Anger After the Boston Bombing

April 20, 2013

             A peaceful marathon shattered in senseless violence, three innocent lives needlessly destroyed, and people’s bodies ripped apart by shrapnel; all because of some unknown desire to terrorize. As Christians, we cannot help but respond with outrage. Fueled by shock, grief, and dismay, our moral indignation easily and legitimately leads us to become very angry for what has been done—but not necessarily as God would have us be angry.

            Ephesians 4:25-32 and James 1:19-21caution the Christian against the very real danger of allowing our anger to get the best of us. Jesus further emphasizes not allowing anger to rule our lives in Matthew 5:21-26. Although there are dozens of powerful Biblical teachings on anger, these three references not only summarize much of God’s teaching on the subject, in light of the Boston bombing, they serve Christians well for prayerful reflection.

            Regardless of who perpetrated this evil or what they hoped to accomplish by unleashing such diabolical violence on innocent lives; there is good cause to be angry. Our fundamental moral principles have been violated. Our shared humanity has been compromised. We are angry!

            Anger is an indispensable human emotion that God created within us for good reasons. Much as Jesus became angry at the money-changers in the Temple or the cry of the Teacher in Ecclesiastes 3, there is a time for rage. We may call this “righteous indignation” or “holy anger” and it becomes the driving force by which the people of God stand up for God’s Justice and Righteousness against the evil of this world.  Anger can easily become unholy!

            In our modern world, unholy anger is a dangerous reality. In fact, much the rage after Monday’s bombing in has proven to be dangerously demonic and completely contrary to Christianity—including some of what has come from Christians.

            In the face of such indescribable evil, the first thing Christians must do is pray! Prayer diffuses unholy anger. Pray our legitimate anger never spill over into demonic rage or fuel the sinful fires of fear, paranoia, and obsessive suspicion. Such demonic forces were, very likely, a major factor behind the diabolical motivations that drove someone to such violent evil. It is, as Ephesians cautions us, being very intentional that in our anger we never make room for the devil.

            As Christians, our call is to be God’s righteousness in this world. As James makes clear, uncontrolled anger such as many may feel these days, does not accomplish that vital ministry. Sadly, it only perpetuates the very evil it presumptively pretends to overcome.

            At its core, an attack such as the one we have felt this week is intended to unleash fear and terror. When we succumb to letting anger rule our response, rather than the grace and peace of God’s Holy Spirit, it becomes a victory for those who planted the bombs in the first place. Clearly, such fearfulness and rage is not the will of God!

            In spite of numerous speculations and fear-based theories, at the time of this writing there is still much unknown regarding the suspects who are believed to have committed this crime or why such violence was unleashed. Spreading fear, rumors, or speculations does not help. Therefore, rather than give into the demonic fears of suspicious speculation, succumb to the uncontrolled rage of unholy anger, or ascribe to the presumably prophetic prognostication of paranoia, God calls us to engage our anger with prayerful peace—the peace that passes all understanding and guards our hearts and minds in Jesus Christ.  

Our rage will not produce God’s righteousness. Such only comes through the prayerful pursuit of peace, compassion, understanding, and God’s love—the perfect love that casts out all fear. 

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