It kind of reminded me of the Tasmanian devil, a whirlwind of rage and anger as he proceeded to throw things into cupboards and slam the doors with such force that I feared for the hinges. That done, he walked out, slammed the door and went back to his room, presumably to punch a wall or smash some chairs or something.
Later I got to the bottom of the issue and it was resolved, at least from the perspective of our relationship, but I still remember it and it worries me that people can really get that upset about those sort of issues.
I live on the other end of the scale. I often get irritated by things, but I rarely get properly angry (unless an Ulsterbus is involved).
I don't believe either way is a healthy level, and I appeal to Jesus for clues...
Jesus got angry and irritated like the rest of us. But his anger usually had a point. Matthew 21:
18Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. 19Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered.
20When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked.
21Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. 22If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
Now apparently in another gospel, it was actually out of season for figs, so the tree was hardly doing anything wrong. But we see Jesus is clearly annoyed that the tree hasn't got any fruit and that he acts with swift judgement.Earlier
12Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13"It is written," he said to them, " 'My house will be called a house of prayer,'[e] but you are making it a 'den of robbers.'[f]"
Not the actions of a man who is okay with everything.
So we see two kinds of anger, one towards an unfortunate circumstance and one towards people not behaving as they should. So it seems it is okay to be angry sometimes.
But I say that with caution, since on both these occasions, an important point is made, one about living by faith and the other about propriety of conduct in the Temple. So, Jesus' anger is not merely a reaction to the circumstances, but more a way of demonstrating important principles.
There are many occasions where Jesus could get angry but doesn't. I can think of many daft questions posed by Pharisees and discipleswhere he could easily have lost his rag, or when the adulterous woman was brought to him or during his sham trial. On these occasions he either did not say anything at all or responded calmly and honestly.
So, I guess I can conclude that it is okay to be angry from time to time, but the anger should be brought about as a result of love for the other person if that makes sense. An example is that a parent can be angry with their child for erring, but that anger is justified because the parent wants the child to know the difference between right and wrong and is not just annoyed for the sake of being annoyed. I would hope so, anyway.
The other extreme is knowing when letting your anger affect your actions is inappropriate. Wisdom is the key here: and if you ask for it you get it (James 1 or 2), something I don't do as much of as I should. Just think: am I serving this person by losing it? Or am I just going to scare them and make them run away?
Anger may be good, but only so far, Paul commands in Ephesians not to go to bed angry as that gives the devil a foothold. In other words, sort your grievances out as soon as possible, so it doesn't fester.
That's what Jesus did, and I reckon that's a good act to follow.
(Usual blog disclaimer of it being late and not wanting to get all the ideas out that I wanted to)
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