“Open any feed for five minutes and you will find people who claim to follow Jesus tearing into politicians, mocking other faiths, and treating old grudges like trophies. The man they say they follow looked down from a cross at the people killing Him and asked God to forgive them.” - C.Leaders
These days, you don’t have to be a news junky to hear of events that arouse strong disapproval or outright anger. But how should Christians feel about the foolishness and wrongdoing going on in our world and our culture? Should we be unmoved? Should we be perpetually outraged? What about Christian joy?
The Bible is clear that some things ought to get us worked up. We’re called to “hate evil” (Psalm 97:10, Prov 8:13, Amos 5:15), to “be angry” yet “not sin” (Eph 4:26).
We’re also called to be imitators of God and to be re-formed in His image (Eph 5:1, Col 3:10, Gal 4:19). We’re to walk as Christ walked (1 John 2:6). And anger is clearly part of who God is.
“God wants us to understand our anger by speaking to our souls, by contemplating the anger in silence, and then by doing the next right thing. And this will demonstrate by our acts that we trust in Yahweh, and not in our own devises.” - TGC
“In today’s digital world—and especially in an election year—it’s heartbreaking to see God’s people become a bickering, angry mob.” - Randy Alcorn
“Conventional wisdom suggests expressing anger can help us quell it, like releasing steam from a pressure cooker. But this common metaphor is misleading, according to a new meta-analytic review.” - Science Alert
“You always shake your fist when you preach. You blame everything on actors and politicians. You rant on social media about, well, everything. You assume I’m writing this to someone else.” - The Baptist Paper
“Jesus’s enemies mocked him, slandered him, insulted him, maligned him, reviled him — as verbal thrusts of contempt conspired with nails and spear. How Jesus handled it left an indelible stamp on Peter.” - Desiring God
Hardly anyone knew who Oliver Anthony was until about a month ago. Despite his recent obscurity, his song “Rich Men North of Richmond” made it to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart.
Oliver’s rage as communicated through his song is palpable. We see and hear this same rage every day as we interact with people around us. He represents those who feel like they are working too many hours for too little pay. In his simple way, his song deals with many complex issues including the rise of the surveillance state, inflation, high taxes, the war on coal, child sex-trafficking, those who misuse government programs, and the rising death rate among young people.
“What we know for sure is that human anger does not end well. It does not bring about justice or righteousness. It does not make for a better world.” - Michael Brown
“In a recent article… Scott Sauls argues that it is appropriate to be angry at God when Christians are visited by calamitous acts…. This is a time for grief, but grief coupled with hope, not anger as Saul advocates.” - Ref21
