It was time for the annual Passover celebration, and Jesus went to Jerusalem. In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; and he saw money changers behind their counters. Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and oxen, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, “Get these things out of here. Don’t turn my Father’s house into a marketplace!” Then his disciples remembered this prophecy from the Scriptures: “Passion for God’s house burns within me.” (John 2:13-17 NLT)

    There is a time for holy anger. Righteous indignation is a genuine godly emotion when directed at the proper target. Evil in all of its forms, irreverence for God, and disrespect for his holiness are to be loathed by godly people. God’s people should be “worked up” about what is vile, wicked, unholy, ungodly, evil, and hellish. In a day when culture’s only value is that we should have no values, and when political correctness wants to force any righteous anger into hiding, we need to realize that there are things that God hates, actions that arouse his holy anger, and issues that he reacts against with righteous disdain. The holy and righteous God of the Old Testament is not dead and did not go into hiding.

    On the other hand, so many of us get “worked up” over nothing. Our smoldering anger lies just below the surface of our daily conversations and erupts at incredibly inappropriate times and in sometimes horrifying ways. Road rage shocks us, yet nearly all of us who drive have had moments when our anger boiled at some perceived affront. Stories of hockey dads fighting and even killing each other horrify us. Reports of kids baseball league parents beating an umpire or getting into fights with each other sadden our hearts. However, if we are honest with ourselves, most of us can think of times when we have let our anger get the better of us over inappropriate matters and reacted in totally shameful ways. Why does this anger erupt in such shocking ways and at such inappropriate moments?

    I’m not sure I can fully answer that question, but I do believe there are some things we as Christian should do to discipline our hearts and behaviors so that we better control our anger.

    First, we need to purposefully redirect our thoughts away from violence and inappropriate anger. God tells us, ‘Do not envy violent people; don’t copy their ways.’ (Proverbs 3:21 NLT) Angry, violent people tend to breed even more angry violent people, so God warns us that ‘Violent people deceive their companions, leading them down a harmful path.’ (Proverbs 16:29 NLT) We are even taught to pray for God to deal with the violently hostile of the world: ‘Don’t let liars prosper here in our land. Cause disaster to fall with great force on the violent.’ (Psalm 140:11 NLT)

    Second, we need to fill our hearts with what is good and beneficial. Many of us end up feeding our souls with images of violent anger through music, movies, and television. Meanwhile, we starve our souls of thanksgiving, praise, and delight in all that is good. We lose sight of our blessings. We lose touch with all that is good in our lives. We forget all that God is doing to bring his goodness into our lives. So when some perceived slight that seems to be directed at us occurs, our internal rage that has been fed by exposure to violence erupts too easily. We blow up inappropriately. Paul firmly tells a church that is being torn apart by angry disputes, his beloved friends at Philippi to...

• serve each other as Christ served them without thought of their personal rights (Philippians 2:1-11)
• rejoice in the Lord (Philippians 4:4)
• focus their thoughts on what is good, lovely, honorable, excellent, and worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8)

Instead of obsessing on what is angry and violent, we are to channel our hearts to springs of joy and goodness.

    Third, we should deal with our anger issues toward others appropriately. When someone has offended us, we must follow Jesus’ directions about going to those who have wounded us and made us angry and hurt. (Matthew 18:15-17) The apostle Paul adds a sense of urgency to this prescription by reminding us that we must not put off dealing with our anger towards another. ‘Don’t sin by letting anger gain control over you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry.’ (Ephesians 4:26) If we cannot get satisfactory resolution to that kind of situation, we must “forgive as God has forgiven us,” actively and intentionally releasing the guilt of another against us and getting rid of the ‘bitterness, rage, and harsh words’ that well within our hearts. (Ephesians 4:31-32)

    Fourth, we need to acknowledge our anger and affirm it when it is directed toward appropriate objects of anger. Jesus’ anger in the Temple was appropriate and right. Our anger at violence, prejudice, hate, intolerance, injustice, murder, abuse of the weak, irreverence toward God is not only appropriate, but it is also necessary to motivate us to be salt and light in a world of decay and darkness. God does hate detestable things done in the name of religion. (Deuteronomy 12:31) God tells us that he despises the thoughts, schemes, and ways of the wicked; arrogant pride; social and judicial injustice; double standards and dishonest business practices; mockers; and those who are insolent to parents. (Proverbs 15:9,26; 16:5; 17:15; 20:10,23; 30:17) We are specifically told that the LORD hates seven things: ‘Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord among brothers.’ (Proverbs 6:17-19 NLT) Being motivated to change what is wrong in our world because of such godly anger is good and helps us channel anger toward appropriate action. We must be righteously angry at some things!

    Fifth, we must ask for God to still the inappropriate raging and surging anger in our souls. The Psalmist reminds us that ‘Mightier than the violent raging of the seas, mightier than the breakers on the shore — the LORD above is mightier than these!’ (Psalm 93:4 NLT) If this is true in nature, it can also be true in us. When we have anger issues, we need to confess them to the Lord and ask for his forgiveness and cleansing. (1 John 1:5-2:2) When our anger has caused us to sin against another, we need to go to them and confess our sin and ask to be forgiven. (Matthew 5:21-24) In addition, we should seek the help of another brother and sister in Christ, confessing our sin and asking our friend to pray for us. (James 5:16) Finally, we need to do the things that set the power of the Holy Spirit free in our lives to transform us. The Spirit can help us be what rules cannot make us and our own power cannot accomplish. (Romans 8:1-13) Being honest about our destructive anger, asking for God’s help and forgiveness, and making ourselves accountable to others for our behavior all have power to help us curb our inappropriate anger.

    Will these five principles stop inappropriate anger from erupting in our lives? No, not completely. We are fallen people who live in a fallen world. However, we can open ourselves to the transforming work of the Holy Spirit to change us and we can move brooding anger out of our lives by focusing our thoughts on what is good. Getting ‘worked up about nothing’ doesn’t have to dominate our lives and relationships. This is a place to start. The important thing is to begin. If these principles don’t seem to be helping, then please, get some spiritual counsel to help find your way out this dark place of the soul so you can find the liberating power of grace and forgiveness. Inappropriate anger is not only destructive toward those around us, it cuts short our own lives and ruins our witness to those who do not know Christ.

Title: "Worked Up Over Nothing"
Author: Phil Ware
Publication Date: April 15, 2002

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