Don’t Come to Church Angry

Anger seems to be a “permissible sin” for many professing Christians.  The fact is that we live in an angry world.  We would be shocked if we knew the madness that is raging in people all around us.  Periodically we witness this anger.  We see people blasting the check out person at Wal-Mart or the waitress at Blue Ribbon.  I40/85 provides sufficient provocation for some folk to lose it.  But, it is within the family that this inner seething most often explodes, especially for Christians.  We are not concerned about losing our testimony when we let off steam at home.  After all, is it not an unwritten rule that what happens at home stays at home.  Children are frequently the primary victims of our anger.  Sometimes we excuse it in terms of our authority to discipline.

If we are angry people, it is to our shame.  It is a serious problem not to be excused by appeals to stress or fatigue.  Anger is a moral problem and a spiritual problem.  We must treat it seriously.

Preparation for the Lord’s Day provides the occasion for us to address our anger.  In fact, we must address our anger unless we are willing to offend God.  Our Heavenly Father has expressed rather plainly that His holiness is violated and our worship corrupted when we come before Him with anger in our hearts toward another human being.  Ponder these rather familiar passages:

1 Timothy 2:8 ¶ I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting;

Matthew 5:23-24   23 “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,  24 “leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

No doubt you pray and meditate in preparation for worship.  Add to that the careful examination of your heart and relationships to make certain that there are no unresolved issues of anger.  If you need to call a family meeting for confession and restoration before leaving home, do it.  If you need to call someone tonight or in the morning, if you need to arrange to meet someone early before worship to clear away issues of anger and conflict, spare no effort.  Rid yourself of the dark blot which unresolved anger causes in the eyes of the God before Whom we will present ourselves in a few hours.

May the Holy Spirit help us all!