Our present American society appears saturated with anger—whether it simmers quietly beneath the surface or erupts in open hostility. Road rage incidents have doubled in recent years. In 2021, reported instances of air rage reached an alarming 5,700—an enormous increase from the usual 100 to 150 annual cases. Protests, often escalating into riots, fill the news from coast to coast—not only in major cities like New York and Los Angeles but even in usually peaceful small towns.
Openly voicing opinions on controversial subjects such as politics or social issues has become genuinely dangerous. People on both sides of the divide are easily provoked to anger. And beyond the national climate, each of us must contend with the personal struggle against anger in our own hearts, particularly as followers of Christ.
Anger is rightly classified as a deadly sin. Left unchecked, it leads to violence and murder, inflicts physical, emotional, and spiritual harm, and produces inner turmoil—both individually and collectively.
This sermon addresses the tragic condition of anger and presents God’s remedy: the grace-filled virtue of patience. Through Scripture, we will explore the nature of anger and discover how, by God’s help, we may overcome it.
Read the full sermon transcript below!
This morning brings us to the last of the seven deadly sins in our series of sermons on that topic. Please remember that these seven were classified by ancient churchmen as deadly sins because if we practice them, they will lead us into more sins. Furthermore, they can easily become almost second nature—automatic, habitual actions and responses that can drag us into a downward spiral of immorality. We must, therefore, learn to forsake these vices by replacing them with the divine virtues that the Holy Spirit uses to neutralize and snuff them out. This morning, we will address the deadly sin of anger and learn about its corresponding effectual virtue of patience.
Years ago, I was blessed to do counseling studies under the man who was, probably more than any other, responsible for reviving true biblical counseling in our country: Dr. Jay Adams. Dr. Adams was very witty and once made a comment that might qualify as one of the severest understatements of the age: “Sin complicates life.”
Boy! Does it ever! All the woes of the world: death, divorce, unfaithfulness, and abuse; a world society with constant wars, murders, violence, pain, and injustice; churches with false doctrine and sinful bickering, quarreling, and separating; also sickness and disease and even natural disasters…
All the turmoil and problems and sorrows of this world are traceable to one cause: the first sin in the Garden of Eden when mankind—in the persons of the first man and woman—sinned against their own Creator and upset the natural order that had been established in the world by its maker, the Lord God Almighty. Sin brought every form of disorder to this world.
Yes, sin complicates life! But the way you react to sin can complicate life even more. Anger, when it is unjust, is a sinful reaction to what we perceive as a problem. David Powlison defines anger as “active displeasure toward something that’s important enough to care about.”
We might amend this definition a little because oftentimes our understanding of things can be wrong. We would clarify that, whether individually or as a society, anger is active displeasure toward something that we believe is important enough to care about. Anger is an emotional annoyance, discontentment, or displeasure toward something that is important to us, something we perceive as important enough to care about.
Some folks say that there has never been as much anger in our society as now. I disagree with that claim. Consider that between the years 1861-1865, our country was so angry that we became engaged in a civil war that caused the deaths of 654,000 Americans. Thankfully, our country is not that angry in this present day.
Nonetheless, I think we all would agree that anger is on the rise in our present American society, and people’s minds seem to be saturated with it. Michael Kruger has contributed an essay titled From Anger to Graciousness. It appears in a recently published book edited by Daniel Doriani, titled The Death of the Seven Deadly Sins. I am thankful for Kruger’s and will be drawing some valuable information from it this morning.
Kruger writes that according to a recent USA Today article, road-rage incidents doubled from 2018 to 2022. In 2022 alone, more than 550 people were shot in driving altercations. The same trend is visible in the airline industry. In 2021, airlines reported over 5,700 instances of air rage, a stunning increase from a typical year that has around 100 to 150 occurrences. And many of these cases involve serious violence—punching, kicking, even stabbing—usually directed toward flight attendants.
And let’s not overlook the way anger is manifested in the world of sports. A 2022 Los Angeles Times op-ed titled “Angry Parents Are Ruining Youth Sports” catalogued the epidemic of wrathful parents (and even youth players) physically assaulting officials, and (in one case) even spraying a bottle of Lysol in someone’s face… There is now a “national crisis” of referee shortages, since 80 percent of them quit after only two years because of the abuse they receive from angry parents.
We would add to Kruger’s analysis the evidence we see in the news. Is there any major city in this day with no angry protests? Most recently was the mob violence in Los Angeles or the riots in places like Columbia University. Similar protests—although usually not as violent, thankfully—are spread throughout the cities of this land, including nearby Asheville. One man was even assaulted and injured in a protest in Burnsville, of all places. You have to be careful now what you say about politics and social issues, because someone who disagrees with your position is liable to explode!
What should we make of all this anger? What do we need to know about it from a biblical perspective? And how, according to Scripture, can we avoid it?
Anger involves a judgment that something is wrong, followed by displeasure about the wrong, and is usually followed by some action to stop or remove that wrong. In this way, anger can be a good thing. Anger that is just can motivate people to enact real change that is positive, thus leading to correcting and stopping true evil. But it all depends on whether the wrong thing is really wrong in God’s eyes and whether we handle the anger properly.
For example, until positive change was made in the 1950s and 1960s, it was illegal in many states for black people to attend certain public schools and colleges. Such public institutions were tax-funded, and one thing is for certain: everybody pays taxes. For black people to pay taxes to support public schools—say the University of North Carolina or of Alabama—while they were prohibited from attending them was wrong. And a lot of people were justifiably angry about it.
The question that arises is whether dissatisfied people tried to correct the problem in ways that were biblically right. At times, yes—but not always—at other times, no. There were good reasons for being upset about the injustice being done to tax-paying American citizens just because they were black. We can say, then, to that extent anger was justified. But when attempts to correct the wrong were themselves morally wrong, or the anger provoked sinfully angry thoughts, words, or deeds in response, to that extent the anger was sinfully wicked.
Let us continue our discussion along these lines. Is anger necessarily a sin? We have already determined that the answer is “no,” but let us further develop the question. Is anger inherently sinful? We believe the answer to that question is three-fold: Anger is sin, either never, always, or usually.
First, when is anger never sinful? The only person who fits into this category is the divine person: God. No one can be more upset about the injustices of this sin-rent world than God the Creator. Psalm 7:11 says, “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.” God is justly and righteously angry about sin. Let’s consider some Scriptural examples.
The children of Israel, whom God had led out of slavery in Egypt, repeatedly rebelled against God, even though he was to them a magnificent savior who rescued them from cruel oppression and led them to a lush, fruitful land of their very own.
Through Moses, the word of the Lord for Israel was (Deuteronomy 9:6-8): Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people. 7 Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord. 8 Even at Horeb you provoked the Lord to wrath, and the Lord was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you. No one can say that the anger of the all-holy God was unjust or unrighteous.
Furthermore, we find several times in Scripture that Jesus was angry. For example, when the religious leaders conspired to find something of which to accuse him and were scrutinizing him to find anything they could use in condemning him, the Bible says (Mark 3:5): And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart. Jesus was angry at the hypocritical Pharisees—and rightly so—but he was looking beyond the men themselves. He was angry at the general fallenness of the world and the suffering it causes as the result of sin that corrupted the world and the minds of people living in it.
Jesus had every right to be angry, but he went to the next step. He did something about it. He provided the means to correct the wrong in this world when he gave his life on the cross. There, Jesus provided the means for the world to be redeemed, forgiven, and reconciled with God, thus providing the way for evil in the world to be defeated.
We said there is a case in which anger is always wrong and can be nothing but wrong, and that is wrath that proceeds from the angriest being in all creation—the devil. He and his demonic followers are incapable of any good. He and they can think, feel, and do nothing but wrong. His anger is always sinful. He hates God. He hates God’s Son Jesus. He hates God’s sons and daughters redeemed by Jesus. He hates Jesus’ church. He wages war against all things that are good in any moral sense. He is pure, unadulterated evil, filled with hate.
Jesus said of him (John 8:44): He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Peter describes him as your hate-filled enemy who seeks to destroy you and all that God loves (1 Peter 5:8): Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
In our third category, we spoke of anger that is not always wrong but usually is. That describes typical human anger. It is possible for our human anger to be righteous, but there is a big problem. We are not righteous ourselves; therefore, we are subject to error.
The Bible is irrefutably clear about this. For example, Genesis 6:5 reveals God’s evaluation of the condition of the human heart: Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Some might say, “Well, yeah, pastor, but that was the condition of the human mind in Noah’s day, before the flood.”
To which we would reply, “The sinful condition of the human heart has not changed since then.” Consider the New Testament’s evaluation of the human condition (Romans 5:12): Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned…
Especially condemning is the prophet Jeremiah’s declaration (Jeremiah 17:9): The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
These passages combined teach us that the intents of our thoughts are continually prone to sin. It is a humanly universal condition in which all have sinned. Thus, according to Jeremiah, our hearts are deceitful above all things, so we are easily deceived and often deceive ourselves.
Because we are fallen sinners, with minds tainted with sin and its horrid effects, I think we can rightly say that most of our anger is not righteous but sinful. The Christian is capable of righteous anger, but usually his anger is not righteously proper but sinfully wrong. Let us explore how and why. How do we fail?
Kruger explains that first is the problem of unrighteously expressing anger. In other words, perhaps the matter about which we are angry is legitimate, but we respond sinfully. When we see powerful people stepping on and exploiting the weak and vulnerable, when we see people persecuted and brutalized for their Christian testimony… Such things should upset us. If they do not, perhaps we have grown cold, insensitive, or desensitized to the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Spirit.
Having our souls disquieted at brutality, injustice, lying, and so forth can be right but then the way we express our displeasure is often sinful. A person might fly into a rage, scream obscenities, or seek revenge. Maybe an offended person holds a grudge, maybe even for years. Not yelling, cursing, or swinging fists, but quietly simmering and seething in the rancid juices of his own bitterness. Maybe a person gets so tired of all the wrong in the world that he decides to drop out of life and grows cold and cynical.
None of these responses honors God, who says in Romans 12 (vv. 14, 16, 17-19): Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Live in harmony with one another. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. If it is possible, as far as depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written, “It is mind to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.
Even though evil that is committed against us is real, we are not to retaliate with sinful anger and a vengeful spirit. The sinful behavior of others does not justify sinful behavior from us.
The next feature of unjust anger is anger unrighteously caused. It is one thing to be angry because someone has committed grievous wrong, either to ourselves or against other persons, and we know that God cares about such obvious injustice. It is another thing, however, when we become angry about things we should not be angry over.
This is probably the most common cause for anger—it is when we don’t get our way. We have deep desires in life, we feel strongly about an issue, we really, really think our way of doing a thing is the right way and we want other people to abide by our proposals and follow our blueprint. But it does not happen. Things are not done the way we think they should be or the way we desire. Then the person or persons who got in our way are seen as adversaries, obstructing our path to satisfaction. And we become angry, maybe quarrelsome, maybe quietly holding a grudge, maybe we decide to take our toys and play somewhere else. I have learned that such people usually try to cause as much damage as they can in the process of leaving.
James addresses these situations spot-on (James 4:1-2, 4): Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your desires that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it.
All kinds of things can be categorized as unrighteous causes of our anger. As a former truck driver, I must confess that I get a little perturbed about people who apparently have not yet learned that the left lane on the highway (the hammer lane) is to be used only by drivers who are passing the people to the right (the slowpoke lane). I applauded the news that South Carolina has now started issuing tickets to people driving in the left-hand lane while not passing.
Another possibility: We want our favorite team to win the game. The umpire makes a bad call and gets called bad things. Or Getrude’s rich uncle dies, who had every right to dispose of his worldly possessions as he desired, but Getrude gets angry and boils inside because cousin Bertha got the antique living room suit she always wanted. Or we want our candidate to win the race but his opponent in the other party wins, and we are enraged. Congress doesn’t act as we think they should, and we are incensed. The list of things over which we have no justifiable right to become angry, although we sinfully do, is virtually endless.
We need to learn and remember that anger is a dangerous passion, a deadly venom coursing through soul and body, that, left unchecked, can lead us deeper and deeper into more sin. Anger unresolved can ruin a person’s life. People die from health complications that stem from the bitterness they carry with them. Anger places a wall between you and communion with the Holy Spirit and a wall between you and other people. Your soul will never be at rest, always conflicted, unless you deal with anger God’s way.
Not only does anger ruin individual lives and relationships but, as we noted earlier, anger can spread through society, making life dangerous, unpleasant, even toppling nations. Although I have said this before I will say it again. If you fill your mind with the typical offerings from cable news and the internet, you will probably become a generally angry, judgmental, critical, worried, and bothered person. I am not saying never inform yourself. But inform yourself with one or two good, reliable sources and leave it at that.
Negativity attracts people. Sinful humans love to hear other people—especially leaders—criticized, maligned, and run down. Gossip, slander, and disrespect for leaders and any others with opposing views have become profitable products. And that is what cable news and internet feeds are all about—money. Why overshadow the happiness you can have in the Lord with the despairing news the devil peddles every day, hoping to make you unhappy and miserable.
The Divine Remedy
We have learned about the dangerous passion of anger and how it can ruin souls and societies. So, what is the divine remedy? God’s remedy to wipe out anger is the virtue of patience. What is patience? Patience is facing and enduring temptations and hardships without losing control and thereby responding in sinful ways. Patience is when a trial or hardship comes our way, and we seek for and respond in the manner God would have us do. Patience is passing through the trial without losing your cool. Patience can be when the trial comes our way, and we are tempted to respond in sinful ways, but by God’s grace we persevere in the way of righteousness.
Know this. You are not a helpless victim. Because the Christian has the Holy Spirit he or she does not have to yield to temptation and be angry. Just like with any other potential sin, the Lord will always provide a way for us to avoid turning in a sinful direction. He will always provide a way of escaping from otherwise sinfully yielding to the temptation. A Scripture verse every Christian should commit to memory for help when tempted is 1 Corinthians 10:13 (ESV): No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
Bearing up patiently requires trusting that the Lord will, as he promises in his Holy Word, provide a way for you to turn aside from sinful options when tempted. So, seek for, find, and follow God’s righteous pathway.
In the Bible, we find an example of a man who became angry and was given by the Lord a way to overcome the anger, but chose to follow anger’s path to his own hurt and ruin. He was a man named Cain. As we read this passage notice first that Cain was angry unjustly. Notice also that the Lord reasoned with Cain, warning him of the danger of following through with his angry intentions. And notice that the Lord promised Cain that if he would leave off his anger and do right that life would be well for him. Sadly, Cain refused the loving overtures of the Lord and chose the path of sinful anger and its tragic results.
If you would like, you can read along from your order of worship or from your own Bible (Genesis 4:4b-8): The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. There is Cain’s anger.
Now comes the Lord’s reasonable way of patiently avoiding terrible sin. 6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.
The Lord offered Cain a way out, assuring him that if he would just stop, go no further, and lay aside his anger, he would be blessed and accepted by the Lord. Furthermore, the Lord warned Cain that he was playing with fire. He tells Cain in v. 7: “Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”
The word picture the Lord uses here is astounding. He describes sin as a beast or a monster that wants to attack Cain and tear him to pieces. That hideous, deadly beast was, as it were, crouching at the door, just waiting for Cain to take that dangerous step out of God’s room of safety and into the devil’s claws.
He warned Cain that sin desired to have him, but that he must master it. So also with us; sin and its life-destroying effects are just waiting to trap you, but you must not yield. You must master and overcome the temptation, which, with God’s grace and power, you can.
We all know the tragic results of Cain’s sinful choice (v.8): Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
That is the way anger gets the best of us. The Lord promises that there is a better way. There is a way that leads to God’s favor and blessing. The choice is ours to make. Let us pray for the Lord to teach us the lessons and skill of patience. Let us beg the Lord to make us patient followers of Jesus and the Way.
Some folks say you shouldn’t pray for patience because the Lord might use trials to teach you the lessons that lead to it. I say, “Baloney! Is our love for the Lord really that small?”
If trials are necessary for teaching us to draw near to the Lord and walk in closer communion with him and his blessed Holy Spirit, then the trials are well worth it! The alternative is to remain distant from him! Make yourself vulnerable, willing, and open to receive from your Lord’s hand his correcting love. Whatever it takes to know our Lord better, to enjoy his favor, to avoid sinful ways, and to walk in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake, let it be.
Do we trust him or not? The way of anger leads to a diseased soul, anguish and despondency, sadness and discontent, and even worse. The alternative way of patience is the way that leads to blessing, contentment, and satisfaction. Trust your loving Lord. Surrender to him. Pray—sincerely, earnestly, and diligently—for him to teach you the way of patience. Be assured, it is by far the better alternative! James 1:20: For man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.
The way of anger will only keep you miserable. The way of patience will bring you peace. Peace with your neighbor; peace with people whose opinions and views are different from yours; peace with the world, your perceptions of it, and your place in it; peace within your own soul; and, most importantly, peace with God. Amen.
Benediction: Now may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7).