Last week I started a little mini-series here on my blog called "A Christian Response to Wardrobe Malfunctions."  As we approach Superbowl XLIV (didn't know you were gonna have to brush up on your Roman numeral skills before reading my blog today did you?) and think back to that infamous halftime show with Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson in Superbowl XXXVIII, I want to take a look again at what we are called to be as Christians.  As Paul writes to the church in Ephesus I am reminded of the show on TLC called "What Not To Wear."  The premise of that show is a perfect backdrop to this series.  The question being--what are we not to wear as Christians?    

WHAT NOT TO WEAR AS A CHRISTIAN:

1) Take off LYING and put on TRUTH

Last week we looked at Ephesians 4:25 (NIV) where Paul says, 25Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.  Since we already talked about this verse last week let's move right into today's thought...

2) Take off SINFUL WRATH and put on RIGHTEOUS ANGER

In Ephesians 4:26 (NIV) Paul goes on to say, 26“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry...  Now this is a difficult verse to understand.  The question then is this, when is anger right, and when is anger wrong?  When is it sinful and when is it righteous?  Anger is sin when that anger is motivated by an emotion of malice, jealousy, rebellion, resentment, vindictiveness, or hatred.  Because of personal pride a person decides, with all or one of these emotions within them, to be angry with another person—and the seed is pride within their heart—that is when it is a sin.  In Matthew 5:23-25 (NIV) Jesus says, 23Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. 25Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.  Why does Jesus tell us to “settle matters quickly with our adversary”?  Because the all-seeing eyes of the Savior can see into the hearts of men and women when they continually put off reconciliation.  What happens when they put it off?  It festers, and festers, and festers, and gets worse—that is why Jesus also said in Matthew 18:15 (NIV) – 15If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.  

Jesus said that when we have sinful anger with another we are to do two things—confess it to God, and confess it to our brother.  Sadly that is another New Testament practice that has gone down the tubes, and this is very serious, because Jesus Christ the Son of God, says that unholy anger is the first step of murder.  In Matthew 5:21-22 (NKJV) Jesus said, 21You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.  Hating another person is the equivalent of murder in God’s eyes.  Jesus tells us that it is Satan who is the father of lies and He was a murderer from the beginning!  Listen to John 8:44 (NIV) where Jesus said, 44You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.  Satan hates God, and he hates the people of God, and when he finds a believer where there is a spark of bitter anger he adds fuel to the fire.  Why?  Because he wants to burn down the body of Christ!  It's easy to put out a match when it's first struck, isn't it?  But once the whole building is burning down it's very very difficult.  The unconfessed sin of anger is the devil's breeding ground.

In Ephesians 4:27 (NIV) Paul goes on to say, 27and do not give the devil a foothold.  If you give the Devil an inch, he’ll become a ruler!  Let me ask you a question, does the Devil need the help of Christians?  I think he's doing a good enough job of opposing God as it is, without us.  The Greek word here for “Devil” is the word “Diabolos.”  It's a double-meaning word.  In other words it can mean "the Devil", but it can also be translated as "one who is prone to slander."  The Devil is prone to slander!  If you go through the mentions of the Devil within Scripture, particularly the book of Revelation chapter 12 vs. 10 he is described as ‘the accuser of the brethren’.  He is the slanderer of the brethren.  The one who throws things.  He throws accusations at the children of God about their sins.  The Holy Spirit is saying through Paul here in Ephesians 4—“Give no place to the slanderer!”—meaning the Devil.  Everyone that is slanderous is fond of him.

The half-brother of Jesus said this, 7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7 NIV).  Crimes of passion are to be forbidden within the body of Christ, and they must stop—there is no excuse for it, do you know why?  Because lies and sinful anger discredit the testimony of Christ.  It stumbles the unsaved and it sows discord among the brethren.  In Proverbs 6:16-19 (NIV) King Solomon said, 16There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him: 17haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, 18a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, 19a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.  What is righteous anger? We are to take off sinful wrath and put on righteous anger, but what exactly does that mean?  Well, the Bible says that God gets angry.  In fact, Psalm 7 says that God gets angry with the wicked every day.  Listen to this…11God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day (Psalm 7:11 NKJV). 

When God's name is at stake—when God's name is not vindicated within His church and within His creation, we are to be angry, just like He is.  That is righteous anger!  We are to be like Jesus Himself when He goes into the temple and turns over the tables of the money-changers.  We are to have the zeal of His house eating us up!  13When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!” 17His disciples remembered that it is written: ‘Zeal for your house will consume me’ (John 2:13-17 NIV).  Now is it always easy to know the difference between sinful wrath and righteous anger?  NO—actually sometimes it is quite hard to tell the two apart.  It's a problem for a sinner saved by grace to know when their anger is sin and when their anger is righteous.  What can start off as being anger that is righteous can end up as anger that is sin.

Aristotle, who was not a believer, once said this—“Anyone can become angry, but to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way—this is not easy.”  Thomas Boston, a Puritan pastor once said it like this—“I am determined to be angry and sin not—therefore the way I will do it is to be angry at nothing but sin!”  There’s the key.  If you want to be angry and sin not, be angry with everything that is sin!  Do you know what we need in the Church?  We need a baptism of holy anger.  We need to be angry again for righteousness sake.  Like the Psalmist, we need to love the Lord and hate evil.  We need to be like William Wilberforce, who looked at the atrocities of slavery in England and decided to stand up and do something about it.  he didn't just sit passively by and complain about it.  He took action.  We need to be angry at what makes the Lord angry.  Things like abortion, homosexuality, and euthanasia, which break the heart of God.  The Pharisees were ripping the ordinary people off in the Temple, and Jesus was angry about it!  Don't get me wrong, as Christians we are called to love everyone, but just like Jesus there are also times to be angry and sin not!