Anger Management

Yesterday, I was scheduled to teach the middle school boys Sunday School class. During the summer months we don’t have a standard curriculum, so we have some freedom to choose what to teach. I had recently viewed one of Rob Bell’s Nooma Videos that deals with the issue of anger and thought it would be a good discussion starter for us. The simplified overview of this video is that there are things worth getting angry over, anger can be channeled to increase peace rather than lead to destruction, and that Jesus was angry. I liked the fact that Bell didn’t use the money changers incident to illustrate Jesus’ anger. Instead, he focused on an account recorded in Mark 3 where Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath. In that story, Jesus was said to be looking upon those (who were trying to criticize and trap him) with anger. As I studied the issue of Jesus and anger, I came across His teaching in Matthew 5 – “…if anyone is angry with his brother, he will be subject to judgment…” The thoughts/questions occurred to me – Did Jesus sin by getting angry with these men? What about Eph. 4:26 “in your anger, do not sin”? and How does all this balance with what Jesus taught in Matthew 5? The insight occurred to me that I naturally read the Matthew 5 passage with the assumption that being “subject to judgment” is a bad thing and naturally leads to condemnation. Therefore, I interpreted this verse as Jesus saying, “if you are angry with your brother, you are sinning” which could be the implication, but the biblical context seems to lead in another direction.

Think about it. Anyone who is “subject to judgment” has the potential to be either convicted or found “not guilty.” With this in mind as well as the insights of Bell and my own understanding of anger in the psychological realm, what Jesus seems to be saying is that our episodes of anger will be scrutinized. The healthy or acceptable display is one that promotes peace and resolution rather than making matters worse. We cannot eliminate anger from our emotional experience. However, we can manage it in such a way that it is not harmful, destructive, and explosive.