Angry at Jesus

trulyconverted · Feb 20, 2013

Lee M said:
Have you ever been angry at Jesus? Is it possible that you ever be?

Would you list 5 things jesus could do to make you angry?

With the new heart one has after God saves them, this new heart only can love God. Maybe I can sometimes ask the question 'why' but that's about it.

dysert · Feb 20, 2013

Lee M said:
Have you ever been angry at Jesus? Is it possible that you ever be?

Would you list 5 things jesus could do to make you angry?

I've been angry at God. And unfortunately, it lasted a long time (years). The problem was His apparent lack of action when I really needed Him to act. I became bitter, turned off, and struggled even with going to church an hour a week. I never stopped believing, but I treated God as if He were irrelevant. I suppose that hurt Him, but then that made us even.

Sadly, although the depth of my anger isn't the same as it was, I've never yet fully recovered from it. I hope someday I will, because living close to Him is better than living at a distance.

Life is hard, and I don't think we can legitimately blame God for everything that's bad. Even though He could stop the badness if He wanted to, all I can do is accept it for what it is, and ask Him about it when I see Him.

dysert · Feb 20, 2013

trulyconverted said:
With the new heart one has after God saves them, this new heart only can love God. Maybe I can sometimes ask the question 'why' but that's about it.

It's possible to love someone and be angry with them at the same time. You're married, so I suspect you'd agree. ;-)

trulyconverted · Feb 20, 2013

dysert said:
It's possible to love someone and be angry with them at the same time. You're married, so I suspect you'd agree. ;-)

Angry with your spouse or kids? yes I agree - absolutely (but only for a short while). But somehow it is different with God. It may be hard to put into words how and why it is so. It's just so.

dysert · Feb 20, 2013

trulyconverted said:
Angry with your spouse or kids? yes I agree - absolutely (but only for a short while). But somehow it is different with God. It may be hard to put into words how and why it is so. It's just so.

Maybe it's because deep down we know that He's the only one who truly loves us unconditionally, and that He really doesn't deserve our anger?

trulyconverted · Feb 20, 2013

dysert said:
Maybe it's because deep down we know that He's the only one who truly loves us unconditionally, and that He really doesn't deserve our anger?

He loves us so.

Krisuvial · Mar 2, 2013

Lee M said:
Have you ever been angry at Jesus? Is it possible that you ever be?

Would you list 5 things jesus could do to make you angry?

This is actually why I joined the site... I've been angry at Jesus off and on for a few months now. About three years ago my grandma died and everything's been spiraling out of control. Since then I injured my back (herniated disk) and can't see a specialist because no one will take my insurance. My first car broke down and my family had no transportation for months. My dad, sister, and brother lost their jobs. I lost my job just recently. Our current car needs work that we can't afford. And now my family is homeless. We've been poor all our lives (there were some days I didn't eat at all, we rarely had heat at home, never had extra money to do things) but that was bearable until my grandma died since she helped us out. I know God loves us, but I just don't understand why I've had to face so many trials in twenty years while others have coasted on the good life. So, yes, it is possible to be angry at God. Even though I know deep in my heart he cares for me.

aiki · Mar 3, 2013

Have you ever been angry at Jesus? Is it possible that you ever be?

Well, of course it is possible. We humans are prone to anger when we don't get what we want, when we want it. We tend to selfishness and when that selfishness is prevented, we can get pretty short-tempered. People get angry with each other all the time. It's such a common practice people don't really think twice about getting angry at God, too. Of course, God never deserves our anger, being perfect and all.

Would you list 5 things jesus could do to make you angry?

To what purpose? All this question does is highlight where a person mistakenly feels they are justified in being angry, not where Jesus deserves our anger.

Selah.

Lee M · Mar 3, 2013

Aiki,

When I asked this question I wasn't seeking to justify anger at God, I was trying to see if a Christian's God was real enough to be able to produce an emotion or effect as mandatory as anger or love.

You telling me that question isn't a valuable one to you... doesn't serve a purpose.

seashale76 · Mar 3, 2013

Lee M said:
Have you ever been angry at Jesus? Is it possible that you ever be?

Would you list 5 things jesus could do to make you angry?

No, I haven't been. I've always separted Christ from the Jonathan Edwards' 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God' idea. I never recognized that God as even being the same as the Holy Trinity. However, at one point, I rather ignored Christ in lieu of being very angry at the very idea of a God like the one Edwards' proposed and hating the fact that a lof of Christians apparently believed God to really be that way- and rejected that notion entirely (to the point where I didn't consider myself a Christian- but a deist).

When all is said and done (and I'm oversimplifying things to a great extent)- it was when I came across Christ again and chose to stop ignoring the topic- that it brought me to Orthodoxy.

Lee M · Mar 3, 2013

I think the reasons you rejected the title Christian are the same reasons I reject Christianity.

aiki · Mar 3, 2013

Aiki,

When I asked this question I wasn't seeking to justify anger at God, I was trying to see if a Christian's God was real enough to be able to produce an emotion or effect as mandatory as anger or love.

Yes, I understand. You know, God "shows up," He makes Himself real, via other means, too. Answered prayer, for instance, and the conviction and comfort, and illumination, of His Holy Spirit. These serve to certify God's existence for me far more powerfully than a moment of anger towards Him could.

I wonder why you want to know if Christians are angered by God (or Jesus). Why not ask them about more positive proof of their faith? Why not ask them if they love God? Or if He has brought them joy or peace? Why would anger be the thing you focus on? Perhaps this question serves as something of a reflection of your own attitude toward the God in whom Christians believe...

You telling me that question isn't a valuable one to you... doesn't serve a purpose.

Well, it may not serve your purpose. But I'm not sure a thread that focuses upon the unwarranted anger of Christians toward their Maker does anything truly constructive. I realize the answers you get to your questions may help you feel more justified in your own negative feelings toward Christ, and the examples of Christians being angry with their Saviour makes them appear to join you (and thus further justify you) in your dislike of him but I don't see value in aiding either of these outcomes.

Selah.

Lee M · Mar 3, 2013

Aiki

I give up on you.

Have fun.

RicardoKS · Aug 12, 2018

Lee M said:
Have you ever been angry at Jesus? Is it possible that you ever be?

Would you list 5 things jesus could do to make you angry?

I grew up an abused child who got tired of praying to a Jesus incapable of "Saving" a child from a tortuous madman I called my father. I learned to accept that prayers always went unanswered, so that made Him redundant in my frightened little life. I loved His story & simple message, but I was & still am astounded that His followers seemed happily incapable or unwilling to following that message. Love they Neighbor: Is that sooooo hard?
Am I a Christian? I WANT to be, but have had a lifelong block to the idea.

ViaCrucis · Aug 17, 2018

Lee M said:
Have you ever been angry at Jesus? Is it possible that you ever be?

Would you list 5 things jesus could do to make you angry?

Kind of. I wouldn't necessarily say I was so much "angry at Jesus" as I was angry, frustrated, hurt, and confused within the context of my Christianity; the anger wasn't so much directed at Jesus, but at myself, but I attributed it to the conditions Jesus established.

That was kind of confusing, maybe it's better to just explain.

In my younger adolescent years I was in a lot of ways subjected to a fairly moralistic version (or versions really) of Christianity. People kept telling me that God loved me, but then they also said that it was up to me to get better, to act right, and that if I really loved God then I would see improvements in my own moral behavior and personal holiness. The problem is that I didn't see improvement, in fact the harder I tried the more I failed. I remember spending hours locked away in my room, laying on the floor pleading with God. I wanted to be more faithful, I wanted to be more obedient, I wanted to be more like the kind of person I was supposed to be. And, now and then, I felt pretty good, I occasionally felt pretty spiritual--but it was fleeting, and I would immediately be back to where I was.

This spiritual yo-yoing, which could happen weekly, if not in some cases daily, put me in a mental place where I frequently imagined myself to simply be beyond grace. If I was truly saved, if I truly had Jesus as Savior, then I should see fruit in my life, I should see long term behavioral changes, in how I thought, felt, and acted. All of the adults around me seemed to not have this problem, they lived their lives with all the appearance of spirituality and piety, living godly and pleasing lives--but then here was me, a teenager struggling with raging sexual hormones who felt like a broken mess before a God who was nice enough to send Jesus for me, and so it was now my turn to give myself to Him in return.

I was angry. I was confused. I was frustrated. I was hurt. Why did it have to be this way? Why did Jesus do this? And why wouldn't He make me better?

I consider it deeply fortunate that I didn't stay in that kind of Christianity, but eventually got out, explored, and saw that it didn't have to be that way--and in fact shouldn't be that way at all.

-CryptoLutheran

dhh712 · Aug 26, 2018

Lee M said:
Have you ever been angry at Jesus? Is it possible that you ever be?

Would you list 5 things jesus could do to make you angry?

Well, I've been angry when things don't go my way, when things take a turn for the worse. Any time you're angry at your circumstances you're angry at God because he is the one that put you there. So, yes, I've been angry at Jesus a lot.

One thing to keep in mind to reign in this emotion (which I constantly try to do though am not entirely successful 100% of the time) is to realize that we all deserve nothing at the hands of God outside of his eternal wrath. Therefore, whenever we are not experiencing this (which is something no one of us who've ever lived or will live on this earth can even imagine a fraction of), we should be excessively grateful for this enormous mercy God showers upon believers and unbelievers alike.

I think that to understand this will at least hinder any lasting anger at God, like as in holding a grudge or something. Can't speak for those flashes of anger. I still get in a raging passion when things at work go wrong like when employees call off. It's as natural to me as breathing and I hate how much I struggle unsuccessfully with this.

dhh712 · Aug 26, 2018

Lee M said:
I know what christianity is and its horrifying.

To some it is the savor of death. The "good news" isn't all that great to everyone!

dhh712 · Aug 26, 2018

ViaCrucis said:
Kind of. I wouldn't necessarily say I was so much "angry at Jesus" as I was angry, frustrated, hurt, and confused within the context of my Christianity; the anger wasn't so much directed at Jesus, but at myself, but I attributed it to the conditions Jesus established.

That was kind of confusing, maybe it's better to just explain.

In my younger adolescent years I was in a lot of ways subjected to a fairly moralistic version (or versions really) of Christianity. People kept telling me that God loved me, but then they also said that it was up to me to get better, to act right, and that if I really loved God then I would see improvements in my own moral behavior and personal holiness. The problem is that I didn't see improvement, in fact the harder I tried the more I failed. I remember spending hours locked away in my room, laying on the floor pleading with God. I wanted to be more faithful, I wanted to be more obedient, I wanted to be more like the kind of person I was supposed to be. And, now and then, I felt pretty good, I occasionally felt pretty spiritual--but it was fleeting, and I would immediately be back to where I was.

This spiritual yo-yoing, which could happen weekly, if not in some cases daily, put me in a mental place where I frequently imagined myself to simply be beyond grace. If I was truly saved, if I truly had Jesus as Savior, then I should see fruit in my life, I should see long term behavioral changes, in how I thought, felt, and acted. All of the adults around me seemed to not have this problem, they lived their lives with all the appearance of spirituality and piety, living godly and pleasing lives--but then here was me, a teenager struggling with raging sexual hormones who felt like a broken mess before a God who was nice enough to send Jesus for me, and so it was now my turn to give myself to Him in return.

I was angry. I was confused. I was frustrated. I was hurt. Why did it have to be this way? Why did Jesus do this? And why wouldn't He make me better?

I consider it deeply fortunate that I didn't stay in that kind of Christianity, but eventually got out, explored, and saw that it didn't have to be that way--and in fact shouldn't be that way at all.

-CryptoLutheran

It sucks when people are exposed to "Christianity" in name only. Resting upon Jesus as your saviour is the only Christianity which is taught in the Bible. Salvation by works is the Devil's tale and boy has he done a good job of turning people away from Christ by it.

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