Most of us would characterize 2020 as the year of the pandemic. Not me. I would characterize it as a year of rage. And not in a good way.
Last year began with a pandemic that shook the foundations of our everyday lives. While nearly 2 million people have died worldwide, the shaking goes much deeper. We're infested with conspiracies on the right and conspiracies on the left. Elements on the right think it's all fake news -- that no such pandemic exists -- or that it's a Chinese plot or a Democratic plot or maybe a media plot. But the left isn't conspiracy clean. They think the right is conspiring to overthrow the government on the basis of these fringe conspiracies and are worried about armed civil war. Masks or not, vaccine or not, science or not, all sides have their extremes and all sides are angry about it.
If that was the end of it, it would be bad enough. It's not. On the tails of, or, rather, in the midst of a worldwide lockdown we got to experience some of the biggest racial unrest in American history. I stated that like it's past tense; it's not. It continues. The problem: People of color have not been treated fairly. The solution: Assault -- physically, mentally, emotionally, verbally, any way possible -- white people. Wipe their minds. Assure them they're all racists and are the only possible racists and if they don't admit it it's simply proof that they're racists. "You ain't woke." Oh, and if they do admit it, beat on them -- maybe not physically, but any other way possible -- for awhile because, after all, they're racist. Oh, you're opposed to racism? Well, good for you ... but not good enough. You need to be anti-racist by which we mean you need to oppose anything perceived as "white" -- capitalism, government, Christianity, morality, all of it. Color-blind? That's just racism, because the real racism is systemic, institutional racism and nothing but a tearing down of the system will do. 2020 has been a year of racial rage.
Of course, before I say it, I'm sure you already have cued up in your mind the next angry rant of 2020 -- Trump. Anything Trump. I was afraid to play Spades or Bridge because I'd have to play a trump card and that would undoubtedly end up in a political rant. Anything vaguely related to Donald angered people, from his hair to his orange color, from his name to his family, from his supporters to those who opposed him but were still distantly linked in some vague way to his supporters. The hate was strong with this one. There was so much anger in 2020 for Trump that foreign students in foreign countries with no connection to America except for a science conference on Zoom were angered by the mere presence of American politics. I suspect that if Trump had climbed on top of the White House and cast himself to his death they would have been angry because it was Trump who did it. The year is dead and gone, but the political rage on both sides is not.
Sadly, in all of this, those who are ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor 5:20) did not come through unscathed. There was no end of Christian outrage in 2020. Outrage over masks and outrage over infringement on religious freedom and outrage over Black Lives Matter and anger against those who thought all lives matter and anger over Christians that supported Trump and anger over Christians that did not support Trump. Instead of exhibiting peace in the storm like our Savior did, we seemed to gather the rage around us and make it all ours as well. I was actually blasted on occasion by fellow believers because I wasn't angry enough. The afterglow of what should have been raging heathens but became enraged Christians is still with us.
So, I'd like 2021 to be different. In fact, I think I can set a pretty low bar to meet that. How about "not entirely outraged all the time"? I don't need to go to Scripture: "Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger." (James 1:19) I don't need to remind you that "the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God." (James 1:20) I don't need to tell you that God says, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay." (Deut 32:35; Rom 12:19; Heb 10:30). I don't even need to ask believers to be marked by love as Jesus said they should be (John 13:35). Just a little less rage would be a big improvement for 2021. But, given the tide of hate and rage of 2020, I'm concerned that even that is asking too much, even among Christians. Am I enraged? Indeed, I am, but it's at my own sin. I'm not sure I can ask anyone else to ease up. Maybe I'd better just take it to the Lord in prayer.
3 comments:
Here, your sincere pleas only perpetuate what got us here in the first place. By "playing nice", we've allowed the worst among us the power to make life difficult. I don't think that's the purpose of any of the verses you've cited...to walk headlong into the abyss without so much as a question. Now, the rage is the natural response to having "played nice" for so long and like Charlie Brown, to have had the football yanked from our kick attempt one too many times.
“Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger” (Eph 4:26).
There is righteous anger. There ought to be, I would argue, if we are to have any hope of showing our convictions are true. It should matter to us when bad things are perpetrated. We should do something about it.
The problem is how we respond to our anger. If we let anger dictate our actions, rather than simply alert us to the problems before us, then we risk more problems because of the emotional disruption of our ability to assess and respond appropriately. We simply can't ignore that which angered us. We aren't tasked with letting the world go to hell in a handbag.
I can find only one biblical example that allows for an angry response from believers. It kind of surprises me that so many Christians that say they want to only do what Christ would do think that anger is a good response to everything. If you wish to model your life after Christ, the only time He had an angry, visceral response, was when the Lord's house was profaned. Sure, He had some harsh words for the hypocritical Pharisees, but the only time He responded with anger was at the moneychangers in the temple. In 99% of the times in our lives that we react with anger, it is out of pride or selfishness. Rage against racism? I don't feel like I'm being treated the way I should be treated. Rage against masks? They make me uncomfortable so I shouldn't be made to wear them. Rage against Trump? He's not who I want for President. Rage against my wife's lies? She wasn't honest with me and she deserves it. You speak of "righteous anger". The only righteous anger displayed in Scripture is Christ at the moneychangers. I argue that anger is never the proper response to interpersonal interactions. You site Eph 4:26. Like Stan has pointed out in commands to love, you can't command an emotion, but you can command how you react to that emotion. We can't avoid anger, we're selfish by nature. But the command is to not sin through that anger. The command is to not let your anger fester. Masks and racism and Trump and all those other things have led to long standing rage, which according to the very verse you quoted, is a sin. Anger is almost never the response a Christian should have because in most occasions, we're angry at how we're treated. I believe the only time a Christian can display righteous anger is when the Holy is profaned. And that is a very narrow margin.
Well, you're actually saying the same thing I'm saying. You can tell by reading where I said, "The problem is how we respond to our anger. If we let anger dictate our actions, rather than simply alert us to the problems before us, then we risk more problems because of the emotional disruption of our ability to assess and respond appropriately."
Indeed, allowing any emotion to rule us is unwise. When emotion rises, wisdom falls. But we can't help feeling emotions provoked by life's ups and downs. They're signals and in the case of "negative" signals, they alert us dangers which must be acknowledged and addressed.
If my anger results from how I'm being treated, is it not just as likely that how I'm treated is often threatening to others if not addressed? As with the mask issue, where are the limits and how much suffering must one suffer in silence? Repeated assaults will not make dealing with the assaults easier emotionally. I think the notion that anger is unChristian because it might be about how we're being treated is wrongheaded. Again, it comes down to the response to the stimulus.
I would also submit that bottling up anger is debilitating physically if not vented in some way.
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