September 6
Song of Solomon 5-6
Psalm 102:15-22
Proverbs 22:3-4
Ephesians 4:17-32
Righteous Anger?
“You took off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires; you are being renewed in the spirit of your minds; you put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.” Ephesians 4:22-24
“Be angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, and don’t give the devil a foothold. All bitterness, anger, wrath, shouting and slander must be removed from you, along with malice.” Ephesians 4:26-27, 31
Throughout scripture we are told that anger is bad. It never says it is ok to be angry, but rather that when we get angry, because we are human and we will inevitably get angry, we should not sin. It tells us to forgive and forgive over and over and over and over. It says to treat others as if they are better than we are. It tells us to always be concerned more about other people than we are about ourselves. It tells us to forfeit our right to be offended and that we are not allowed to hold on to our anger. Actually, we are not forfeiting some right, because that right does not exist.
We somehow have the idea that it is virtuous to get angry. We use Jesus as an example and say that since Jesus got angry, we are justified to get angry when we see sin or injustice. The problem with that is that Jesus was God. He was perfect. His motives were always pure. He was completely justified. He knew all the facts and because He was completely wise and all knowing, His anger was exhibited in a perfectly just way. We are not God. We are not all wise and all knowing. We only see our side and that is skewed by our self-interest and selfish motives. My arguments are amazingly convincing to me. I am naturally going to side with me because I think I’m right. I tend to think that my righteous anger is justified, but other people are not justified in their anger. In the moment, everyone’s anger always seems righteous. Anger sweeps over us and tells us that we are being denied something we deserve, and we must respond. The hard part is that sometimes we are justified. Sometimes we are being treated unfairly. Sometimes the person is a jerk. Jesus tells us that in those times, especially in those times, we are to forgive. We don’t get to be angry and treat them bad. We don’t get to hold on to our anger and bitterness. The stuff that is understandably offensive, the thing that we think makes our anger righteous, is the very thing we are called to forgive. We are called to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
There is a legitimate question we must ask ourselves. Is it ok to get angry at people who treat others badly? Can we be angry at racists and bigots and child molesters? I think the answer to this is complicated. Obviously, these things are wrong, and we should do everything we can to get rid of those things. But we do not have to get angry and emotional to do that. Police officers don’t have to get angry to respond to abuse cases. They are much more effective if they respond with a cool, calm head than if they react in anger. Parents who respond to their children’s bad behavior in anger do not get the best result. Anger does not enhance sound judgment. When we become angry, the best strategy is to step back, take a breath and pray, asking God to help us react appropriately and wisely. As Christians, we have put off our old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires and put on the new self that is created in Christ’s likeness because His Holy Spirit lives in us. Let us strive to remove all anger from our lives and react in love and forgiveness.
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