ANGER in HELL

Did you see the INTRODUCTION to this A to Z series? Check it out here.

I can just hear the response to this headline. "Of course there's ANGER in hell! Who wouldn't be angry if some cruel god threw them in there for no good reason?" But I'm not talking here about that anger, which will actually be more of a delusional self-justifying, fist-shaking-at-God hubris. We may get to that later in the month. I'm talking about the kind of anger you feel and express when the driver in front of you turns abruptly without signaling, or stops too quickly, or doesn't move fast enough, or turns into your path too suddenly.

Or the anger you feel when it starts pouring down rain just when you have to get out of the car. Or when your printer is out of ink. Or when you stub your toe or step on a lego. When you take a minor, innocent incident personally, and instantly claim that your right to go on unbothered has been unjustly violated!

If you're a person who can't accept the impact of nature or of nature's God or of others who, like yourself, are created in God's image but are fallen into imperfection, then you will reject God's offer of justification and forgiveness. You will never know the peace He has in store for you, and will not be able to allow others to enjoy such a treasure. In such a state, ANGER is truly guaranteed and unavoidable.

And it will be with you in hell, always.

If hell is a place without God, which it is, by definition, then there will be no sign of the good effect his spirit has on us here and now (when we allow it). No conscientious needling to lead us to back down from road rage into embarrassment; no meddlesome guilty remorse to keep us humble when our anger carries us down the wrong accusatory trail; and no eruptions of sorrow to reign us in when an outburst is more hurtful than intended. And that, because there will never be any limit to the intended hurt!

The point I want to make here has to do with the sad corollary of the old adage "Practice Makes Perfect." If persistent practicing of free-throws leads to a near 100% accomplishment on the court, what will an eternity of rehearsing totally uninhibited angry outbursts do to the soul? In as much as heaven is a place where the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5) are ever growing and multiplying in us, so hell is a place where the rotten fruit of our sinfulness is only putrifying and metastasizing forever and ever.

We can choose now whether we want to experience love, joy, peace, etc. and go on and on with these gifts developing more and more into such wonderful manifestations that can not be imagined now; or cling to our sins--rebuffing forgiveness!--and let them overpower and torment us increasingly and eternally.

HOSEA 7:2 Their sins engulf them.

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