Mad, upset, and angry at how things are going. The collapse of morality, rampant child abuse, deadly drug abuse, sexual deviance, blatant promiscuity, and you have every right to be angry and I would be amazed if you are not. I know I am angry. I don’t show it or display that indignation for others to witness.
In the society we live in, where churches are ignoring God’s edicts, and with the government openly expressing hostility toward God, and everything God has to say, there is much for us to be righteously angry about.
How Can I Know for Sure that My Anger Is Righteous Indignation? We can know for sure that our anger or indignation is righteous when it is directed towards what angers God Himself. Problem is that over 90% of Christians today cannot tell you what truly angers God.
(Righteous and Unrighteous Anger: There is a sense, however, in which anger is the duty of man; he is to “hate evil” (Ps 97:10). It is not enough that God’s people should love righteousness, they must also be angry with sin (not the sinner). A man who is incapable of being angry at sin is at the same time thereby adjudged to be incapable of having a real love for righteousness. So, there is a sense in which a man may be said to “be … angry, and sin not” (Eph 4:26).)
Evans, W. (1915). Wrath, Anger. In J. Orr, J. L. Nuelsen, E. Y. Mullins, & M. O. Evans (Eds.), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Vols. 1–5, p. 3113). The Howard-Severance Company.
What does James (JACOB) tell us about anger?
James 1:19-20
19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end.
Ecclesiastes 7:9
Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.
But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
The bottom line on righteous anger is that it is okay to get angry, but if that anger focuses on things that are not the way you personally like them to be, then that anger may not be the righteous anger you hope it is.
There are four stages of anger: Annoyed, frustrated, hostile, and enraged. It is recommended to read what each of these stages of anger are. You can read about these at Real Life Counseling.
Now I’m throwing a curveball on the issue of righteous anger known as ‘The Myth of righteous anger.” You can read the full study at Concordia Theology. This is a good article to examine considering the previous articles mentioned. We all need to be watchful when our emotions start to take control and spin us into an embarrassing moment.
Personally, I encourage you to read the article Righteous Anger.
Michael
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