Sermon Q&A: Do Not be Angry?? (Matthew 5.23-26)

I received a great question in response to the sermon from January 26th. The questioner asked about the role of 'anger' in the life of a Christian. Is it possible for anger to be healthy? Or is Jesus calling for Christians to avoid all anger? Is that even possible?

This is actually something that, after the sermon finished, I continued to wrestle with, because I believe I could have been a bit clearer. I believe that experiencing a wide range of human emotions is simply inevitable in our lives, and that it is not "sinful" to experience emotions that we tend to consider "bad" or negative (like anger, fear or sadness). In other words, the experience of anger, in itself, is not by-definition "sinful," but (and this is an important "but!") what we do with that experience of anger is what can potentially lead towards sin, or towards redemption and righteousness. Biblically, there are many places that the prophets and the Psalmist certainly sound pretty angry! But in both cases, I believe they are "channeling" that anger in the correct and healthy direction: towards God! Honest prayer is the appropriate and healthy venue for our felt anger, or sadness, or fear, or whatever we may be experiencing.

So how does this relate to the Sermon on the Mount, and especially Jesus' sharp warning that "whoever is angry with a brother or sister is liable to judgment"? Well, given the context of the warning, and all the ways in which Jesus frames the anger he is talking about as relational and divisive, I firmly believe he is speaking about the ways in which people can take experiences of anger and channel them towards broken relationships, grudges, and withholding forgiveness. These are the signs to look out for, and this is what Jesus is warning against, especially as it creates division and rupture within the people of God. This is why he ends with the very-practical admonition to "reconcile" with a brother or sister before taking a gift to the altar. It's about interpersonal repair.

So, in summary, I do not want to communicate the idea that every possible experience of anger is by-definition "liable to judgment." By no means! On the other hand, these experiences of anger are the sensitive places that can very-easily lead towards division and broken relationships, and should be treated with the utmost prayer and care! My prayer is that we would be a community that takes these warnings seriously, and models reconciliation and repair rather than harboring bitterness and resentment on interpersonal lines.