do a self-checkup and ask questions like: Why do I feel angry? Why have I allowed myself to become angry? What am I assuming to be true about someone else or myself?

The Bible tells us we can be angry but not sin. Jesus got angry. 

[bropro]

3 hours ago, TrueFollowerOfChrist said:

I'm just wondering why I see so many Christians get angry and mad. We are supposed to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. But how can we do this when we act just like the unsaved? Why do we live angry and depressed at our fellow man? Why doesn't the world see the joy that is supposed to be in our hearts. Why do we attack each other instead of lift each other up and encourage each other? Why do we judge others instead of love them? I'd love to hear some viewpoints on this.

What I try to remember is that "the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God" (James 1:20). As a disciple of Christ, my main responsibility is to glorify Him, not demand my rights or whatever the case may be. It has been a hard lesson to learn, and quite frankly I'm still learning to refrain from speaking if someone has rubbed me the wrong way. I have found it best to be silent instead of allowing myself to reach the boiling point and explode, because when that happens (and it has happened 3 or 4 times in my early Christian life) then I have hurt my testimony of the Lord, I have hurt another person, and I put myself in a place to have to go back and make it right with the person I lost my temper with. When I hold it back, I then take the situation to the Lord. I have found that as I am praying for the Lord to convict that person, or humble that person, that I am at times that person. We are going to get angry at times, but we don't have to let the anger control us. As the Holy Spirit has equipped us with the fruit of temperance (self control) we can bring our angry spirit under control.

Gary

[AnOrangeCat]

9 hours ago, TrueFollowerOfChrist said:

I'm just wondering why I see so many Christians get angry and mad. We are supposed to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. But how can we do this when we act just like the unsaved? Why do we live angry and depressed at our fellow man? Why doesn't the world see the joy that is supposed to be in our hearts. Why do we attack each other instead of lift each other up and encourage each other? Why do we judge others instead of love them? I'd love to hear some viewpoints on this.

It's nothing new. Paul was critical of believers taking each other to court over little things when he wrote I Corinthians. So it's mostly just an unfortunate little fact of life we have to deal with. As much as "Judge not" gets thrown around there actually is some Biblical basis for judging within the church. Jesus outlined it in Matthew 18 when He said what to do if your brother offends you, and one of the outcomes of that was expulsion from the church. Paul expressed a similar sentiment in I Corinthians 5 and 6. The caveat is that there's room for repentance.

Things like Paul speaking out on someone in the church being in an incestuous relationship, deciding he didn't want to bring John Mark along based on past experience, and telling people they were getting it wrong when some were saying they were of Paul and others saying they were of Apollos and so on are all things we'd consider judging. The key thing is whether we're doing it in the flesh or in the Spirit and in the context God outlined for us.

6 hours ago, missmuffet said:

The Bible tells us we can be angry but not sin. Jesus got angry. 

Amen to this. Anger can be productive. As strange as it seems so can depression. Jeremiah was hardly a ray of sunshine. These emotions are rooted in being unhappy about something. That can be a motivator for change or it can be a very destructive thing depending on how it's handled. The chapter about being angry and not sinning (Ephesians 4) also stresses the importance of forgiveness and tells us not to let the sun go down on our anger.