It's OK to Get Angry, and God Doesn't Get Angry with You if You Get Angry

 Another great post from Laura Tompkins' blog:

The entire idea that your perfectly normal feeling of anger is somehow a poison you are choosing to drink just by allowing the feeling… is a 12 step cult platitude designed to stop you from living in your immense power.  Reject the very idea that “anger is a luxury you alcoholic/addict cannot afford.”  Or the ever-popular “resentment is death.”  Anyone who attempts this platitude is trying to shut you up. Anyone who insists your feelings are not facts is abusing you.  Anyone who spews such nonsense is gaslighting you. The meme above sums is up perfectly.

What are some other abusive platitudes of the 12 step cult religion?  There are hundreds from which to choose.

I hope you are having a lovely weekend with people deserving of your company.

Now, here's my commentary.

The AA cult is well-known for this terrible platitude: "We must be free from anger," and "Anger is the dubious luxury of normal men."

There are two lies in that second trite phrase "Anger is the dubious luxury ..." First, it is not dubious, in that anger is needed for us to decide to make changes in the face of unjust outcomes, choices, and outcomes. Jesus never ever said "Don't be angry." Second, it's normal to get angry, and people who struggle with alcohol addiction are not a different species of a subclass of mankind. That false identity needs to be rejected at all costs.

Today, I just want to focus on the truth that "It's OK to Get Angry."

He did say in the Sermon on the Mount:

"But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." (Matthew 5:22)

It's all about being angry "without a cause," or "heedlessly" in the original Greek.

There are times that we should be angry. And there are bad memories that are ... bad memories. We do not need to fight or force our way away from them. There is nothing that we have to really do about them in many cases.

However, if we impose on people a law "Thou shalt not be angry," we are bringing people into bondage, and we are giving power to their flesh. Have you ever noticed how the more that you try not to be angry, the angrier you become?

Also, again, it is essential to get angry sometimes. When a child is being abused, when an innocent person is being bullied, when people in power do wrong things and do not respect their role or their oath of office, you and I should get angry. That outrage invites us to do something constructive and effective to stand up to that evil.

Consider what Paul writes to the Ephesians:

"Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:" (Ephesians 4:26)

It's so important for people to realize also that God will never got angry with you ever again after you beleive and receive His Son:

"For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee." (Isaiah 54:9)

Did you see that? He will never get angry with you again! And I challenge you, in the accounts in the Old Testament featuring Abraha, amd Jacob, that for all their failures, not once did God ever get angry with them. There is no record of rebuke or God being wroth with them, either. God corrects us with dealings, and He guides us with His grace, but He never gets angry with us ever again. AMEN!

For me specifically, this "Don't Get Angry" aspect of the AA cult is particularly damaging. We get angry, we have upset thoughts from time to time, or we remember unpleasant events from the past. Does that mean that we have done something wrong? Does that really mean that we have to make adjustments to our time and and place, or do something right away or else?

There is untold, unprecedented harm in telling people that they should never get angry. When they are victims of wrongdoing, or when they suffer hurt which requires redress. they end up doubling down into a maelstrom of self-loathing and shame. No one should ever fall into such a mess. We should be free!

'Not at all. We have been made the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). There is no reason for any of us to feel shame, to second guess our anger when someone says something offense or out of place, and we feel the need to correct the record, to confront that false statement.

It's OK to get angry. What you do with that anger is what determines whether you have sinned or not. This is such a great relief to revisit, and I pray that whoever chances on this blog post will rest in the promises of God's Word. It is essential for me to make this plain and clear, too: being angry, and even if you sin in your anger, does not cause God to go away from you. He does not leave you or forsake you, and your standing of righteousness before Daddy God in Christ Jesus does not change either!

Faith is not about feelings, and being faithful is not about not being angry. We don't have to wonder if God will come or go if we get upset. That bondage was so awful for me. I felt that I had to stop bad thoughts and bad feelings from pouring into my head in order for God to work through me and bless me.

Wow! How wrong I was. It's OK to be get angry, and God does not turn His back on us or go away from us if we are unjustifiably angry about something, about anything. No matter how unjustifiable our anger may be, we are justified in Christ! (Acts 13:38-39)