More on Broken-Down House

I have seemingly so very much to do, but here I am blogging again. Upsidedownbee complains she doesn't get her laundry done because of blogging, this week I have done the laundry but I haven't walked all week! I feel pretty yucky. But, I am here blogging away.

Ok to the subject at hand. Last evening I posted about a couple of books that Paul David Tripp has written that have had a profound impact on me. This morning the chapter that I read in Broken-Down House has stunned me. The chapter is 10 and the title is Be Good and Angry. He has changed my thinking about anger in a very profound way.

Those of you who know me know that I am prone to depression. I have learned a great deal through my depression, it has actually brought me closer to Jesus as I have fought the good fight through it. Anger is a type of depression. Tripp makes the case that God is angry, that isn't anything new, but he discusses righteous anger in a way that I hadn't thought about before. "In a world that has been terribly broken by sin, in a world where nothing operates as was intended, and in a world where evil often has more immediate influence than good, it would be wrong not to be angry....In a fallen world, anger is a good thing. In a fallen world, anger is a constructive thing. In a fallen world anger is an essential thing. That is, if the anger is about something bigger than you." (p. 128-129) So often in my life I have seen anger as the unforgivable sin. Therefore, if it is the unforgivable sin, then what to do about it? Also, I redirect my anger at the wrong things, or I feel guilty about the anger at the right things! How convoluted is that? With depression, let's just point it inward. Isn't that the safest place? That way, I don't really look like a bad Christian, a bad wife, or a bad mother, just one that is "depressed."

Tripp says, "In a fallen world, people of character and conscience will always be angry." (p. 129) "For people who have accepted God's calling on their lives, for people who claim to be living for something bigger than their own happiness, and for people who profess to be committed to what is right, true, loving and good, such anger is a calling. You cannot be like God and be free of anger as long as you live in a sin-broken world." (p. 129-130) He says this kind of righteous anger is definitely different from just being angry at not getting my own way. This is an underlying anger at the suffering and heartache of this sin soaked world. This is profound to me. That validates some of the underlying anger in my life. There are times when I should feel angry. I look at the world, the country, and the culture around me, and I get angry. I see sin in me and my family, and I should get angry. Anger can be a huge motivator for change. Passivity is thrown out when enough righteous anger is around. Maybe those around us who have an anger problem should look at it a bit differently. That underlying anger that just seems to be under the surface at all times needs to be challenged towards sin, misery, and injustice. Those of us that are passive need to be more angry.

Tripp makes the great case of how God is angry. "His hunger for right is so strong that he will not relent until wrong has been completely destroyed. He will not rest until evil is no more and justice and righteousness reign forever and ever! Where do we see both sides of God's anger coming together in one moment? On that hill outside the city gates where Jesus hung. That is where we see justice and mercy kiss. If God were incapable of anger, there would have been no cross. You see, anger is one of God's most beautiful characteristics. For God's children, anger is a place of bright hope. Because he is righteously angry with sin every day, we can rest assured that everything sin has broken will be restored. Everything sin has twisted will be straightened. Everything that has gone wrong will be made right again. God's anger assures us that all things will be made new." (p. 131-132)

I really believe the more I mull over these thoughts, the more I will be changed. I don't have it all figured out yet, but I am going to be working on it.