The Calm Man – Keep Calm And Carry On - Becoming a DIALED IN Man of God

“A man of quick temper acts foolishly, and a man of evil devices is hated.” (Proverbs 14:17, ESV)

There are two Greek words for anger: thumos, anger that quickly blazes and subsides, like fire in straw, and orgē, the noun connected with orgilos, which means ingrained anger. It’s wrath continually fed to keep it alive. A blaze of anger is an unhappy thing, but long-lived, purposely maintained anger is still worse.

Orgilos describes a person always simmering, just a few degrees from boiling. Titus 1:7 advises vigilance against harboring anger just below the surface.

A children’s pastor once shared a hilarious story about two boys arguing in Sunday school. He separated them only to find one boy with his middle finger raised in nonverbal aggression. My friend asked, “Do you know what that means?”

“Yes,” the leering child responded, his finger still in the air. “It means you’re driving too slow!”

I bet he learned the gesture from a dad whose anger was just below the surface waiting to erupt. When was the last time something angered you and set you off? Proverbs 14:17 warns “a quick-tempered man acts foolishly.”

How do you handle an ‘Oregon traffic jam,’ dozens of vehicles following a nervous farmer driving a combine on the highway? How do you handle life’s storms?

I admire that Jesus the man never lost His cool. Yes, He got angry. In Mark 10:14, Jesus was “indignant” when children were prevented from coming to Him. He was rightly angered over an injustice. John 2 records Jesus’ cleansing of the temple. Few would argue Jesus wasn’t angry, but look at verse 15: “He made a scourge of cords.” He stepped back, gathered materials, and strategically planned his next move. This was the action of a man under control and not a man with anger (orgilos) bubbling under the surface.

Each of us, like Jesus, is triggered at some point. We must consider how we respond and what triggered our anger. Or else, as Benjamin Franklin said, “Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame.”

From experience, orgilos results from one of four things:

1. We harbor bitterness toward a trusted adult who wounded us. Is there someone in your past whom you haven’t forgiven, confronted, or spoken to a confidant about? I know men who’ve dealt with woundedness their entire lives and refuse to eradicate it. It boils inside them.
2. A life event like war, divorce, or tragedy has traumatized us. Is there a traumatic event buried in the depths of your soul you’re hoping will go away? My grandfather flew a fighter plane in World War II. The pilots drank a little alcohol to take the edge off before missions. How’d Grandpa deal with life in the States? He became a raging alcoholic, wounding those he loved and dying too early. Your trauma won’t go away until you dig it up and deal with it.
3. Unconfessed and unrepented sin haunts us. I’ve seen men wither away and die while refusing to repent of sin. Their sin hurts not only others but themselves. One shared, “I’m the most miserable man on the planet. I know what’s biblical and right but refuse to stop.” He was a bitter, angry dude.
4. Sociopathy, narcissism, or hedonism has hardened us. Sociopathy and narcissism create an inability to feel empathy toward others. When a man stops caring for the things that should deeply affect him, he needs to get help before it’s too late.

When a man is overcome by orgilos, his anger extinguishes relationships with those who venture too close. All who once loved him shy away, disappear, and only show up on major holidays. So, keep calm and carry on.

DIAL IT IN:

• What can we learn from Jesus’ anger?
• What things should anger us, and why?