Hmmm. I will not start the way I wanted to but let me say this. It will be clearer later. One thing to avoid is having an idea of a doctrine without a proper grasp of it. Let’s give a clear case or example here.
A cursory reading of the Bible may suggest that human anger is bad. That’s maybe like a blur view. It’s the kind of teaching some Sunday school teachers used to give children. It’s overly simple. “Anger is not good. Anger is for Satan.” (Those Sunday school teachers should do better though. Good content must match good intent.) Does the Bible say anger is evil? Does the Bible tell us that anger is absolutely a work of the flesh/darkness? Interesting question. Let’s get into it.
Almost everywhere we were cautioned about anger, a careful observation reveals that God does not utterly forbid us from it. And a holistic understanding also teaches that anger is not utterly evil. The Bible says love is NOT EASILY PROVOKED (1 Cor. 13:5). In another place, we are told to BE ANGRY AND SIN NOT. Then, we are told to not let the Sun go down on our anger (Eph. 4:26). These are the three New Testament admonitions on anger that come to mind. We will be discussing these verses or passages to answer the question on whether love can be angry. This post however discusses the first verse to suggest that Anger is not evil. First, we define Anger and then we discuss the 1 Corinthians 13:5 in context.
ANGER IS NOT EVIL
To begin, let’s define anger, especially in this context. In my engagement with a brother recently, he kept translating my position that God can be angry to mean that God has anger issues. That was a rather dubious approach to the discussion. But for the sake of clearer communication, let’s define what anger is and what it’s not, at least in this conversation (if not generally). Below is my earlier definition of anger in the preceding part of this series.
“Anger is an emotion of displeasure, disappointment and disapproval. Unlike the docile emotion of simple unhappiness, anger is more eager. Anger is more forceful, with the potential of motivating corrective or punitive action. That is, I may simply be unhappy about a situation without being too angry. This is so for powerless, less powerful and/or less interested victims or spectators. I may not like the shirt you are wearing, but I would not be angry at you for wearing it. If I were going to a business meeting with you and demanded that you dress officially, and you dressed casually instead, I could feel an emotion stronger than simple dislike for your choice. I would feel disappointed and displeased. I may want to confront you, question or chastise you if I can. My interest in your dressing and power over you would greatly influence the degree of emotion that your indiscretion produces in me. That emotion is what is referred to as anger.”
Let’s do more. The American Heritage Dictionary defines anger as “a strong feeling of displeasure or hostility.” Chip Ingram and Dr. Becca Johnson define anger as “a charged, morally neutral, emotional response of protective preservation” in their book titled OVERCOMING EMOTIONS THAT DESTROY. I agree with these definitions. Anger is not evil in itself. Anger is morally neutral. It can lead to evil and it can produce good. It depends on how we express or manage it as humans.
Anger can fight injustice against others and ourselves. Anger can help us erect healthy boundaries. Anger can teach us that we are in an abusive relationship. Anger raises red flags, calls for protective or corrective action. Anger can come from pride and selfish interest, but it can also come from healthy self-preservation, protection for others and an insistence on the right thing.
From the definitions above, we learn that anger (especially as discussed here) is not the destructive use of hostile emotions. It is not revenge, retaliation, bitterness, unforgiveness, hatred for another and the likes. The Anger we here discuss is that serious displeasure for an act or situation. It is not the crazy swinging of swords, or throwing tantrums. We are referring to anger as an emotion from which good or evil may be produced.
We are not also referring to the anger Paul classifies as evil behavior in Ephesians 4:31. That anger is what the Amplified Bible explains as “perpetual animosity, resentment, strife, fault-finding”. That one is evil behavior. It is permanent anger. That is what Paul says Love is NOT in 1 Corinthians 13:5. Love IS not PROVOKED (as a status) or EASILY provoked (as an action) means that it does not live in “perpetual animosity, resentment, strife, [and] fault-finding”. But the anger we discuss here is the morally neutral emotion of displeasure which motivates some remedial action. What does the Bible say about this emotion?
What does God’s Word say about love when it comes to anger? We take only one in this post.
1. LOVE IS NOT EASILY PROVOKED
1 Corinthians 13 is popular for its beautiful list on the character of love. Here is what we see there.
“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. IT IS NOT IRRITABLE, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7, NLT)
Other versions express “it is not irritable” as “[it] is not provoked” (NKJV) or “[it] is not easily provoked” (KJV). The word IRRITABLE captures the Greek word well. The original word means “to sharpen alongside”. Figuratively, it means to exasperate. We can therefore say that Love is not exasperated or provoked as a status. Therefore, love is not easily provoked at the least instance. Either way, the meaning of 1 Corinthians 13:5c is clear. Love is not angry. Love is not easily angered because it is not angry as a state. We are not to live our lives as angry, resentful and unhappy people. But does love get angry?
Love, not being easily provoked (in response to instances) or not being provoked (as a permanent status), is in line with other characteristics such as patience, kindness, humility and thoughtfulness about others. You will not be patient or kind if you are irritable. And you will not be easily provoked at every issue, if you have patience, think and act kindly towards others. These qualities are mentioned before the quality relating to provocation. But the second quality after “it is not irritable” is “it does not rejoice about injustice”. Love rejoices over truth and does not rejoice over injustice. Injustice can be one of the instances where love gets angry, even though it is not easily provoked.
Let me ask this of those who think that anger is evil. If I slapped you without cause, would your anger be sinful or natural? If you caught a rapist in the act, would your anger be sinful or justified? Walking in love will make you angry sometimes if not many times. It will make you unhappy or angry at things that are in opposition to the nature of love. Again, refer to our definition of love so you don’t go about misconducting yourself because I said anger can be justified. The neutral emotion is justified but it must be used in a morally correct way.
In Part 2 of this series, I discussed that being interested in a person or matter makes you susceptible to anger in that regard, especially if you have some power. Walking in love means caring about people. That means you will feel anger. It is easier to avoid anger through indifference than by love. Christians also have the power (obligation/right) to demand that the right thing is done in their world, first as citizens of the world and then as ambassadors of God. So our love for God and others, and our interest and mandate to ensure that the right thing is done, will make us angry.
A good example is Paul’s anger in Acts 17:16 which led him to teach in the synagogues at Athens. This was a holy indignation against idolatry and how the people were lost.
“Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols.17. Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there.” (Acts 17:16-17, NKJV)
In a podcast some time ago, I discussed this need for holy anger in Christians.
In there, we discussed 2 Corinthians 11:29 where Paul says that he was indignant (burning inside with anger) about the falling away of believers. (May our own sins and others’ grieve and annoy us. For those who want to demonize anger, I fear that they will trivialize sin too. God help us. This is just by the way.) Passion for God will include anger against ungodliness. In Part 2, we explained this in relation to Jesus’ storming of the temple which had turned to a marketplace. I held back from sharing King David’s very strong expression of this because some may have questions that I may not answer significantly in here. But let me hope that you see at least the second part of loving God in this verse.
“Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD, and detest those who rise against You? I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them as my enemies.” (Psalm 139:20-21, BSB)
[Of course, the verse above does not implore us to hate sinners by not being good to them. That would rather defeat the meaning of David’s hatred. If we understand it to mean being unkind towards sinners, we would become evil by paying them with evil. What David expresses above is his complete abhorrence and disapproval of people who actively rise against God. They may receive his pity but will never get his backing in their evil endeavours. This is what it means. Those who will dwell in God’s temple should be persons who despise vile people and honour those who fear God (Psalm 15:4). We are not called to honour everybody in the sense of approving of them and giving them our backing. When Jehoshaphat helped Ahab on a failed battle, Jehoshaphat, King of Judah was queried by God on his alliance with Ahab, the King of Israel. Judah and Israel are basically brothers. But God questioned Jehoshaphat’s alliance with Ahab because the latter was idolatrous. (2 Chron. 19:1-2) There are people we must “hate”, not in the sense that we do evil against them, but in the sense that we don’t support them and we openly state our disgust for what they do. Again, not in the sense of having bad blood towards them or not wishing them well as humans, but in the sense of not endorsing their actions because the actions do not bring glory to God. This is what David meant.]
Perfect love always goes with perfect hatred. This is why I am of the view that Indifference may be a better antonym to Love than the word Hatred. David shows his love for God by hating those who hate Him and rise against Him. There are those who are indifferent about how others treat God. Not David! There are those who say we should let people say what they please about God without being protested or named and shamed. Not David! David calls his hatred for those who hate God a perfect one. Again, it does not mean doing evil against them. It means completely hating their ungodly endeavors and not supporting them in such endeavors. A lesbian advocating for LGBTQ+ deserves our love. One way of showing that love is to hate everything about her that concerns LGBTQ+. This hatred must be as clear as the love we have for her. The love we have for her must in no way create the impression that God endorses her sins.
Did we deviate a little bit? Well, I wanted us to see how even hatred is intrinsic to love. Perfect hatred is intrinsic to perfect love. Out of this hatred, love can be angry at things that are inconsistent with its nature.
LOVE IS NOT EASILY PROVOKED therefore means that Love does not get angry without sufficient cause. Also, it means that love will not entertain destructive anger. It means love will not walk around angry and bitter. Some are easily provoked because they have unresolved anger issues from their past. They may be unhappy with life, ungrateful and/or without the peace of God. Love, the Bible says, is not like that. Encountering the love of God will heal them of their anger issues. May the love of God heal anyone reading this who has anger issues.
The conclusion here is that, LOVE IS NOT EASILY PROVOKED does not mean LOVE IS NEVER PROVOKED or never gets angry. It means, love doesn’t have anger issues. We may have anger issues, but love will heal us. That said, we can be justifiably angry and resist the temptation to sin by following God’s guidelines in the Bible. Love can get (or feel) angry. But love must not BE (that is, remain) angry.
Next, we look at the other verses mentioned earlier and then later, there is still more. Shalom!
[PS: This series started as a response to Dr. Abel Damina’s false teaching that God has no anger. But to address that, we will need to understand the biblical teachings on anger. Thus, this post has been reshaped into a teaching on anger instead of a direct address of Damina’s heresy. Lovingly destroying that heresy remains a worthy goal. But understanding God’s Word has far more benefits. So it will be limiting to make this solely about a specific false doctrine. Nonetheless, the false doctrine is worthy of strong attention and rebuttal, and other posts will be doing that more directly. Follow the hashtag below to read other posts in this series.]
#CanLoveGetAngry
Pious D. Serwonu
December 9, 2023.