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Pastor Ed Young Jr. Is Wrong; Anger Is Not a 'Gift From God'

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I recently read an interesting article in The Christian Post where Pastor Ed Young said anger could be a "gift from God." I thought I'd kindly respond and offer an alternative view:

Dear Pastor Young,

You're wrong.

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Please read the Bible again.

In love,
 Brant

P.S. – It's okay to be wrong. I'm wrong all the time. Don't even ask me about my NCAA tournament brackets.

I'm confident Pastor Young is wrong about this, because I used to think the same thing… until I ran smack into what the Bible actually says about human anger.

It's shocking. It's freeing.

And it's wonderful, really. It just takes a bit of getting used to.

You see, the Bible never says anything positive about human anger. While Mr. Young predictably quotes a familiar verse ("Do not sin in your anger…" Ephesians 4:26) he does another familiar thing, and ignores something Paul writes in the very same context: Five verses later, we're told to get rid of all anger. (Eph 4:31)

All of it! So think about it: If anger is a gift, why are we told to get rid of it, right now?

Another question: If humans are capable of "righteous anger", why does James 1:20 say precisely the opposite? "The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God."

If human anger is sometimes a blessing, why doesn't the Bible ever say that? Instead, in reference to human anger, the Bible uses terms like "burning", "blazing fury", "full vent", "hostility", "destroy", "boils", "blasting", etc.? The word "gift" doesn't appear.

Why is anger consistently listed with things like "bitterness"? No one talks about "righteous bitterness", and yet, anger is always right there with it in the negative ledger.

If anger is a gift, why does it, according to Ecclesiastes, reside "in the lap of fools"?

I know the objection to this: "But doesn't God get angry?"

Oh yes, He sure does. But you know what? He can be trusted with it. He's not a sinner, like me. I might think I have a right to be angry at another sinner, but Jesus levels that idea.

When Jesus tells the story of the unmerciful servant, he's telling us we're far more guilty than those with whom we withhold forgiveness.

God is the King in that story; we're not.

If I think I'm entitled to anger, I'm simply refusing to forgive. I've learned the hard way: I can't say, "I forgive you, but I'm keeping my anger against you," unless I'm, you know, kidding about the forgiveness part.

It's one or the other, and I know what God wants from me.

Young says we're supposed to be angry when "God's word is maligned." Sounds reasonable… but God's word, itself, doesn't actually say that. That's a good thing, because we'd all be angry, non-stop - and that's just at ourselves.

We get angry – of course, it happens! – but we're told to drop it.

I know it sounds crazy. I've had this discussion with hundreds of Christians, and they tend to be just as shocked as I was by the whole idea. But they struggle to dispute it, because the Bible is clear. Those who accept it find a whole new and wonderful way to live in humility.

We don't forgive because we no longer believe in sin; we forgive because we know we, too, are sinners.

It's not a minor issue. If you actually try to live this way, if you surrender your "right" to anger and offense, you'll understand this "dying to self" thing in new and profound ways.

And your life will become much, much less stressful, and more restful. You might be able to laugh more, enjoy family, or more deeply understand God's own love for you.

You'll see that some things are just God's, not ours, like vengeance, or final judgment, for instance.

What a relief.

He knows things we don't, like the inner motives of others. According to I Corinthians 4, we don't even know our own motives. He does. He'll sort it out in the end.

Mr. Young says anger can change the world, and he's right: It certainly has. But we're called to bear the Fruit of the Spirit: Love. Joy. Peace. Patience.

Anger's not on the list.

I'm not arguing for passivity in the face of injustice. Quite the opposite, really. It's surrendering to anger that's quite passive. You've likely noticed that toddlers are quite capable of this.

I am arguing for taking action: clear-headed, love-motivated action. Thinking our "righteous anger" somehow helps is the easy way out. Interestingly, I live near San Francisco, and it's a very angry place. It's also not a place known for actual generosity. Anger about "injustice" is easy; giving one's own money is hard.

Anger interferes with sound judgment. We don't want our police, our military, our courts to act out of anger. We just want them to do what's right.

To a pagan culture, this getting-rid-of-anger thing will make no sense. I realize that.

But to a follower of Jesus, it surely has a familiar ring to it.

Because that thing that we think justifies our anger…?

That's the very thing we're called to forgive.

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