Has the Corona Virus Got You Angry?
I’ve noticed (perhaps you have too) that some people are responding in anger to the Corona Virus. Traveling home from the office last week I watched in amazement as a road rage incident unfolded before my eyes. I did not see the end result as they continued on past my turn but someone was aggressively trying to run the other off the road – never seen anything like it! Driving this past week brought several other incidents as people angrily responded to me and other family members for driving slower (the speed limit?) than they wished. This of course resulted in expressive gestures (not from me)! These kinds of incidents seem to have increased. Walking through the grocery store with family we observed an altercation between an employee and a customer – this was not the first incident we had seen. Just to be clear, it had nothing to do with toilet paper (maybe that would be understandable?!). A police chief friend shares that his observations are a spike in domestic disputes, and disputes between neighbors. All that to say – tensions are running very high. People are under stress and pressure – the heat of life! Just like the check engine light on a dashboard, these angry outbursts are pointing to something taking place in their hearts. Maybe this season has caused you to be angry as well?
I’ve had many vehicles over the years. Many of them we kept well beyond the time when the check engine light came on regularly or even permanently. I once bought a really fancy tool that could read the codes in my vehicle. It would tell me what was wrong. Occasionally I would fix the problem and the light would disappear! Other times I would find that the annoying check engine light was a better option then the cost of the repair or the consequence of not making the repair. I even thought, “maybe I can just put some black tape over the light and ignore it.” The problem with that of course is that the real problem would not be addressed. Anger is like that. It’s an emotion that is telling you something internally is wrong. Black tape won’t fix it – you’ve got to get to the root of the problem.
So what might anger in the midst of the Corona Virus be telling you? What might the code reader tell you? It could be a number of things. Perhaps it’s fear of the unknown, illness, financial distress, trying to educate or be educated virtually, or conflict in relationships. But let’s dig a little deeper – often the code reader on my car would point to multiple issues dependent on one another. If you could get to the root issue the others would often be resolved. So it is with Corona Anger! Anger is pointing to a perceived wrong – a loss or the threat of loss of something we love or upon which we depend. Here are some things that the Corona Virus may have stripped away causing some to lash out in anger:
Comfort – trouble finding any TP? That’s a comfort issue for sure!
Security of Resources – have you checked your portfolio lately?
Control – we are accustomed to great freedom in our lives, now we are being told to stay at home – or else!
Safety – how many times have you washed your hands?
The list could go on. I hope you can see that these are all an idolatrous affection that will someday tip over face first like Dagon in the presence of the Lord (I Sam. 5). James gives a great picture of this idolatrous and false worship in our hearts. The Bible is the best code reader for us!
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet 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 wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. (ESV) James 4:1–10
James tells us that we quarrel (the neighbors in dispute, the angry customer, the parent ready to pull their hair out?!) because we want what we want. Even when we ask the Lord often our motives are wrong. We have some unmet expectation and it is rooted in “adultery!” What a strong statement. The adultery here is the adultery of worshiping something other than God. We’ve established our own kingdom with our own rules and when it doesn’t quite work out the way we want it – we rage and go to war to keep what we love. Since God will not be co -regent (you can’t serve God and money!) we find ourselves in opposition to God. And… we’ll lose.
James counsel – repent, humble yourself, and reform – getting back under his kingdom and his rule (repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!). A kingdom by the way that is eternal. Repentance is seeing this adultery as nothing less than the lie of Satan in the garden – so resist it. Humility – recognizing your need for his grace and submitting to Him. Reform – responding in faith not double mindedness (literally divided allegiance). The entire sermon on the mount addresses this issue. Jesus instructs us that the priority in our praying is for his kingdom to come. This presumes that we are all about his kingdom – not ours. He tells us to lay up treasures, not here, but in heaven. And of course we cannot serve two masters – it is just not possible for you will hate the one and love the other.
While we await for the consummation of Christ and his Kingdom we must recognize that we are in an “already not yet tension.” This includes suffering (persecution, but also pandemics that kill and bring financial ruin). How you respond to such suffering will point to your kingdom allegiances. Paul said it this way…
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (ESV) Philippians 3:7–11
If you rage when suffering and loss comes – you need to repent, humble yourself, and in faith look to Christ – who will raise his own in a kingdom that is far better than what we will all certainly lose in this life.
If you join with Paul and count this world as loss you can actually face this trial with great joy “because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus [your] Lord.” This will cause people to not see you but the magnificence and beauty of Christ Jesus your Lord! He’s more beautiful than your home, your portfolio, your health.
Graham Kendrick wrote this song as a response to these verses in Philippians:
All I once held dear, built my life upon All this world reveres, and wars to own All I once thought gain I have counted loss Spent and worthless now, compared to this
Knowing you, Jesus Knowing you, there is no greater thing You're my all, you're the best You're my joy, my righteousness And I love you, Lord
Follow this link to listen to this beautiful song (sung by Robin Mark): Knowing You Jesus
Beloved, do you find anger rising in your hearts during this pandemic? What does the code reader of Scriptures reveal is going on in your heart? What is it that you love more than Christ? Where do you need to repent, humble yourself, and reform/renew your mind? Let me encourage you to not only confess your struggle to God but someone else who will come alongside and help you in your battle. Together, reflect on how lovely Christ and his Kingdom truly are and “the things of this world will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.”
So far I’ve addressed anger from the perspective of our battles as believers. Beloved, consider the world around you. Do not be surprised at the anger you may see expressed from the mild verbal altercation in a grocery store all the way to the domestic violence my police chief friend is seeing. How should we respond? In patience with the Gospel. The good news of a glorious Savior is the only answer to the collapse of a tower in Siloam (Luke 13:4) or the World Trade Centers, snakes in the wilderness (Numbers 21) or the Spanish Flu of our grandparents or the present Corona Virus, and the rich fool (Luke 21) in Jesus day or a stock market that erased the wealth of many this past week.
We’ve only considered unrighteous anger – that’s where we struggle! But there is someone who is angry – and that’s ok, even right. Look for who this is in tomorrow’s blog post.
Some Helpful Resources on Anger (linked to Amazon):