Should Christians become angry?
So we all know that Twitter is something of a hell hole. It is geared for short, sharp takes and responses, which don’t allow a great deal of nuance or understanding. There is also the phenomenon, not just on Twitter, of social media abstracting away many of the lovely things about our fellow human beings.
The person we are interacting with on social media is then perceived as simply some words on a screen, an opinion or take we may not like, and we don’t see the soul behind the screen. We all know, by now, I think, that social media is not a conducive environment for peaceful and loving human interaction.
Yet it still disturbs me when I see Christians behaving badly on social media (including myself!). It is the Christian vocation to sanctify the public space, perhaps even eventually the cosmos, yet we bicker as much as any other group on social media. There is so much anger and seething, not by everyone of course, but by a significant number of self-professed Christians.
So, this got me thinking, should Christians ever be angry?
I like to refer to the Church Fathers and Mothers in these topics, for they were the pioneers of the Christian interior life. So, with that in mind, let’s see what St John Cassian has to say about anger in his work entitled “On the Eight Vices”:
“Our fourth struggle is against the demon of anger. We must, with God’s help, eradicate his deadly poison from the depths of our souls. So long as he dwells in our hearts and blinds the eyes of the heart with his somber disorders, we can neither discriminate what is for our good, nor achieve spiritual knowledge, nor fulfil our good intentions, nor participate in true life; and our intellect will remain impervious to the contemplation of the true, divine light; for it is written, ‘For my eye is troubled because of anger’ (Ps 6:7, LXX)”
So St Cassian, who is a very influential early figure in both the Western and Eastern Churches, in the passage just mentioned says that anger is a kind of demonic force, which is a deadly poison if it takes up a home in our souls.
Notice the emphasis on anger causing us to fail in discrimination. This is because it is a destructive passion which can rise up and causes blindness - “my eye is troubled because of anger”. The Church Fathers spoke frequently about the discerning of spirits - that is, identifying which thoughts are from the good spirits and which from the evil. But anger, according to St Cassian, blinds our power of discrimination, as we are caught up in the passion.
When anger takes over, we lose our freedom. Then we, in a sense, embody the demon of anger, and lash out at those around us - those for whom Christ died and whom we should love. We no longer rest in the nature that God originally gave us, which is free and good, but instead we become enslaved to another principality or power. Remember that demonic powers, being intellectual or spiritual beings, are not embodied in our world (perhaps they may show up as apparitions, but they are not embodied in the fullest sense)- so in order to act effectively in the world they must act through us and via our consent.
It is the same with all unruly passions or vices - they cause us to lose our peace, freedom and joy - which are Christ’s gifts to us. Christ has defeated all principalities and powers, and broken the bonds of slavery, so He will give us the power to be freed from unruly passions such as anger.
But hang on - is any anger ok? Doesn’t St Paul say, quoting Psalm 4:
“Be angry, but do not sin” (Ephesians 4:26).
Indeed, St Paul is a little confusing in Ephesians 4, as a little later in verse 31, he also says:
“Rid yourselves of all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, evil speaking and all malice” (Eph 4:31)
So on the one hand, St Paul says we should be angry, but not sin, yet on the other we should rid ourselves of all wrath and anger. What are we to make of this?
St Cassian makes the distinction between anger directed towards others, and anger directed towards our own “impassioned or self-indulgent thoughts”. He strictly condemns anger towards others:
“If you want to correct your brother when he is doing wrong or to punish him, you must try to keep yourself calm; otherwise you may catch the sickness you are seeking to cure and you may find the words of the Gospel now apply to you: ‘Physician, heal yourself (Luke 4:23)’ or ‘Why do you look at the speck of dust in your brother’s eye, and do not notice the rafter in your own?’ (Matt 7:3)”
How much trouble and division is generated due to our inability to stay calm, especially when we come across actions or opinions we disagree with? Mostly we surrender to anger and wrath, lose control of what we wish to say and achieve, and encourage an impassioned response in turn.
By doing so we give reign to evil spiritual forces and allow them to enter into the world and cause the havoc they desire.
So what is the solution?
It is not to flee our sisters and brothers in the hope of avoiding occasions of anger. We should not withdraw from the world to maintain some sense of “purity”.
No, the solution is prayer and watchfulness. It is my view that watchfulness and recollection is almost completely absent amongst the faithful today (and yes, I include myself in this accounting). Therefore, because we don’t guard our thought-life sufficiently, because we are too distracted, we naturally behave a lot like non-Christians on platforms like Twitter or Facebook, or real life, for that matter. Yet St Paul says we are to take captive each thought for Christ.
To grow in watchfulness, recollection or mindfulness, we need to develop a habit of prayer through-out the day. By remaining grounded in the quietude of God, in his restfulness, we can more easily notice when angry thoughts or passions arise, and we can then plead for His help to keep us in His peace. Let’s not fall for the temptation that some anger towards our fellow people is ok, as St Cassian says:
“The final cure for this sickness is to realise that we must not become angry for any reason whatsoever, whether just or unjust. When the demon of anger has darkened our mind, we are left with neither the light of discrimination, nor the assurance of true judgement, nor the guidance of righteousness, and our soul cannot become the temple of the Holy Spirit.”
Growing in virtue takes time and patience, and lots of examination of conscience and the work of our merciful God. But if we are careful and watchful, we will begin to notice the stirrings of anger and the attendant thoughts that arise, nipping them in the bud before they grow into a raging monster. This may require fasting from some distractions from time to time, to develop the “muscles” of watchfulness - and yes, this is as much a note to myself as anybody else.
But watchfulness is a deep topic, which I will leave for later. In the meantime, let’s try our best to remain always in the blessed peace of Christ. St John Cassian, pray for us.