My Anger is More Righteous than Your Anger

So, election season is here… And if I could use one word to describe our society, especially in regards to our politically charged atmosphere as we enter election season, it would be “angry.”

It’s not too hard to see how prevalent anger is today. Everyone seems to be on edge. Every political issue that surfaces on the news or on social media becomes an occasion for vitriol. Just read the “comments” section on any news site, or the political threads on facebook, or just listen to people at a local gathering when a hot button subject comes up. And it’s not just in the world “out there,” it’s in the church, too. In fact, a LOT of it is in the church these days.

Quite honestly, I think we often enjoy being angry. I know I do. I’ve struggled with anger for a lot of my life. It sits below the surface until a worthy person or situation draws it out. It’s a hard thing to shake, and some part of me feels kinda good when I’m angry. (I’m imagining the Incredible Hulk here, saying with a glimmer in his eye, “You won’t like me when I’m angry…”).

Fredrick Buechner writes:
“Of the Seven Deadly Sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back–in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.”

We are an angry society for many reasons. The thing on which someone focuses their anger is probably not the only reason someone is angry. Rather, there are multiple reasons under the surface. Many of those reasons are legitimate things to be angry about, and people who hold onto anger believe that doing so is good and right and just. To let it go would almost seem immoral. There is such a thing as a “good” kind of anger— that is, until it isn’t "good" anymore.

The epistle writer James addressed some angry people in the early church, who had some good reasons to be angry:
“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness/justice that God desires.” -James 1:19-20 (“Righteousness” and “justice” in the New Testament are translated from the same Greek word dikaiosune).

James says anger doesn’t establish justice. And isn’t that interesting? Because justice is exactly what every angry person wants: for things to be made right. We’ve all heard the term “righteous anger.” The problem is, we are often deceived about how “righteous” our anger is—often it is mixed with wounded pride, malice, hatred, or envy. James tells these folks who have good reasons to be angry, “Don’t go down that path. It won’t end well.”

Jonathan Storment writes:
"I think this is the great temptation of wrath.  It, like love, promises to cover over a multitude of sins.  But unlike love, the sins that wrath covers over is only our own. Wrath leads us to become more and more self-absorbed and less and less self-aware.”

Jesus said, “Anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment” (Matthew 5:22). So we are told, “Leave room for God’s wrath” (Romans 12:19). The "wrath of God" needs a whole post all by itself, as it is widely misunderstood. But for now, it will suffice to say that God will make everything right, not us. It’s hard to work toward justice, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to long for God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven, and to not be overcome with anger at all the ways this world is full of injustice and evil. Someone will say, “Jesus got angry.” Yes, anger is often appropriate. But Jesus did not retaliate with violence. Anger can be a righteous response to injustice and evil. But it can so easily become toxic.

We must trust not only that Jesus will fully and finally make all things new (Revelation 21:5), but that he is the Way (John 14:6) toward that newness. "In your anger, do not sin" (Ephesians 4:26). Resist the temptation to sink to the level of our current public discourse, so filled with hatred, anxiety, violence, and slander. Disagreement doesn't always have to make someone your enemy. Remember the Way of our Lord, who loved even his enemies to the end. As the Apostle Paul instructs us, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).