This past Sunday I spoke on the issue of anger. Anger is interesting because in and of itself, anger is not bad or wrong. Even the Bible backs this up: “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (Ephesians 4:26-27, ESV). Anger itself is not a sin; it’s an emotion. It’s how God hard-wired us. We feel. We hurt. We cry. We get angry.
The issue with anger is what we do with it. Simply having or experiencing an emotion can do no harm, but how we express that emotion can either be positive & constructive or negative & destructive. When we yell or are physically threatening or harmful because of our anger, that is clearly negative & destructive. When we aim to get revenge or “get even” with someone out of anger, again, this has “bad news” written all over it.
But, what about righteous anger? Is that ok? If not, why? If so, what do we do with it?
WHERE TO START
First, we need to ask ourselves, “Is righteous anger even ours to have?” Here’s how Paul, the author of the letter to the Romans, puts it: “Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, ‘I will take revenge; I will pay them back,’ says the Lord” (Romans 12:19). It may seem at first glance, that true righteous anger only belongs to God. God is completely righteous, and therefore, so are His actions. We may not understand His actions, but if we trust in His perfect righteousness, we must also trust the pureness of His actions.
We, however, are NOT completely and consistently righteous. Yes, even you, sweet little old lady. Yes, even you, life-long follower of Jesus. Yes, even you, church leader. In the same book of Romans, Paul explains quite simply and clearly that “none is righteous”. So, even if we are capable of righteous anger, can we rely on ourselves to handle it correctly, responsibly, and for Christ-followers, in a God-honoring way?
WHERE TO LOOK
To help us answer whether or not righteous anger is ours to have, let’s look no farther than the example of Jesus. There is one instance in the life of Jesus where we see him get angry. Interestingly, this story is in all four of the biographies (or gospels) about Jesus found in the New Testament of the Bible (Matt 21, Mark 11, Luke 19, John 2). Some accounts or stories about Jesus might be in two of the four or even three of the four, but very few make it in all four. This is one of those, so it must be important.
On this particular day, Jesus is entering the Temple – the place of ancient Jewish worship – much like what a modern Church or Synagogue would be today. The difference is, at this time, animal sacrifice was one of the main forms of worship for the Jewish people. (This is gross and unusual in today’s mindset, I know, but this was normal for these people in this part of the world at this time, so don’t let that distract you).
People would come to the Temple to worship. If the situation required it, a person would buy an animal for their sacrifice. Again, totally normal at this time in history with these people in this part of the world. Even Jesus did not have a problem with this. Here is where digging into the culture behind the Bible is very helpful. What many of these people selling animals would do is charge a huge exchange rate for different currencies mainly for out-of-towners. They are padding their pockets while taking advantage of people who have no other option. At the Temple. At the place of worship.
Jesus has a problem with this. This is NOT OK! So, as each of the four accounts of this tell us, Jesus turns over their currency exchange tables, makes a big mess & makes an even bigger fuss as he yells at these men: “My Father’s house is a house of prayer, and you have made it a den of thieves!” THIS is righteous anger! So, what can we learn from this? I believe this story shows us three things we can learn about us and righteous anger:
1. TRUE RIGHTEOUS ANGER IS ABOUT YOU
This is in response to the question as to whether we should, or even can, have righteous anger. The answer is, “Yes.” There are things in this world that should severely upset, and even anger us. For Christ-followers, we should care about what God cares about, love what God loves, and strongly dislike what God strongly dislikes. Really, we have a responsibility to feel anger toward certain things. But, what things?
2. TRUE RIGHTEOUS ANGER IS NEVER ABOUT YOU
Wait, what? Confusing, I know, but hear me out. This answers the question as to what things we are to feel righteous anger toward. Righteous anger should never (or at least extremely rarely) be about how WE have been wronged. Jesus’ righteous anger was not about him. None of the four writers say that Jesus got mad because he had to pay an exchange fee. His righteous anger was in defense of the poor, the helpless, the innocent worshippers at the Temple that day. His righteous anger was in response to a wrong being done to others.
This is true righteous anger. And we can have this as well. If someone has been cheated, lied to, or wronged, it is natural, even right, to feel a righteous anger that something is not right about that. Crime, physical/emotional abuse, abuse of power, violence, & corruption all cause a righteous anger to well up within me. And it doesn’t even always have to be directed at another person. You know what else makes me righteously angry? Poverty. Disease. The fact that our world is fallen and people suffer due to no fault of their own. But, what do we do with our righteous anger?
3. TRUE RIGHTEOUS ANGER LEADS TO CONSTRUCTIVE ACTION
Being mad isn’t enough. Having righteous anger isn’t enough. Righteous anger should lead us to act. To do all we can to change things, to right the wrongs in the lives of others. So, if crime & violence in your community makes you angry, find ways to get involved in a local organization that combats crime. If abuse makes you righteously angry, volunteer at a local women’s shelter once or twice a month. If poverty rises up righteous anger within you, give to, support, or volunteer at a local food pantry. The point is, do something constructive with your righteous anger.
Don’t just be angry and sit back and say, “Oh well, what can I do?” or “Well, that’s too bad, but that’s just the way it is.” No. Mahatma Gandhi was quoted as saying, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” I don’t care what you think about Gandhi, that’s good stuff! And it’s true. It goes back to where we started. Righteous anger IS ours to have. God is calling us – you and me – to do all we can for everyone we can to change what we can. We are limited in time, energy, & resources, but God supplies what we lack and gives us added strength, insight, and care to do good for others.
So, get angry! Care about what God cares about – people. Find ways to meet needs and make a difference. When we do that, as God helps us to help others, we’ll see lives change for now and forever!