Tidbits for Thought

RIGHTEOUS ANGER

John 2:15-16 “So He made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the

temple area, both sheep and cattle; He scattered the coins of the money

changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves, He

said, ‘Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into

a market.”

While Jesus was physically walking and talking on this earth, He was

the perfect example of righteousness and goodness. Any good

Thesaurus will list numerous synonyms for righteous or righteousness,

such as good, virtuous, upright, upstanding, decent, ethical, principled,

moral, high-minded, law-abiding, honest, honorable, blameless, noble,

angelic and pure…. each and every one a beautiful description of

Jesus. Yet as gentle and kind as Jesus was, He was also capable of

anger……… a righteous anger. And from that righteous anger came

direct and decisive action.

Jesus was not shy about expressing His anger about the desecration of

the temple by money grubbing thieves and charlatans. He was not shy

at expressing His anger and disgust with the actions of the religious

elite as they marginalized the poor, the sick and aliens among them.

He was not shy about exposing the moral hypocrisy of the rich and

privileged.

If He was still walking among us, the Jesus I know would not sit

quietly while bigotry runs rampant and affects millions of the most

vulnerable among us. The Jesus I know would be willing to call out

hypocrisy and phoniness wherever it is visible. The Jesus I know

would not apologize for His passion for the poor and the hungry. The

Jesus I know would not dismiss the humanity of those who disagree

with Him. The Jesus I know preaches inclusion not separation. The

Jesus I know was only concerned with truth, not flattery, spin or lies.

In our messed-up world of today there are many who carry the name

Christian who do not act like or resemble Jesus in any sense at all.

Unfortunately, many of them are very visible in business, government

and even the church. Since Jesus is not physically present among us,

maybe it is past time for concerned Christians to rise up in righteous

anger, just as He did, and confront those who make a mockery of the

love for which He died. Maybe it is past time for righteous anger to

call out and silence words of bigotry, wherever and whenever they are

verbalized. Maybe it is past time for righteous anger to step in

between the bullies and their victims. Maybe it is past time for

righteous anger to specifically target those who spew hate and

separation. Maybe it is past time to insist on absolute truth from our

leaders and wanna-be leaders, not lies, disinformation and conspiracy

theories.

Martin Luther King, Jr once noted, “There comes a time when silence

is betrayal.” Jesus was never silent in the face of evil! Maybe it is past

time for each of us to use our voices or whatever means we have at our

disposal and direct our righteous anger at the pretenders and the

predators and the liars just as HE DID! Think about it!      ~ Aron Smith