A simple answer is that righteous anger is being angry about the things that God is angry about. That raises the question, what is God angry about? In the Old Testament, God is mostly angry (he punishes the people) about worshiping idols. The idols can be literal idols, or it can be the people’s obsessions with being in control, with gaining power. But it’s not just the idol worship itself… it is the effects of the idol worship on community. When the people turn from God, they often also turn away from the needs of the least in their community. This is what God seeks to remedy with a succession of exiles, that the people will center God and not themselves. Jesus’ disruption in the temple is all about centering God. A word of caution; before we define our anger as righteous and others as not righteous, we need to invite God in. Spend some time reading Scripture and praying. We may be surprised by what is revealed in our own hearts. – Pastor Trudy Stoffel
