“Anger makes the list
of the seven deadly sins because for centuries people have witnessed its
destructive power and influence. Understanding anger gets much more complicated
than simply looking at its effects, though. Anger isn’t merely a sin that
causes chaos, it’s an emotion that is indicative of something deeper— something
in the subconscious desires of the human heart.”
“We might assume that
the opposite of anger is love, but actually, the opposite of anger is
indifference.“ In its uncorrupted origin,” explains Tim Keller,“ anger is actually
a form of love.” Anger is how we respond
to whatever threatens someone or something we care about. How we perceive
and respond to reality has to do with what we value. Anger is love in motion to
protect the object of our love. If we want to know what we have to be angry
about, we should look to the objects of our affection. And if we want to know
when anger is sinful, we look for how our loves have become distorted.”
[Emphasis Mine]
“Interrogating our
affections is the best way to mute misplaced aggression.”
“The antidote to anger
isn’t placid Stoicism or cool indifference; it’s loving like crazy what is most
loveable. The demise of sinful anger starts with our relentless pursuit to be
enthralled by God— to be overcome with him, and then to be moved by him to
value all that he values.”
Anger is how we react to the vulnerabilities of what we
love. Certain things and people we love are of such value, anger is the
appropriate emotion. But some things we
love are insignificant in the realm of eternal reality. Anger in such cases is sin because it
portrays our idolatry.
Killjoys is free in e-book from Desiring God. Go to http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/killjoys-new-book
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