On the Politics of Anger and the Test of Love

Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. - James 1:20, NLT.

Several people have shared that God put James 1:20 on their hearts related to the current "angry American" political scene. We will never end up in a good place when our motivation is human anger. I was reflecting on this when I came across these words from Henry Drummond in The Greatest Thing in the World, an exposition of 1 Corinthians 13:

"Is life not full of opportunities for learning love? Every man and woman every day has a thousand of them. The world is not a playground, it is a schoolroom. Life is not a holiday, but an education. The one eternal lesson for us all is how better we can love." 

For years now one of my daily prayers has been that I will love well - God first and then others. The greatest and second commandments. Loving well doesn't have to do with feelings, it has to do with actions. It means being patient and kind, not irritable or resentful. It means rejecting envying, boasting, and pride. It means not being self-centered but thinking of others as more important than myself. It means not keeping a record of wrongs but walking in forgiveness. It doesn't mean rejoicing in evil but instead rejoicing in the truth, speaking the truth in love. Love is full of hope and perseverance. It trusts and it protects.

Anger isn't always wrong - there is a place for the righteous anger that we see in Jesus. But the path to righteousness isn't paved by anger, it's paved by love. We will know our anger is truly righteous if we are filled with love and driven by love, even while being angry. Any parent who has ever had a kid stay out too late and not call knows what this is like. Are you angry with the kid? Yes. But it's an anger borne out of love, and your first priority is making sure of the child's safety.

So much of the anger that is driving American politics today has nothing to do with love. It's about divisiveness. Some of it is class warfare - us vs them based on income. Some of it is prejudice - us vs. them because they look different or worship different. As Christians, we are called to a higher standard. We don't get to have knee-jerk reactions. We are called to pray and to live out our faith in practical ways. We are called to be counter-cultural. Sure, that means standing up for truth. But to be counter-cultural we have to see where our culture isn't lining up with truth. It's not just about the "social conservative" issues, as important as they are. Today it's counter-cultural to refuse to sue someone who wronged you. It's counter-cultural to be kind to the waiter who spills your drink. It's counter-cultural to take care of the elderly. It's counter-cultural to reject upward mobility in favor of deeper relationships. And yes, it's counter-cultural to resist the politics of anger.

So tonight, I'm joining with the voices of those reminding us of James 1:20. And I'm calling for us to test our assumption that our anger is "righteous" against the test Paul gave us: The test of love. For truly, if I am angry about all the right things, but have not love, I. Am. Nothing.

1 Corinthians 13New International Version (NIV)

13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Worse than persecution #2: Lovelessness

And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And He said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 22:35-40 ESV)

It's hard to overstate the importance God puts on love - loving Him, and loving others. The Apostle John, that "Son of Thunder" turned "Apostle of Love", hits the point over and over in 1 John, unfolding the inseparability of loving God and loving others. And with good reason -- Jesus Himself laid out love of God and others as the top commandments. Loving God passionately and others selflessly should permeate every aspect of our lives. It's simply not optional.

That's why two of the most sobering passages in Scripture jump out to remind me again and again that lovelessness is to be avoided, period. Without a doubt, it's on the shelf labeled "Dangerous Things for Christians." Lovelessness is worse than persecution.

Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. (Matthew 24:12-13, NIV)

(Revelation 2:1-5 ESV) - (1) "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: 'The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. (2) "'I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. (3) I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. (4) But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. (5) Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

Taken together, these passages should motivate us to not harbor any vestige of lovelessness. Jesus warns that the love of "most" will grow cold. Not just a few - most. The word literally means "a multitude." It's sobering to see what motivates this lovelessness: An increase of sin. Oh, can I ever identify. My grandparents reached out to show love in ways I would never dream of today because of an increase of wickedness -- picking up hitchhikers, serving food to strangers walking through their property, leaving church doors unlocked day and night. I'm not saying we shouldn't be wise - absolutely we need to discern the times and act accordingly. But we must be very, very cautious not to let wisdom toward our fallen world turn into lovelessness. The challenge I give myself is to always look for ways to love, with wisdom, rather than excuses not to love. This keeps my heart soft and tender to God's very creative Spirit.

Ephesus bears another warning against lovelessness. Don't miss verse 3 - this church had successfully endured a level of persecution! Yet Jesus held against them their abandonment of love. Wow. We never, ever have an excuse not to love. Paul even tells us that martyrdom is no substitute for love:

(1 Corinthians 13:1-7 ESV) - (1) If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. (2) And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. (3) If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. (4) Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant (5) or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; (6) it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. (7) Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Scripture has so much to say on the subject of love that there is no way we can exhaust the subject. One very clear principle, though, is that love is not passive, theoretical, or distant. Look again at Paul's definitions. Love is active. Love is tangible, practical. (1 John 3:18 ESV) Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. And love reaches out, just as God reached out to us in Christ. (Romans 5:8 ESV) but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

May we never settle for lovelessness. May we pray constantly to know His love more, to love Him more in response, and to manifest His love to others better every day.