He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus. Mark 3:5-6
Is it right for a Christian to be angry? Is holiness compatible with anger? Not if we think of being angry as blowing your top or turning red in the face while you let out some steam. Those too often human responses to anger tend to be self-centered reactions to our own inflated egos. But there is a more godly response to violations of goodness and truth that can rightly be described as anger. We may even use the word hate towards things that are sinful. The problem is maintaining the distinction between what violates God’s laws, and our own personal agendas. When I get angry because someone took a long time at a stop light and made me sit at the light an extra three minutes, I cannot call that righteous anger. Paul said, "In your anger do not sin" : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold” (Eph. 4:26-27).
Most often my sense of anger can lead to giving the enemy an upper hand. That is why when Jesus was angry at the hardheartedness of the Pharisees he was not guilty of blowing his stack. The Bible says that Jesus was both angry and deeply distressed (a better word is grieved). In other words, Jesus could be angry at their sin and what it was doing to them, and at the same time feel nothing but deep pity for them. He hated what the sin was doing to them. C.S. Lewis said that he once thought it was silly to distinguish between hating the sin and loving the sinner, until he realized something. “But years later it occurred to me that there was one man to whom I had been doing this all my life- namely myself. However much I might dislike my cowardice or conceit or greed, I went on loving myself…In fact the very reason I hated the things was that I loved the man.” (Mere Christianity) Jesus had the capacity to love us infinitely more than anyone else, it is why his anger at sin was so great. He did not blow his top in some emotional venting, but in infinite grace went to the cross to pay for the sins that we all have committed. His hatred of sin was all the more because of his awesome love for us.
There is great sin in the world and we must hate it. The reason we hate it is because our love for the people around us is so great it causes us pain to see them doing things that will only hurt them. So next time you get angry, just check to see if it is an anger rooted in love..
Prayer of Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667)
Most merciful and gracious Father,
I bless and magnify your Name that you have adopted me into the inheritance of sons, and have given me a portion with my elder Brother. God of patience and consolation, strengthen me that I may bear the yoke of the Lord without murmur or ineffective unwillingness. Lord, I cannot stand under the Cross by myself, unless you strengthen my spirit, so that I may be strongest when I am weakest and able to do everything that pleases You, through Christ who give me strength. Amen. (adapted)
