Can a Christian have righteous anger?
I didn’t think so. But recently, surprised to find some Christians disagreeing with me on this, I started thinking about why I didn’t think so. Please welcome these “5 Disagreers” (some from the real-life disagreement), who are going to help me talk it out for your evaluation pleasure.
Let’s take a look at one of the most common verses on the subject:
Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ….” (Ephesians 4:26; all Scripture quotations are NASB)
Disagreer #1: “This verse is practically commanding us to be angry sometimes – or at least to avoid sinning when we’re angry. And there’s a time limit.”
That verse seems pretty clear, so we read on down through the “don’ts” that follow, such as do not steal, do not speak bad things, do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, till we hit verse 31 – “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” Wait, let me think about that. How do I reconcile being angry with putting all anger away from me?
It brings to mind other passages that contrast the old nature and the new nature: Galatians 5:16-23 and Colossians 3:5-11. Each devote nearly an entire verse to anger-related characteristics that should not be true of us: “strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions…” (Gal. 5:20); “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth…” (Col. 3:8) It’s hard to go through these passages and think of cases of righteous slander, righteous immorality, righteous idolatry, righteous drunkenness… Why make an exception for anger?
Disagreer #2: “Well yes, obviously righteous anger doesn’t have much place among us as Christians. It’s only occasionally to be directed at unbelievers.”
Three problems with this: 1) Christians should be consistent 2) Hebrews 12:14 – “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.” 3) Romans 12:18 – “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” That word “all” tends to mess up the fine science of exception-finding.
Disagreer #3: “Well, of course anger should never be directed at people, but instead at injustice in the world. We can channel that anger into good like doing something about injustice.”
Yes, that would be wonderful if it were practical or true. Unfortunately, 1) it is not very practical… it is very hard for us humans to only get mad at the idea of injustice or at a specific instance of injustice, instead of at the humans who are committing the injustice. 2) Can anger be used to do good? James 1:19-20: “…everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.”
Disagreer #4 (changes tactics for a psychological punch): “Better to let it out than bottle it up.”
Excuse me? Since when did Christian living require choosing the lesser of two evils?
Disagreer #5: “Yeah, but we’re supposed to be like Jesus, and Jesus became angry.”
That’s true, he did become angry when he drove the sellers and moneychangers out of the temple, didn’t he? I looked up the passage in every Gospel – Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19, John 2, searching in vain for some phrase such as “And when Jesus saw it he was moved with anger…” Oops, I couldn’t even find the word ‘anger’ or any of its relatives. Believe it or not, I was actually going to concede this point to Disagreer #5.
We can’t help but imagine Jesus being angry when he did that. And what about all the woes he pronounced on the Pharisees? How can anyone not be angry when he is calling people hypocrites and vipers and declaring, “how will you escape the sentence of hell?” (Matthew 22:29, 32).
Even if Jesus was angry at these times, let’s think about this. He knew the hearts of men even when He was a man (John 2:24-25). We, come to think of it, cannot actually see another’s heart. If Jesus was ever angry, somehow the epistle writers all forgot to remind us to imitate Jesus in His righteous anger, besides imitating Him in all the simple wimpy stuff – kindness, goodness, gentleness. Although, have you noticed? Sometimes it takes a lot more strength (from God) to be kind than to be righteously indignant.
I know we’re all human. Even though I cannot see any place for anger in my own life, I know it’s impossible to never feel the slightest anger or frustration, or ever speak another upset word. But can anyone make a positive case for righteous anger? It seems like the matter of vengeance. Vengeance cannot be inherently evil, because God says He will repay. If God can do it, it must not be evil. But then, we are not God.
“Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Romans 12:19).
Sharon, excellent. I will admit this is one of those pragmatic areas of the Christian walk that I sometimes miss - being generally caught up in the grand ideas and overarching themes of scripture. I have not drawn a conclusion on this yet, but over time, I find myself moving closer and closer to your position.
I have been reading Colossians on my own time and forced to consider this question (3:8 was part of yesterday). I think in a pure sense, that you are correct - but we must also define “anger.” We see God “becoming angry” at times as well - and while this could be anthropomorphism on behalf of the authors, it could also be a very accurate term.
What is anger? For example, if Jesus cleansed the temple without anger, then what motivated him? John 2:17 implies that it was “zeal.” I define this term as extreme loyalty/devotion to an idea or person. Perhaps this is what we are supposed to exercise in carrying out justice/correction/etc…
I agree with Colin that this is an excellent article. From my perspective, I think it is unrealistic to say you should never experience the emotion of anger. That would be like saying you should never be happy or sad. However, experiencing an emotion is different from responding according to that emotion. In other words, you can feel angry without giving someone the “finger” when they cut you off.
I think the important thing is to live a life consistent with the spiritual nature made available through the new birth, while avoiding the pitfalls of responding from the carnal nature. We know the two natures are at war with one another.
16But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
17For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.
(Galatians 5:16,17 NASB)
Although most traslations capitalize the word “spirit” in these verses, it is clear by reading this passage that Paul is contrasting the inner man (spirit) with the outer man (flesh). Notice what he says in verse 16. The King James says, “You will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” So we cannot reasonably expect not to be angry; we have no choice in the matter, but we can cultivate our spiritual life in such a way that the carnal desires of the flesh are not brought to full maturity resulting in foolish action. This is how anger is controlled, not avoided altogether. However, I would add that spiritually mature people are less likely to get angry in situations where others might.
Thank you for writing, Sharon. I appreciate you taking the time to write and I’d like to hear more from you.
I think it is part of being human to experience all kinds and intensities of emotions, and experiencing a negative emotion in and of itself is not sin. I think the sin is not in feeling any of the negative emotions, but rather what you do with them the moment you realize you have them. (I take that same approach with thoughts which can turn sinful–the sin isn’t that the bird flew over your head, it’s that you let it build a nest in your hair.) Cherishing and nurturing a negative emotion is when the sin happens.
Chris and Thainamu, of course you’re right that it’s human and normal to experience emotions, including anger. What perplexes me more and what I tried to address in this article is the idea that righteous anger is a Godly trait we should have in our lives.
We see God “becoming angry” at times as well - and while this could be anthropomorphism on behalf of the authors, it could also be a very accurate term.
What is anger? For example, if Jesus cleansed the temple without anger, then what motivated him? John 2:17 implies that it was “zeal.”
Colin, your substituting “zeal” for “anger” is helpful for me in thinking about this. I wonder if zeal and anger are distinct for God as they seem to be for us. It’s hard sometimes to view life from God’s perspective rather than the human one I’m caught up in.
“Chris and Thainamu, of course you’re right that it’s human and normal to experience emotions, including anger. What perplexes me more and what I tried to address in this article is the idea that righteous anger is a Godly trait we should have in our lives.”
Yeah, that is a very valid question. I think that what most people call righteous indignation is really the “wrath of man”. They think that calling their anger righteous excuses their stupid actions and statements. If I ever think my anger is righteous in any way I keep it to myself, because I am probably wrong.
I do think that righteous anger is real and can have its place. And it is obvious to me that Jesus exhibited this when he overturned the money changers’ tables, etc. I think if you asked the people whose tables were turned over, they would agree that this was indeed anger. As to whether they thought it was righteous is a different question.
I think Paul also exhibited this kind of anger when he confronted Peter about his fraternizing with the Jewish religious hierarchy. Notice how when Paul recalls the event in Galatians 2, he is completely unapologetic.
11When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. 12Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. 14When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? (NIV)
I guess someone could argue that Paul was not angry when he confronted Peter, but I just don’t believe that. He basically called the man a hypocrite in front of everyone. Really I think every rebuke has an element of anger to it. Otherwise who would take you seriously?
Sharon –
Thank you so much for this very thoughtful and thought-provoking article!
I think Chris Austere is onto something when he gives the example of Paul being angry; one doesn’t have to look hard to find other examples of Paul’s anger (e.g., when he wishes that the Judaizers would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!). One also doesn’t have to look hard to find examples of David being angry, or Moses, or Phineas (from Numbers), or many other saints from the Bible.
There’s no question in my mind that righteous anger is possible. In fact, I would argue that one is not being a very good Christian if he never gets angry. How can a good man see his brother being treated unjustly and not get upset? How can a good man hear a report of another man mercilessly beating his wife and children and not be indignant?
That said, I think Christians need to strive to avoid anger. Anger will come, whether we like it or not. Sometimes the anger will be righteous, usually it will be unrighteous. This is how I interpret the commands from Paul which you referenced. From Eph. 4.26, we know that Paul doesn’t think all anger is sinful. But then he goes on to tell Christians to get rid of the anger from their lives, probably because he knows the human heart and knows, therefore, that anger usually leads to sin. Anger isn’t itself sinful; anger doesn’t necessarily lead to sin; but anger usually leads to sin, and, therefore, Paul tells us that we ought to just stay away from it.
In the same way, a pastor might instruct a young man not to walk by a porn shop–not because walking by the porn shop is inherently wrong (old ladies walk by it all the time without the slightest problem), but because walking by the shop tends to cause problems for that particular young man.
That’s my take on it, anyway.
So, on a practical level, I absolutely agree with you. Like you, I try to avoid anger–simply because I know my own heart and know that anger is almost always a destructive force in my life.
But that doesn’t mean I think righteous anger is impossible. Rare among fallen humans, yes–but not impossible.
Good points, Chris and Don. Rebuke and indignation seem to lose something essential to their nature when anger is taken completely out.
I wonder if anger could exist if sin did not exist. But that’s probably a pointless question, at least, as of Genesis 3.