Anger’s Summary – James 1: 19-20

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 that God desires.

Thank you for bearing with me as I wandered through this topical detour about anger. I have learned a lot. I hope you have picked up something valuable as well.

To review, we began with “Anger’s Cause” asking the question: Is it right to be angry? We answered that question with an, “It depends.” It depends on why a person is angry. Then we defined anger as a secondary emotion and described its origin this way:

“Anger is the feeling that results from an imbalance between our expectations and the situation we find ourselves in.”

In “Anger’s Power” we looked at two categories of anger, each with a unique root cause. God’s kind of anger is what we called righteous anger. This anger is rooted in the frustration that happens when God’s creation works against the Creator.

The second kind of anger is human anger. This anger is a miniature version of God’s anger. Frustration occurs when reality does not conform to what an individual wants. Whether human anger is good or bad depends on how closely aligned it is with God’s values.

In “Anger’s Judgment” we looked at the challenge of discerning the difference between human anger and God’s anger. We studied the story of David and Jonathan as they try to figure out what Saul’s intentions were. They used a simple test to discover if God’s values or human selfishness motivated Saul’s anger. The test worked. Saul revealed himself to be more concerned with his priorities than God’s. Simply put, opposing God is the definition of evil.

“Anger’s End” explored ways of resolving anger. The formula is simple. The one who has caused another to become angry needs to appease the angered one. With God, this means acknowledging our sin (confession) and turning back to what God wants instead of what we want (repentance). God, for his part, is a loving God. He forgives our sins. He has gone to the extent of redeeming us from condemnation through his Son’s death and resurrection.

Resolving human anger is modeled on this same process. The one who caused the anger in another acknowledges the offense and repents. The danger here is that God requires us to love him above all else. When one person demands that another submit to them or their ungodly ways, this can put us at odds with God.

“Hyperopia,” is the condition of seeing what is far away but being blind to what is right in front of us. This post discussed the challenge of discerning the difference between Godly anger and human anger. We looked at the story of David and Absalom. David loved Absalom and was tortured by the misfortune that had befallen his son. Overcompensating for Absalom’s misfortune almost cost him his life. His decisions also affected the thousands of people who looked to him for leadership. Disaster was averted, but it was a painful lesson for David.

“Anger’s Harbor” was inspired by a comment Rich made about “Hyperopia.” What happens when a person seems to harbor anger and evil thoughts in their heart? Such behavior is very wrong. Saul is a good example of harboring anger and evil thoughts toward David. His motive was jealousy of David’s accomplishments and his fear of losing his kingdom to David. These are evil thoughts because he continues to resist God’s will. We then looked at whether sustained anger always means there is evil intent.

The clue to answering this question was a story about Grumpy Bear, a bear with a fractured leg that had never healed. Grumpy Bear wasn’t evil, he was hurting. Sometimes evil causes us to hurt and that makes us angry. Such anger can be righteous if we are distressed by people opposing God’s will.

It is worth noting here that righteous anger is proportional to the offense and slow to arrive. God tells us this himself in Exodus 34: 6-7a:

“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.”

Human anger, like Saul’s, tends to be rash and disproportionate.

This post was also a reminder that only God knows our hearts. We have to be very cautious about claiming to know what someone is thinking or is in their heart. There are, however, tests given in the Bible to help us discern the answer. (2 Timothy 3: 1-5 comes to mind.)

In our last two posts, “Three Angry Men” and “The Other Anger,” we looked at six examples in scripture that illustrate the two types of anger we have been discussing. The prodigal’s older brother, Abel’s older brother, and Jacob’s older brother all feel entitled in some way. Their anger is expressed in every form from pouting to murder. None of this anger is remotely righteous in form or purpose.

The three godly men we looked at were Noah, Moses, and Jesus. All three also expressed anger. When they did, their anger was appropriate and proportional. The trespass was not about them, but about an offense to God. (There is an obvious overlap between their interests and God’s. I guess that is why they are called “godly men.” Of course in Jesus’ case, we simply call him God. 🙂 )

There are other aspects of anger that have surfaced during this discussion, but for now, this is a good place to pause. I hope that this discussion helps you find your way to a better understanding of anger. For myself, the most valuable lesson I learned is the idea that anger is rooted in our expectations. Now, instead of asking, “What are you angry about?” I hope I find myself asking, “What did you expect from me?”

Application: When confronted by anger in someone, look for the expectation that wasn’t met. Because we can’t read minds, this means we need to ask questions.

Food for Thought: What did you find valuable in this study?