Be Angry and Sin Not

 

Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:26-32 ESV).

 

The Hulk is a fictional superhero appearing in publications of Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, first appearing in the debut issue of The Incredible Hulk (May, 1962). In his comic book appearances, the character is both the Hulk, a green-skinned, hulking and muscular humanoid possessing a vast degree of physical strength, and his alter ego Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, a physically weak, socially withdrawn, and emotionally reserved physicist. The two exist as independent dissociative personalities, and resent each other. He has appeared in numerous films, perhaps most notably in the Marvel Universe production of The Avengers. The trigger for Banner to become the Hulk is anger.

 

In one of the early films detailing how Banner first became the Hulk, he says to someone, “Don’t make me angry. You won’t like me angry.” And, isn’t that true for all of us? It shouldn’t be a surprise that the Apostle Paul speaks to this in our reading today. We must understand that anger is merely an emotion. The apostle does not say, “Don’t get angry;” rather he says, “don’t sin when you do.”

 

He goes on to detail what this looks like. He uses words like “clamoring,” “corrupting talk,” “bitterness,” and “wrath.” We all seen and done these things in a moment of anger. James, the brother of Jesus, spends an entire chapter of his epistle detailing the difficulty and potential destruction of the tongue (cf. James 1). No where does the Scripture deny the reality of anger. After all, it is merely an emotion. The problem is always what we do with that emotion. If we “hulk out” we make the mistake of becoming a creature that does not represent the position we hold as children of God. I hope you are intentionally developing a tenderness of heart and a clarity of spirit that will keep you walking worthy of your calling.