Di Bassinga Diaries: Anger and Righteousness

This is something of a "part two" to the entry on anger I wrote a couple weeks ago ("Be Blessed: Anger"), but this is more a commentary on how to stay away from anger and to maintain your peace. I’m reading through 2 Samuel right now, and I’m continuously impressed by Kind David’s “line in the sand,” the things he won’t do regardless of what worldly wisdom would say the circumstances call for. He doesn’t often rise in anger or in spitefulness, he doesn’t hold grudges—in fact, it seems that he goes out of his way to avoid them. He generally keeps his head on straight and he keeps the bigger picture in-view. Something he says in chapter 19 struck me as particularly profound.

“What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should this day be as an adversary to me? Shall anyone be put to death in Israel this day? For do I not know that I am this day king over Israel?” (2 Samuel 19:22)

He operates with confidence in God. This quote comes after David’s been chased out of Jerusalem by his son, Absalom, who was gunning for the throne. As we see with David when Saul was chasing for his life, David’s chief aim is righteousness under God. Twice David spared Saul’s life when he could very easily have killed him. The man whose place David was to take, essentially the only man keeping David from the throne, was seeking his life. And rather than seeing an adversary, David saw a man anointed by God, to be kept alive to rule as long as the Lord saw fit. God will remove him when He deems it appropriate. And this isn’t to say that David didn't want the throne or that he didn't want to prevail against Saul; but he wasn’t going to take justice into hs own hands. He knew that judgement was ultimately a right that only God has.

“See, my father, see the corner of your of your robe in my hand. For by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see thet there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take it. May the Lord judge between me and you, may the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you.” (1 Samuel 24:11-12)

David continuously discourages the killing of those anointed (or potentially anointed, in David’s eyes in the case of his son) individuals who come after him. He’d rather have kept Saul alive, and so it was for his son, because David understood that God is the ultimate judge. When David spares Saul’s life a second time, he states a similar motivation.

“The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness, for the Lord gave you into my hand today, and I would not put out my hand against the Lord’s anointed. Behold as your life was precious this day in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the Lord, and may He deliver me out of all tribulation.” (1 Samuel 26:23-24)

Long story short, David sees anger in a similar light as Christ, who taught that “everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgement…” (Matthew 5:22).

So What?

The first chapter of James finishes off with some commands and their justifications. They provide practical ways for us to keep anger at bay and to step toward peace and blessedness. "Be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger"; "put away filthiness, receive the Word humbly"; "be doers of the word, not hearers only"; and "look into the perfect Law and persevere." These are all simple commands for us to internalize and remeber when we get angry. All this is done in a spirit of unity (which would need its own entry, but I'll touch on it a bit here).

Ephesians 4 has good council as it relates to anger and it places it in the middle of a solid context, one that you can immediately refer to...

"Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil...Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not greive the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." (Ephesians 4:26-32)

If I touch on all of that right now, this already long entry might never end. But hold it in the back of your mind as you read through the rest of this. With that, on to the commands.

First of All, Slow Down

"Know this my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God." (James 1:19-20)

Many of us act out in anger because we believe it to be justified. The timeline in our mind shrinks to the moments in which we were wronged. In such a small context, it makes perfect sense that whoever's out to get you is simply evil or worthy of punishment. You might catch my rebut and say, "even though I'm not perfect, they deserve punishment for what they did in this case." You might even be right in saying that, I don't know what was done to you. What I do know, though, is that we do exist in a larger context.

And in reality, if we're brutally honest, perhaps annoyingly honest, all of us deserves punishment for something. What we forget is that every single one of us will eventually be tried in front of the Judge on the Day. The beauty of our salvation in Christ is that we all have the chance to step before that Judge as innocent people. If we wish to live peacefully and set anger aside, we first have to catch its appearance. In order to do so, we have to be quick to listen and slow to speak; in those, we'll be slow to anger and maybe we catch it before it builds. In those we also bend our hearts toward humility.

Anger isn't as noble as we pretend or hope it is, no matter how much we try to shrink the perspective. At the end of the day, at the end of all days, we’re just as much in the wrong. So, slow down. Take a moment to listen and to understand whoever stands before you, to see their side. Do your best to put yourself in their shoes and find some humanity. As uncomfortable as it might be, the Christian is called to be understanding—not only of their neighbor, but also of his own sinful, debt-ridden nature. "Forgive one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

Then, Take on Humility

"Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls." (James 1:21)

This is "let he who is without sin cast the first stone" and "why do you see the speck in your brother's eye but not notice the log in your own?" put to action. Here we're called to acknowledge and understand that there's nothing we can do to wash ourselves clean. If eternity with God is the goal (the alternative being eternity away from God in a "furnace of fire, of weeping and gnashing teeth), then humility is required and Jesus is the Way. Belief in Christ Jesus is only thing that will wash us of our sin. There's no amount of work we can do to "deserve heaven" other than the work it takes to truly believe in Jesus—and even then, "deserve" is used loosely. Remember the Gospel that saves you and let go of your self-righteousness.

Next, Get to Work

"But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone who is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently as his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and preseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing." (James 1:22-25)

Many of Jesus' most important words were simply commands. Love the Lord your God, Love you neighbor, go make disciples of all nations. We're told that loving God and keeping the commandments are one and the same. The last step to getting over anger is to replace it with love and service. Both of those imply action—love and serve. In making love a habit, we develop hearts that look like David's with respect to his adversaries and like Christ's with respect to His.

There's always work to be done for the sake of the Gospel. There's always room to grow closer to Christ, to have your heart molded into His, to have your life shaped like His. Every moment that we spend fueling anger is a moment that's spent running in the opposite direction as Christ, running away from Him and what's important to Him. "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loves us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." Anger isn't worth it. Holding on to it is to make yourself judge above God, and that's no place for man to be.

Place Your Confidence in Christ

Looking back to King David now. It won't be long in your walk with God before you hear that David was "a man after God's own heart." Here's a man who was literally king over God's people. He could've let the position and power go to his head, but instead he was bent on being a steward. He revered God's will over his own, and in the moments where he slipped, he repented. This is the heart that’s required if you wish for anger to lose its grip on you.

A heart that’s steady, founded in the salvation of Christ, humble and grateful, is a heart that is protected against anger and its side effects. It’s a matter of where you put your confidence and identity. If righteousness is your goal, maintaining peace and harmony wherever possible, then I’d encourage you to humble yourself. Slow down, create space for others, love actively, and rest in God’s grace and judgement. Anger and (true) righteousness don’t mix.

Be blessed.