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He said, “They are restless and frustrated ... divisive ... sarcastic ... angry people ... always stirring an issue or picking a fight.”
Who Is He Writing about and What Have They Done Wrong?
Brother Chappell’s blog does not tell us who he is referring to or what they are guilty of. When the Holy Spirit inspired people to expose others for some error, they always made it plain who they were talking about and what they did that was wrong.
In Matthew 3:7, when John the Baptist called some spiritual leaders “a generation of vipers,” we were not left to wonder who he was talking about or what they were doing.
In Matthew 12:24, when Jesus referred to some spiritual leaders as a “generation of vipers” we do not have to guess who He was talking about or what they were guilty of.
In Matthew 23:23-24, when Jesus called some spiritual leaders "hypocrites," "blind guides," "blind," "whited sepulchres," "serpents," and "ye generation of vipers" we were not left to guess who He was talking about or what they were guilty of.
In Galatians 2:11-14, Paul exposed Peter because he “walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel.” Paul named him publicly, and God made sure it was recorded in His Word, like He did when Jesus rebuked Peter for caring about the things of this world.
Paul named Demas, Hymenaeus, Alexander and revealed the reason why.
John named Diotrephes; Jude exposed Balaam; and in both cases the reason for exposing them was made plain.
Brother Chappell’s Dangerous Generalities
We are left to decide for ourselves who Brother Chappell’s “angry birds” might be. It is a very dangerous thing to influence thousands of young followers with generalities about some unnamed “spiritual leaders” who are “frustrated ... divisive, sarcastic ... angry people who are always stirring an issue or picking a fight.”
Do We Get on the Angry Birds List for Simply Getting Angry?
Psalm 7:11, “God is angry with the wicked every day.”
Mark 3:5, “He (Christ) had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts.”
Ephesians 4:26, “Be ye angry, and sin not.”
What Does One Do to Be Considered Frustrated?
Was Jesus “frustrated” when He took the whip into the temple?
Was Moses frustrated when he exposed Balaam?
Was Paul frustrated when he said, “Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person”? (1 Corinthians 5:15).
What Does One Do to Gender Strife?
Was Jesus “gendering strife” when He warned people?
Matthew 7:15, “Beware of false prophets.”
Matthew 10:17, “But beware of men.”
Matthew 16:6, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.”
Matthew 16:6, “How is it that ye do not understand ... ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?”
Was Peter “gendering strife” in Second Peter 3:17 when He warned, “beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.”
I can’t imagine Brother Chappell would have been referring to any of the above mentioned situations, so I am left to assume he was aiming to destroy the credibility and reputation of some unnamed “spiritual leaders” by associating them with his “angry birds.”
My guess is that he is referring to Brother David Cloud of Way of Life Ministries, and those who would publicly support his ministry. For the record, I support Brother Cloud and his ministry, and I’m not an “angry bird.”
I can also support Brother Chappell’s ministry with the exception of some separation issues, especially concerning Contemporary Christian Music.
However, the difference is, when Brother Cloud has something to say we are not left to guess who or what he is talking about. I wish Brother Chappell would take the same Biblical stand.
Note: Brother Chappell started his blog about “angry birds” comparing them to “some spiritual leaders” who “become like those birds.” He said, “they hurl themselves into any situation that they perceive to be threatening or to be being handled differently than they would.”
However, the Angry Bird app describes the game saying, “The survival of the Angry Birds is at stake and they dish out revenge on the greedy pigs who stole their eggs.”
So the birds weren’t angry because the pigs were just “handling things differently than they would.” The destruction of their offsprings was the reason for their anger.
Reprinted from Lifting Up the Standard by Bob Kirkland, Issue 43, November 14, 2014, http://www.fairhavensbaptist.net --
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