Righteous Anger? Be Consumed By God.

Psalm 69: 9 for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.

God expects us in our human nature to get angry. It is too difficult to live in this world, with other human beings and not expect to become angry from time to time. The same applies for Christians and in the church. While the Bible implores us to not let the sun go down on our anger, are there instances where anger is righteous? Where anger is not only understandable to God but acceptable to Him?

To understand righteous anger we need to examine the most obvious example in Scripture. Every gospel tells the story of Jesus over turning the tables and driving out the money changers. The Gospel of John specifically states that Jesus even made a whip out of cords to drive the animals out of the temple. There is no question that Jesus was angry that day. Within these four accounts are the keys to what makes anger righteous. The first thing is righteous anger deals with an injustice:

On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves Mark 11: 15 (NIV)

Jesus is not anti-capitalism. He was not merely angry because people were buying and selling. It was the manner in which they conducted their business, within the house of God no less. Remember it was the time of Passover and sacrifices were being made at the temple. These practices date back as far into Jewish history as the Torah. It is found in the law that sacrifices had to be made for the atonement of sin, as well as for various other things.

"'Anyone who cannot afford a lamb is to bring two doves or two young pigeons to the LORD as a penalty for their sin--one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. Leviticus 5: 7 (NIV)

In addition to burnt offerings there was an entire system of sacrifice which became an integral part of the culture. But as Israel moved from an agrarian culture to a more urban setting, such as in Jerusalem, the sacrifice system remained unchanged. Additionally, many of the Jewish people were now scattered throughout the known lands and often came far to Jerusalem for the Passover. When they arrived at the temple they would need to purchase animals for the various sacrifices they needed to make according to the law.

That explains why the merchants were there selling doves, goats and cattle but who were the moneychangers? Well, the temple tax which everyone had to pay was required in local currency, not the currency of the lands the people came from. Additionally, purchasing the animals must also be in local currency. So the role of the moneychanger was to change the foreign currency into the local currency. But they routinely charged an exorbitant profit margin. Additionally, prices set for the animals were also dramatically increased so as to make as much money as possible. This is what caused Jesus to refer to them this way:

He said to them, "The Scriptures declare, 'My Temple will be called a house of prayer,' but you have turned it into a den of thieves!" Matthew 21: 13 (NLT)

The reference from Jesus here to thieves indicates His anger was specifically about the injustice being carried out in the house of God. So when we are trying to consider if our anger is a righteous anger we need to first ask if there is an injustice we are seeking to correct. But not a self seeking righteousness beloved. Jesus was not upset because He was offended but because God was. The injustice being carried out was being carried out against those seeking God. The victims of the moneychangers and greedy merchants were people who were seeking the Lord and those seeking to reconcile with the Lord. THAT is why the anger was righteous.

All one needs to do is look at the landscape today in the modern American church and we still see the spirit of the moneychangers is alive and well. People come to the man of God seeking to atone in their relationship and they are sold a bill of goods that is designed for the profit of the preacher not the eternal gift from God which is free. Jesus warned us:

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' Matthew 7: 21-23 (NIV)

Secondly, righteous anger can also be in response to something that is damaging to the witness of God.

To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father's house into a market!" John 2: 16 (NIV)

Once again, the anger is outwardly focused. It is not based upon a personal hurt. The indignation Jesus was expressing here was related to the use of the temple as a market. The taking of something that is supposed to be holy and profaning it by making it ordinary. By bringing the things of man and mixing them with the things of God. The Apostle Paul teaches:

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12: 102 (NLT)

These are the measuring sticks we must use when considering if our anger is truly righteous. Is it related to the behavior and customs of this world? We must allow ourselves to be transformed in our mind; that is the way we think must change. We must move from a carnal perspective to an eternal perspective. Are we angry about something that affects the eternal? Or is our anger based upon something in this world? Is the anger related to an affront we feel towards ourselves? Toward some bloated vision we have of ourselves? Have we put in so many years into ministry that we think that affords us some special consideration? What is the affront that is the question. Jesus continued to drive the point home:

and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. Mark 11: 16 (NIV)

The temple was supposed to be the house of God. The only business that should be conducted should be related to the work of God. The only profit generated should be profit for God. Jesus was cleansing the temple which is not insignificant as Passover was when the Jews were supposed to clean their houses of all leaven (yeast).

Lastly, is the anger based upon a genuine concern for God? If it is, it will be obvious to those around you:

His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me." John 2: 17 (NIV)

And our key verse today is the Scripture the disciples were remembering that day in the temple. Psalm 69: 9 cuts to the heart of righteous anger. First of all, David the Psalmist states that we must have zeal for the house of the Lord. Zeal is defined as "an extreme, fervent devotion." That is the type of devotion David says we should have for the house of the Lord. Going even further that zeal should consume us. That means the things of God need to consume the things of our flesh. Anger that is self serving, serves the flesh but if it is God serving, it serves the spirit. James teaches:

Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. James 1: 19-20 (NLT)

The anger of our flesh does not produce the righteousness God is seeking in all of us. Because human anger is selfish by definition. It is concerned with a slight or affront towards us, as opposed to God. It is also very dangerous for us:

And "don't sin by letting anger control you." Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil. Ephesians 4: 26-27 (NLT)

Anger is just the feeding ground the devil looks for to plant his lies into us. That is because anger can be just as consuming as zeal. We can become devoted to the anger. The angrier we get the more focused we are on the hurt instead of on God. Paul teaches there are several things we need to be wary of which can consume us:

But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don't lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. In this new life, it doesn't matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. Colossians 3: 8-11 (NLT)

Learn to know your creator and become like Him. Christ is all that matters. That is what we hold our anger up to in order to determine if there is any righteousness in it at all. Is Christ still all that matters? Or has the anger we are experiencing consuming us? The ending of the key verse indicates that the insults to God actually fall on the zealous. Because it is no longer about us. If the anger we are feeling is related to a personal hurt to ourselves, then it is not righteous. But when we are so consumed with God, anything which insults Him will naturally insult us. And we will seek to correct such insult within the spirit of God. Realize that Jesus was never "out of control." Righteous anger is actually well controlled by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus saw that there was injustice. People were coming from miles around to meet with God and reconcile themselves to Him. But some were using the holy temple to profit from their position. Prices were gouged for simple currency exchanges and selling doves. The righteous anger inside of Christ had nothing to do with Jesus the man but His zeal for the house of the Lord consumed Him and He knocked over the tables and cleansed the temple. We know that there was no residual anger because the next verse says:

The blind and the lame came to him in the Temple, and he healed them. The leading priests and the teachers of religious law saw these wonderful miracles and heard even the children in the Temple shouting, "Praise God for the Son of David." Matthew 21: 14-15 (NLT)

Once Jesus cleansed the unrighteousness with His righteous anger, He quickly resumed the business of God. Human anger lingers. Jesus not only saw the injustice but He saw that there was damage being done to the witness of God. His anger was related to an eternal perspective not a personal one. Lastly, Jesus concern had nothing to do with Himself and everything to do with God. These are all closely knit. The bar has been set pretty high for the concept of righteous anger. The common factor again is God. If the zeal for the things of God truly consumes us then anything insulting to God will begin to fall on us. Once it does, we will not be able to help but correct the injustice, repair the damage, and quickly get back to the work God has called us to do. Righteous anger is not about me, it is all about Him.

Reverend Anthony Wade May 12, 2011