Righteous Indignation
“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.
Ephesians 4:26-27
Anger is a God-given emotion. We are never instructed to deny our anger, but we are told to manage our emotional life by believing the truth and having the right goals for our lives. The basis for our emotional stability is our identity, acceptance, security and significance in Christ. Once we are established in Christ, the trials and tribulations of the world no longer have a negative effect on us.
In fact, we “glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:3-5). Trials and tribulations actually reveal wrong goals and make possible the true goal of our lives: conforming to the image of God.
When we think about conforming to God’s image, we usually do not think about taking on His righteous wrath. However, the Bible actually talks more about the wrath of God than it does about our wrath. God’s anger is not born out of His insecurity, and He doesn’t have blocked goals. His anger is a righteous indignation toward sin.
Jesus’ cursing of the fig tree and cleansing the Temple illustrate His anger and judgment to come. Jesus didn’t get mad because the fig tree had no figs when He wanted some. At that time of the year, the fig tree should have had edible buds—but it did not, which indicated the tree was not going to bear any fruit. The cursing of the fig tree was a prophetic sign of God’s impending judgment on Israel, not an angry reaction because Jesus was hungry. The unproductive fig tree symbolized Israel’s spiritual barrenness despite their outward appearance of religious fervor.
God’s anger is continuous, but His lovingkindness and mercy temper it. God is incredibly patient toward those who sin—we would be much swifter about judging others and forcing them to suffer the consequences. (Remember, Jesus turned over the table, not the moneychangers.) God has the perfect capacity to separate the sin from the sinner. If that were not so, we would all be doomed. We should have a sense of righteous indignation, but we need to learn from His example how to express it.
Abraham Lincoln said, “To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.” Philipp Melanchthon, a contemporary of Martin Luther, said, “All that is needed for sin to abound is for good men to do nothing.” Righteous indignation moves us to correct that which is wrong. The heroes of our faith in Hebrews 11 could not sit by and watch the world go to hell. They had to do something, even if it cost them their lives—and it often did.
If we are going to be salt and light in this fallen world, we need to speak the truth, but we need to do it in love. We must make a stand for righteousness, but we should silently stand by if we can’t do so without violating the fruit of the Spirit. To speak the truth without love would make us no different from those who represent the ideals we are standing against—and it would profit no one. Let the message spoken in love—not the messenger—be the offense.
questions to consider:
How can we be angry but not sin?
Knowing that hope is the present assurance of some future good, why can we glory in our sufferings? How does that help us persevere?
In Mark 11:12-25, why did Jesus curse the fig tree?
Why do you suppose God created you to experience anger as an emotion?
What righteous stand do you need to make at work, home, or in the world?
Neil T. Anderson is the founder of Freedom in Christ Ministries. He began the ministry in 1989 and continues to spread the message of freedom to this day.