Good and Angry

It’s good to be angry. Sometimes, anyway. There is an anger that is ungodly and Jesus tells us anger, without cause, is murderous (Matthew 5:22). But it’s easy to have a simplistic view of our emotions. “Anger bad. Calm good.” But we are not that simplistic, nor are we made of brass. We must understand our emotions and rule them according to the Bible. In the very place Jesus said  sinful anger puts you in danger of judgment, He said, "whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause…" There are some causes where we should be mad and it would be wrong NOT to be angry. How do I know that anger can be holy? Because the Holy God is angry (Deuteronomy 29:27-29; Revelation 14:10). Psalm 145:8-9,20 tells us God is gracious, compassionate, great in mercy, good to all, and tender in mercy. But the text also tells us he is "slow to anger." Who is He angry at? “The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.” The wicked. God is angry at sin and sinners.

Sin is rebellion against His goodness. Sin is breaking His good and holy laws. And because God is good, anything that is contrary to His goodness and glory angers Him. I don’t think it is possible for God to be good without getting angry. Apathy toward evil is evil. To love holiness is to hate ungodliness. God gave us the emotion of anger and we must learn to use it rightly. One of the characteristics of godly repentance is indignation (2 Corinthians 7:10-11). Indignation is a holy, righteous emotion when directed in the right way for the right reason.  Should we love what God hates? Is it good to claim to have more mercy and compassion than God does? We should get angry at corrupt politicians and religious hypocrisy. We should get angry at sexual abusers and lying cheaters. We should get angry at slanderers and gossips. We should be angry at false gods and idolatry. We should be angry with our sin. Too often we get angry at the sin of others, but make excuses for our own sin. Why? Because God is angry with those things! In order to have true love and compassion for others, it's good to be angry when others are harmed or God's glory is defamed. God gave us that emotion to motivate us to action so we protect and rescue the victims.

Good anger must be directed in a good way. Not to vent, or to get what we want, but for God's glory and the good of others. Sinful anger comes because someone dares to do something against our preferences or our honor. If someone disrespects us or does something we don't like, our pride is wounded and we get angry. Good anger is not directed by our pride, but God's Word. Righteous indignation is concerned about God’s glory and God’s law, not our law and our glory.