“It just makes my
blood boil.”
These are the words I
heard coming out of my own mouth at a prayer event—in front of a bunch of
people—when I described the latest political “breaking news.” I can’t remember
if I had ever used that phrase before, but something hit me as the last
syllable left my mouth. I think it was the Holy Spirit.
I began to ask myself
questions. Why are you so mad? Who are you so mad at? Are you supposed to be
mad? My first thought was that I am absolutely supposed to be mad. After all,
the Bible talks about “righteous anger,” and God gets angry: “God is a just judge,
and God is angry with the wicked every day” (Ps. 7:11, nkjv). I am
demonstrating a character of God by being mad at the evildoers, right?
I momentarily felt a
little godlier. This should have been my first clue something wasn’t right. The
Holy Spirit quickly brought to my attention Colossians 3:8: “Now you must also
rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice. . . .”
The
Spirit reminded me that anger is reserved for God.
Leave Anger to God
So, it appears God
reserves the right to judge and be angry at the wicked, and we are to get rid
of anger toward them. Initially, this conclusion seemed wrong because I wanted
to be furious with people who are doing terrible things in our nation.
Then, I believe, the
Lord spoke to my heart, saying, “Dave, I will be the Judge. Leave the anger to
Me. These people are lost and deceived. Do you remember when you were lost and
deceived? These people on the news shows who are constantly lying and showing
their anger toward righteousness were created by Me, and I have godly plans and
purposes for them in My heart.”
To be honest, I
shouted back, “But do You know how terrible these people are?” Even as I type
these words, I am laughing at myself.
Holding onto anger
against someone for their unrighteous acts gets us nowhere. It just makes us
bitter. Bitterness has been defined as swallowing poison and expecting the
other person to die. God doesn’t want our lives filled with the poison of anger
and bitterness.
Today’s anger and
bitterness have been fueled by “identity politics,” political strategies to
divide people into groups, such as evangelicals or liberals or white or black
or brown or gay or straight. This is a well-known political strategy championed
by Saul Alinksy in Rules for Radicals.
After causing
division, each group tries to convince people that the other groups are against
them. Angry spokespeople then go to news stations, polling booths, and courts
to fight for their “rights.” The result is a divided nation full of people who
speak of tolerance, but are, in reality, intolerant and angry.
