God loves everyone, and Jesus died for all. Spiritual leaders have incredible responsibilities on their shoulders and certainly there is a time to be a steward of anger; in other words Righteous judgment and indignation. For example, Moses was a very humble man, but there was a time when he became very angry with God’s chosen people when they were in the wrong.Certainly there are people and situations that are not worth our time and energy. It takes a level of wisdom to discern when to refrain from arguing with a fool according to their folly (Proverbs 26:4) and when to engage them (26:5).
There may be a need to display healthy anger toward the evils and injustices that break God’s heart when things are not going the way intended according to God’s Will. Some Moravians may disagree with showing anger, but it is in God’s Word; It is in the preacher’s job description. I’m thankful just a couple of days ago, a strong believer called me with anger wanting to know why there were no pastors available to go to her daughter in the hospital, who was dying and needing spiritual help. After I spent time and prayed with her her anger vanished.
It takes believers with many different gifts in many different arenas to do God’s justice work. If we allow anger in our hearts, I believe our anger must be deployed strategically, and we will not all fight the same battles or spend our anger in the same way. I found this out from another preacher that anger has an important role to play in the life of faith. People who do not admit anger into their spiritual repertoire are living a faith unknown to Jesus or the prophets who preceded him, and unknown to the authors of the Bible.
Being good stewards of our anger, as individuals and communities, is an important skill that only comes with practice and good spiritual discernment. Like our money and our time, we become better stewards when we realize our anger is a gift, not meant only for us, but for the ones with whom we are called to share.
Another one said this and I agree. “If we could tithe our anger to those who need it most, if we could spend just ten percent of our emotional energy for the people who are unjustly imprisoned, whose rights are trampled, who live in fear of physical danger, I believe we’d find that God satisfies our hunger and thirst for righteousness”.
