Anger is a whistle-blower emotion.

Whistle-blowers spill the beans on what’s really going on in the company or organization.

In South Africa, former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi, dropped bombshells at the State Capture Commission of how our ex-President allegedly accepted bribes – although still unproven in a court of law.  Apparently, Bosasa also supplied friends of Jacob Zuma with frozen chickens, braai packs, expensive whisky and Louis Vuitton handbags!

Angelo Agrizzi was a whistle-blower.

Anger is a whistle-blower: it shows us and others what’s really going on in our heart.

The thing that makes you angry tells what defines your reality, what you treasure and what you consider important.

More often than not we treasure and value the wrong things.  When our access to or enjoyment of these things is impeded or hindered in some way, we get angry.

We get angry at the motorist who cuts in front of us because we treasure our right to be first.

We get angry at our baby waking up at night because we treasure a good night’s sleep.

We get angry at our spouse because we treasure our opinion and hate being wrong.

We get angry at our internet going down because we treasure social media or Netflix. 

Most of our anger is sinful. Note Jesus’ profound words in Matthew 5:21-22. Murder and the motive for murder brings us under God’s judgement. 

However, some anger is good.  

The Bible tells us that God gets angry.  He is slow to anger, but he still gets angry.

It’s good to get angry about the things God gets angry about. In other words, it’s good to treasure the things God treasures and define reality as God defines reality. 

It’s good to get angry, like God, at sin and injustice. 

We should get angry about abortion, racism, corruption, the exploitation of the poor and our own sin. And more.

However, this anger should not cause us to sin, but rather to use our anger for good.

In about 450 BC, Nehemiah 5:6 tells us that Nehemiah was angry at the rich people in Jerusalem for exploiting the poor – and he implemented a plan to fix it.

In the 1500’s, Martin Luther’s anger at the Roman Catholic Church’s abuses, led to the church’s rediscovery of the gospel in the Protestant Reformation.  

In the 1800’s, George Muller’s anger at the way orphaned children were mistreated in England, lead to the establishment of orphanages and schools.

A few years ago, Brendan Botha’s anger at pornography caused him to start the organization www.break-free.co.za.

What good anger do you have? What will you do about it? 

Are you angry at abortion? How about adopting or fostering a child?

Are you angry at child neglect? How about volunteering at a homework centre? Or sign up to be a temporary safe-house?

Are you angry at crime? If you are young enough, why not study law and instead of working in a private law firm work as a State Prosecutor?

What good anger do you have?

Don’t let it cause you to sin; but let it drive and compel you to do something really good for Christ and his world. 

“Be angry and do not sin.” (Ephesians 4:26)