First, let’s check out the way the world deals with anger. Secular counseling uses methods such as increasing body awareness, developing awareness of triggers, and removing yourself from potentially anger-inducing situations. We also talk to folks about identifying unhelpful thinking patterns, and practicing new, more helpful and true ways of thinking instead. These are some really good methods that can be used to address anger, but again; we are going to go to the One who made the heart and can heal anger and aggression at the source.
Jesus, the One man who lived a perfect life, also experienced these same emotions, but without sin. “When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” Jesus was disgusted and rightly angry that the temple had been turned from a place of worship to a place of commerce. But boy howdy, can you imagine what this might have been like? Jesus wrecked house. Let yourself imagine the tables of the vendors, the cows, sheep, doves, and all the people milling around in the temple courts. I bet it was loud and smelly! Moos, sheep bleating, people negotiating and dealing, all inside the temple. And Jesus rolls up with this braided whip in his hand. He starts whipping it around, scaring the animals, sending them on a stampede out of the temple grounds. He’s upending tables left and right, scattering coins and all over the ground, and yelling at them to stop selling in His Father’s house. That must have been a huge mess! I wonder how the disciples were reacting. My imagination has them standing by, frozen, with shocked expressions. Maybe thinking something along the lines of what the heck has gotten into Jesus? What is he doing? But there was a big problem that needed to be rectified, and Jesus was going to be the one to cleanse the temple.
Anger, experienced as God designed, is a signal that a boundary has been crossed. Something is wrong. It motivates us to take respectful, corrective steps. This can mean setting firmer boundaries with others, which they may not like. But we always act in love, obeying God’s will first.
You’ve seen anger acted upon in a sinful way before, no doubt. When anger is mishandled, the chain of events starts in much the same way. Anger bubbles up, signaling that a boundary has been crossed or an unspoken expectation of ours has been transgressed. But when we don’t check ourselves and rely on the Lord’s strength with this uncomfortable emotion, we can become abusive, belittling, and spiteful toward others as a result. Or we become passive, saying nothing and harboring bitterness inside. While our emotions come and go, we are responsible for what we decide to do with those emotions. I will say more about this later, but James encourages us to be “slow to speak and slow to anger”. He didn’t say to never speak up or never to express anger. He warned us to slow down. That way, we can make a conscious decision, handling our words well and saying what needs to be said in a loving way.
If you haven’t experienced this already, you will: obedience to God’s will does not guarantee that things will resolve smoothly. Setting healthy and loving boundaries can cause people to become offended or upset with you. I’m sure those money changers in the temple were upset that Jesus had completely upended their business. A negative response is not necessarily an indication that you were in the wrong or sinning against them. This is why it is so vital to seek the Lord’s will in confusing situations, or even seek the counsel of other godly people in your life.
Check out the next post tomorrow when I talk about how to handle suffering.
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