I’ve grown wary of the phrase, “righteous anger.” To be fair, I’ve also grown wary of our concept of cheap forgiveness. What is righteous anger? Righteous anger is jealous for Shalom. It is jealous for peace, and for “right-justness”.
1. It is jealous for peace between my neighbor and God. It is angry at the principalities and powers of the world which blind my neighbor’s eyes to their own destruction. So Paul is “provoked within himself” when he sees the idols of Athens (Acts 17:16).
2. It is jealous for peace between others. It grows angry at the work of Satan (Diablos = “Slanderer”), which creates division, hostility and injustice toward brothers and sisters in the church (James 3:9).
3. It is jealous for peace between my brother and myself. It is angry at the sinful patterns destroying our relationship, and seeks to snuff them out with kindness and truth (Ephesians 4:25-32).
God’s anger is violent on Peace’s behalf.
