Get mad!

This morning at church, the pastor taught on the story from Matthew where Jesus flips the temple tables.  Side note- definitely one of my favorite passages about Jesus.  As we read through the passage, I noticed something I never had before.  As we read the story, we can see that after Jesus flips tables and all that jazz, Scripture says the blind and the lame came to Him.  Two main points:

1)   Notice that merely being angry is not sin. In Ephesians, Paul tells the church to be sure that they “do not sin in your anger.”  Consequently, we can infer that merely being angry is not sin.  Obviously, there is qualifications for this statement.

a.     Your anger reveals what you are passionate about.  Don’t get upset over trivial things!  Jesus was angered because the Temple was meant to be a place of worship, not a place of extortion.  Additionally, the area of the Gentiles was meant to be a place of outreach, where the Jews proclaimed the Name of the Lord to those who didn’t know about Him.  Those two purposes were not being met.  We have a duty to have a righteous anger; we also have a duty to control our emotions and learn what stems from sin. 

b.     Do not sin in your anger.  Anger can quickly become consuming.  Just look at the Hulk!  We must have the wisdom to know when to take a step back and calm down. I would say that applies to both righteous and unrighteous anger.  We must exercise the wisdom and discernment to know when we need to take a step back and calm down.  In unrighteous anger, we must surrender it to the Lord and confess our bad attitude and repent. But we must be carefully guarding our actions in the heat of the moment.

2)   Jesus’ anger doesn’t isolate Him; it invites ministry.  The pastor today made an excellent statement today while talking about our attitude toward churches.  To summarize, he essentially stated that instead of complaining about the problems, we should seek to be a part of the solution.   That is precisely what Jesus did! 

He not only redeemed the purpose of the Temple, but He also fulfilled many of the purposes of the Temple.  The blind and lame would not have been allowed in the Temple; but once they saw the Lord redeeming the purpose of the Temple and restoring it to its original place, it drew them in.  They couldn’t resist it.

A key factor we should look for in our anger is to watch its affects.  Are we working passionately for the justice from the Lord and battling against those who would twist and malign His Word?  Or are we seeking out a personal vendetta?  Is our anger resulting in invitation or isolation?  When battling against injustice, it invites the trust from the ones we are defending.  It builds and establishes relationships; it lets them know that you are truly for them.  If you are anger out of vain conceit and selfish reasons, there is nothing restorative about it.  You seek your own advantage and retribution, not the Lord’s glory.  In the end, that will lead to isolation.

We must seek to be like Christ, both in the cause and the affect of our anger.