Steve Massey: Anger can be righteous or sinful by how it’s handled

“He was angry at life and angry with God.”

Charles Roberts, the man who last week murdered five Amish students, is described succinctly by Pennsylvania police: Angry at life. Angry with God. Just plain angry.

Roberts’ suicidal rampage shows in an ugly extreme the end game of uncontrolled anger. Without boundaries, misplaced anger steals away life. Anger, unchecked, robs its possessors of joy, peace and hope.

Think of the lives ruined, the years wasted, in families where a father or mother is perpetually angry at life, always miffed that God seemingly dealt them a bad hand. Imagine the days and weeks wasted on worry by those who are steamed at God’s providence for their lives.

God doesn’t perform as expected, anger ensues, and life’s precious moments are spent in emotional turmoil.

Truth is, we don’t have to imagine those things. We experience them. We feel them.

At times, we, too, are angry at life and angry with God. We’d just never admit to it. And, Lord willing, we’d never react in the extreme.

God’s word tells us that anger in its purest form is not wrong: “Don’t sin by letting anger gain control over you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a mighty foothold to the Devil.” (Ephesians 4:26-27, NLT).

Those same verses in the New American Standard Bible make God’s view of anger even more clear: “Be angry, and yet do not sin …”

Did you notice that? God says, “Go ahead, be angry.”

Anger by itself is normal, even unavoidable. It is a God-given emotion that brings about good in our lives – and the lives of others – when rightly motivated.

Jesus got outraged from time to time, but his was a righteous indignation motivated by a love for God, truth and people.

Do you recall the accounts of Christ ridding the temple of money-changers? It offended Jesus’ spirit that his father’s house had been turned into a place of commerce. Anger expressed Christ’s passion to honor God the Father and treat people with love.

People were not harmed by Christ’s anger; instead, the money-changers’ wayward consciences were confronted with truth.

The presence of anger in our lives, by itself, is not the issue. It’s the cause of our anger, and the way we handle it, that usually turns a raw, neutral emotion into something that hurts us and others.

A guy named Jonah comes to mind. God sent Jonah to a pagan city and asked the prophet to proclaim a message of repentance and forgiveness. But Jonah was a racist; he insisted “those people” in Nineveh were not worthy of God’s mercy.

God’s unlimited grace angered Jonah so much that he ran from his assignment, and tried to run from God, ending up in the belly of a great fish.

Incredibly, Jonah’s anger burned even hotter after he was miraculously delivered from that fish. He asked God to kill him, rather than show mercy to the people of Nineveh: “Then the Lord said, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’ ” (Jonah 4:4)

Now that’s a question worth asking. It is the litmus test of our anger, letting us know whether we’re righteously indignant or sinfully motivated.

We must listen to God’s voice in times of anger: “Is it right for you to be angry?”

When we hate immorality, injustice, ungodliness, our anger is justified. Even then, God’s word warns us not to let that anger turn to bitterness or wrongdoing.

But let’s face it: Most of us get angry when our sense of what is needful for us does not transpire. Self is not being catered to, and we sometimes get angry at anyone or anything we think is responsible. When that anger simmers a few days or weeks, we’re simply angry at life, angry at God.

By God’s grace, we can handle anger in a way that pleases him. Rather than being preoccupied with ourselves and getting our own way, we can accept God’s providence, trust him, and enjoy the truth that he loves us and desires his best for us.

When we’re selfishly angry, let us remember the nature of our gracious creator: “He gives us more and more strength to stand against such evil desires … so humble yourselves before God.” (James 4:6)