Righteous Anger

     Your stereotypical Christian is a level-headed one. He or she probably likely avoids heated arguments like the plague and speaks in politeness when rebuking another. Bottling up an inner rage, they find different outlets for their anger in healthy and unhealthy ways--but almost always in private. You see, to most Christians being angry is being sinful, but this is dissonant with the image of Jesus driving the money changers out of the temple courtyard.
     Nowhere in the Bible does it tell believers to not get angry, rather it tells us to not sin in our anger.  Anger in and of itself is not a bad thing; the Bible actually endorses what might be called "righteous anger."  This kind of anger, fueled by the pain of others rather than personal discomfort.  When Jesus saw the temple being misused, He stormed in and put and end to it.  There was no directly personal matter that was under attack in that situation; He was acting in the interest of the greater good. 

     I see many Christians today that claim righteous anger, but it seems more often that their anger is indignant and their actions motivated by pride.  Why do I say this?  Because the crimes of the recipients are unworthy of the punishment they receive.  I saw one conversation between two people in which the Christian threw a bunch of questionable "knowledge" at a non-believer who made the mistake of attempting an intelligent and critically-thinking conversation.  In a situation where one should have responded in love and understanding, she chose to grow prideful and insulted personally.  

     Righteous anger is done lovingly, even though the love is tough love.  The guilty are not left unsure of their crimes, nor can they honestly feel they were treated unfairly (though they likely will until they learn their lesson).  The anger is ultimately for the benefit for many, including the guilty.  This is of utmost importance to remember.

     What I want to boil this down to is this: anger is not always a bad thing.  In fact, it often can be a good thing.  However, the difference between good and bad anger lies in who is the victim: your ego or something outside yourself.