Anger is a moral emotion. It says, “This is wrong and it matters!” When we experience church hurt we feel all sorts of emotions. They usually start with sadness and confusion, they also often include anxiety and doubt. At times there is self-criticism and despair. Anger is an emotion that we often feel in the aftermath of church hurt, but Christians often have a complicated relationship with anger. Anger, however, is a right emotion to feel when you experience church hurt.
This is not me giving you permission to be angry. You don’t need my permission, because God has already given it. The Scriptures establish that anger over sin is a right response. Anger says, “This is wrong and it matters.” God himself is angry at sin, and He invites us to hate what He hates. Consider, for example, the simplicity of Psalm 97:10a – “You who love the Lord, hate evil!” Love for the Lord should result in hatred of what is evil. Likewise, Proverbs 8:13 states:
To fear the Lord is to hate evil. I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech.
Paul calls on Christians specifically to “Abhor what is evil” (Rom. 12:9). The Prophet Amos said that same thing many centuries before the Apostle.
Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate. (Amos 5:15)
To love God, then, means to hate sin and wickedness. Anger, is a the right response to sin.
In fact, contrary to what some Christians believe, the Bible does not teach us that anger itself is bad. It tells us plainly to “be angry,” but there is a way to be angry that is right and good and way to be angry that is sinful. So, the Bible cautions us to “be angry and do not sin” (Eph. 4:26). What we are angry at and what we do with our anger matters. But we should experience anger at sin, injustice, and church hurt. Actually, that’s exactly how God feels when Shepherds hurt His sheep!
In several places we read specifically of God’s anger towards bad leaders. Ezekiel 34 is all about God’s anger towards the “false Shepherds.” These are leaders of his people who do not fulfill they role to protect and nurture the people under their care. Instead they use them and abuse them in order to feed themselves (v. 2-4). God goes so far as to say to them: I am against the shepherds (v. 10). In Jeremiah 23: 1-2 we read:
Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord.
And in Matthew 23 Jesus rebukes the religious leaders for being hypocrites (v. 13). They were superficially religious, but neglected the matters that God cares about: justice, mercy, and faithfulness (Matt. 23:23-24). Scripture shows that God has anger towards leaders who misuse their role or who purposefully harm God’s people. God has anger over church hurt, and so should you.
We will explore in another post what to do with that anger but for the moment I would recommend acknowledging it. You are angry because something wrong has taken place. You are angry because what happened was wrong and it mattered. It matters to you and it matters to God. Explore that anger with a wise and mature friend. Unpack why you are angry. What happened? Why does it matter? How has it impacted you? How has impacted others? What does God’s Word say about it? Let yourself feel that anger and talk about it with the Lord. It is right to be angry at sin.
Sparrow & Heart Soul Care 