I would never begrudge God His anger for one second. He is righteous and He is the Creator.
But as for my own anger, I have come to the point where I find it utterly useless – except as a warning light on my own spiritual dashboard.
I have learned there’s too much danger in getting angry. Even so-called “righteous anger”.
Andrew Klavan calls anger “the devil’s cocaine”. It’s addictive and takes control over your mind and actions.
Yes, Paul writes, “Be angry and do not sin.” But he goes on to say, “Do not let the sun go down on your , and give no opportunity to the devil.” (Ephesians 4:26-27)
Seems clear enough that anger is not sinful itself, but it’s also clear that anger opens the door to sin and so it is something you want to dispose of quickly.
And while we should be quick to rid ourselves of anger, in his letter, James says we also should be “slow to anger” in the first place:
19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. (James 1:19-20)
Anger sure feels righteous, but that is a trap.
So take a hypothetical like a person saying something racist in front of me.
It would instantly catch my attention, I would recognize it as evil and … honestly, I would pity the person in front of me.
God’s anger is already set against that person. Why should I entertain my own?
Would I say something? Probably. But it would be motivated by fear for the state of that person’s soul. Not anger against him or what he said.
Give it some thought: Have you ever spoken a word in anger or even in irritation (which is still anger, though milder) which had righteous results? An angry word that opened someone’s eyes? That motivated them in a positive direction?
If so, I would love to hear the story – because it would be an unusual one.
Most of the time, any anger I might express to another human being is only going to produce one of two results:
Hurt feelings
Or redoubled anger towards me.
Not righteousness. Not in him and not in me.
(P.S. Let’s not forget that Jesus Himself was no fan of human anger: “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” Matthew 5:22)
(P.P.S I recommend a fantastic little book by Brant Hansen called Unoffendable: How Just One Change Can Make All of Life Better.)
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