%PDF-1.7 1 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Outlines 2 0 R /Pages 3 0 R >> endobj 2 0 obj << /Type /Outlines /Count 0 >> endobj 3 0 obj << /Type /Pages /Kids [6 0 R 18 0 R ] /Count 2 /Resources << /ProcSet 4 0 R /Font << /F1 8 0 R /F2 9 0 R /F3 10 0 R /F4 11 0 R /F5 12 0 R >> /XObject << /I1 14 0 R >> /ExtGState << /GS1 15 0 R /GS2 16 0 R /GS3 20 0 R /GS4 21 0 R /GS5 26 0 R >> >> /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] >> endobj 4 0 obj [/PDF /Text /ImageC ] endobj 5 0 obj << /Producer (dompdf 3.1.0 + CPDF) /CreationDate (D:20250825064219+00'00') /ModDate (D:20250825064219+00'00') >> endobj 6 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 7 0 R >> endobj 7 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 1820 >> stream x}Xے}GJ./[k{LRIyyq~H9ӠmnI O]$(DZܿ([%=tCFq)"z<Ճ#i50v 8E]R$"wgsY,J!GE".ILqrEMrij8wոӕVnCNM&ej6W@]) Xop3j,Mu6;~n'~wT$.dLE-9lh=ZDNꔬAGո*d؉$֫O}Jqդt<.ȑm"qYN-Lf|]n$Ο6I{DkG&-͆{2")B VNcj4Ӑ8EʦS8ia9V- )`>bWҩ'l|5`< 5le!`|PϷgꌉ.DǬE򓜻 qGրkKNYmTqՇ}}-F$E!E!"DJת7^L|^C%"2R'O g5(DG'X;:GRGEGT0 ZPsL3=Y޳zUtZB-p9N,Ǝ y k-'Jv'5:#s$E꭭ ɪŘL:R88%[1nZ=Uw`Vrv@%_1r,C,u N34'jdl+=(gk%\*bJYnI3MK ̭ܠTՆ]R$t{t>s9Xf/F>zdm.kcr`!D|Iphnx XpW/\rB}Qx:1 4~6z:K1 ZӾCz=}Gڮ7 '{7Jm| O٥p,["S؅+Gpyx_pYeY:6-_#/ 6:‰ۛeD}s_y;ٌk`>'E"wtyoV$vT/w?S9经 bsz_)+S endstream endobj 8 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F1 /BaseFont /Helvetica /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 9 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F2 /BaseFont /Times-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 10 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F3 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 11 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F4 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 12 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F5 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Oblique /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 13 0 obj [6 0 R /Fit] endobj 14 0 obj << /Type /XObject /Subtype /Image /Width 125 /Height 125 /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB /Filter /DCTDecode /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 5491>> stream JFIF``C    !'"#%%%),($+!$%$C   $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$}}" kZtIMՖ)+ P~VY) G`-+B"e"."}v4P1Ytbf2i͟Z&[u`O򌕩?F&kd5мmSUyVPʵgfXt¢~.iW 2FQ[Cey[,k]]/3.L|)Fv+`uE\U{f ؁3}벪1/A^?x$Aq-w_L+$*y3s_I(!" 13#2AbM$[ %_iQu5ASf1-\pXc5ʆ1|gUs>C6bˌ}*SJ&)".T`H˖G;8躱>4GŶ`83\`[Ih:%\|jU%$u7[pklWh4m.x[a"c9eڊ9IV@t+5U%[܎S)YV "ЌXqbgXJ1ڭtiMcwa=:˃>Yi1^wkR+ Rkn%U l2ν;sc\\2i@ͻj[QBZ+vD gf]QKk(c*%:wA g,7FV+,eDT̥pA1׏O\׾ɲAO?X66le=F[JN'jFj9qj-aM2r&cvD#~YOg{f8S\9γǿs }FlnuXڎAq?ЩT +!c2ǰ .2Y3?Gb͑6c#!1"#3ABQ?Λ%}"ahY^Ήb p89z1!Z34jLN#uHlbdGxڡȡ6Ł~ǒLJ><+&{e%Eؕs"!"12ABQ?*FZe5+ikXS-{D2eEi'(D}Ƣ>g>vUrGbCV8Fb$2.͋/4!1A"Qa qB#23Rb0Sr?`PD^FޫW*j>e-/a ]A Mk. M^nIR2":)("A%.(W@HYH)1觪Y7T:pՉZx [ am pҜﺇ'L vD!'J2v21‚SꬡjT UoZ{(i1ip'1 :'Q$G6rb 9ʿ(gC+@T:^zŤL78YFCK"$Nk9CNW71eS+ʠv2V虾QQB j(ڤs;p.7ک6)?^p굍wDQʟttxAiUMF 9G:Nﳏ |G;G`QG@`ѨtZS%STiC%8!isZ+ܱ}(<茙.O\a=B5)˕; CE*60@͐ >T4c#Vݰ$UUKKKWZ]%ZH>K)?gȟRqQh κ>T*sS ͏<F- 6FVp<$p.\=!1SLPũ T8O '!1AQaq ?![Bz`ZS>ш _H~嶱1H:ZbSTإ[K畉BJ-ٔxckrȽgmcƸcϘ)¾a p[9NnzCٯV&H.y\*5D%``p`?<[IG5N~yaEzv0hzEFlnT׎qU?Uۻ,Të:r(]K[QiRNG H hU} nis!<JJ2_NA5g &wFѣf˸-%VUJr7*̻pq1 M1hf"WJ5P̳\y4+BF(uuܔҧMMgkܭaP[]Rh :%Msq>%G œZ WWU8=T0wX4DU/Gbp*hWXbumsu2%>%`i\3P&q o+-ag-Er%o~IA*88юE{G:GOqwB^U~-3Sj׭`*C%R=t|LK0s"ey%sW: C7ۣN AvKDf\sp+}'qM@2j$0 Q? ?>f$N$?\j/$='YDOH7lٷ+/pɻG}#!1AQaq?/ N?I :& =(eI4. -FhJ63xKuhsأ_7y1;!'`eOHsxNA6_dZߪ6 LHW'/y3!(>$!1AQaq? eR3l^Ja 2߃` ["aavL7:u=|,#Ge1߯+hVm ;Մ}Fs!̷Lel%=Q&!1AQaq?Dc]L+R'x КlNܝRO :1"ft/ d!c*B|$\fZeX$X}F Yv;/Pdy6li'&߬ZtD*bwМCrc -@`^f/P>&\`e>f-?8a"Ir@vKn"cې ib 0Hkϯ:!Q0Cfeiqw pþR]/XMU.0>Q6y'V蓮)ù'9vczwP\w̰zGx h1]Ù-xdJqfdv#Zz1i?n)ƚRePr(GBdbPHM'$Rp ǻtg4^ٿx!.2z5]j$ΧA 0UΩ)~|uN$Ca*JA;GgI}h6& "dž+E\z"H܊т$%c9ur{"ӥiM,x B*VK#4 'Lb]\B l\z 'Zp3Wq{N(^cT ~r0NI@JD &*p$"~^'V%*ZH&-DǮ0D%QR1AA`cq Hy@F>1Gq~꣡=K M`?> Sݒpq02֞n! dv.u^e"#n"Uo L$o,!</\r2rc%Iy#J5EJL$AԁY8H,* 蟌;]H_I{d!$.>4~^H/D0 ?5|G(.}]`уv:b&IbB逬/L{KshZ|,I25 !.DJü7Q&>Q-%0V dT&C~8AL |?8)Аz}1w휩['xr*yqrjiK&4f+CV- +f6EBYJ9ϑSHuBCZǴȆc}h=dR9c$2% (*'=hKM0T#&>\gENGZ&/Ϊ:n^^ uaBȔ㹭l$Ba#(1Y,1.,vE) aLR"iY?`̆fr=m>&DlEo!؜N82cG~Иa_-"&[jlu#ы endstream endobj 15 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 0.3 >> endobj 16 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 0.3 >> endobj 17 0 obj [6 0 R /Fit] endobj 18 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Annots [ 22 0 R 24 0 R 28 0 R 30 0 R 32 0 R ] /Contents 19 0 R >> endobj 19 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 2238 >> stream xXnF}Wԣ ̶yh81Āc k,Fqi&"ӕ5 a"C$ ݖSOyWw *p7 u8ASǑ S{(3{d1 k /kP;+ByBMmWDeC^Nz_ yj-S <# xH)4qE.+)9 .W20ktxt ~KGy{Z{Η?h{;Ñ~~=:fz;ȼqԞy79 2^Al1ts 8?z݀MARJFC,FbˀҧPZ~myAt'N[8:#\dspV^b-(óhGcj#S*ssΏ|[f ;1_~X oNkKE;r;>Zw(aw؍g1>#K'S,fd!ȑE0o|DCorCQprD? U/x}l3?#8$5}ӏ~1mJ"@-ԡG E<@_vˇdw͏#x|"CZvJ%Hk]Z׸]ugϧsds&s\'ltG5j(x`%ngfL |YkE|ϟS Ǽ}sC\'RhX=~s h:y¸y4ljQg/y~sf2{J^` gՋX"SE9%+/<"'B`E@Tҋc7Xvb}&,N}8"]Zv#J-0<"GM1-& qEiE 6{!/2~ ){CS>BG϶"kYt3}!= 0Βɜ,[)k㗂Tu+FSq"V6e9ۋ'rH;z*[o͉6'57*pߟ}vW/_ZO5/Z~ 17KWlXǍ)4xaތODDXKgAx;?v endstream endobj 20 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 1 >> endobj 21 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 1 >> endobj 22 0 obj << /Type /Annot /Subtype /Link /F 28 /A 23 0 R /Border [0 0 0] /H /I /Rect [ 103.0160 410.8634 435.1160 423.0734 ] >> endobj 23 0 obj << /Type /Action /S /URI /URI (https://bookshop.org/a/14989/9780830847990) >> endobj 24 0 obj << /Type /Annot /Subtype /Link /F 28 /A 25 0 R /Border [0 0 0] /H /I /Rect [ 179.0480 382.1810 272.3840 394.3910 ] >> endobj 25 0 obj << /Type /Action /S /URI /URI (https://www.ivpress.com/) >> endobj 26 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 0.67 >> endobj 27 0 obj [18 0 R /Fit] endobj 28 0 obj << /Type /Annot /Subtype /Link /F 28 /A 29 0 R /Border [0 0 0] /H /I /Rect [ 101.0120 307.4570 217.0400 319.6670 ] >> endobj 29 0 obj << /Type /Action /S /URI /URI (https://bookshop.org/a/14989/9780830847990) >> endobj 30 0 obj << /Type /Annot /Subtype /Link /F 28 /A 31 0 R /Border [0 0 0] /H /I /Rect [ 217.0400 307.4570 433.1120 319.6670 ] >> endobj 31 0 obj << /Type /Action /S /URI /URI (https://bookshop.org/a/14989/9780830847990) >> endobj 32 0 obj << /Type /Annot /Subtype /Link /F 28 /A 33 0 R /Border [0 0 0] /H /I /Rect [ 337.1480 277.5314 469.8560 289.7414 ] >> endobj 33 0 obj << /Type /Action /S /URI /URI (https://westernusa.salvationarmy.org/) >> endobj xref 0 34 0000000000 65535 f 0000000009 00000 n 0000000074 00000 n 0000000120 00000 n 0000000429 00000 n 0000000466 00000 n 0000000615 00000 n 0000000718 00000 n 0000002611 00000 n 0000002718 00000 n 0000002826 00000 n 0000002936 00000 n 0000003049 00000 n 0000003165 00000 n 0000003194 00000 n 0000008853 00000 n 0000008912 00000 n 0000008971 00000 n 0000009000 00000 n 0000009152 00000 n 0000011464 00000 n 0000011521 00000 n 0000011578 00000 n 0000011712 00000 n 0000011806 00000 n 0000011940 00000 n 0000012016 00000 n 0000012076 00000 n 0000012106 00000 n 0000012240 00000 n 0000012334 00000 n 0000012468 00000 n 0000012562 00000 n 0000012696 00000 n trailer << /Size 34 /Root 1 0 R /Info 5 0 R /ID[<1ef2043d8f05bff0daedb3dc02a271fd><1ef2043d8f05bff0daedb3dc02a271fd>] >> startxref 12785 %%EOF Is anger an appropriate response to power? | Caring Magazine
Read Caring Magazine Volume 29

Vol. #29

Hope in Action

Read Issue

Latest Impact StoriesView All

Popular Topics

PopularView All

Is anger an appropriate response to power?

byTim Muehlhoff and Richard Langer
November 14, 2020
3 minute read
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
Listen to this article

Establishing rules and policies, setting agendas, hearing grievances and settling disputes are all proper roles of those in leadership. However, the choices of those in power and their reaction to your concerns may have both disappointed you and made you angry. As a Christian, is anger ever an appropriate response? Perhaps. The Scriptures seem to suggest that anger can be appropriate, but it comes with risk. “In your anger,” states the apostle Paul, “do not sin” (Eph. 4:26). It seems that Paul is not condemning anger but rather laying out safeguards.

Christian thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas have long felt that anger is not inherently bad. In some situations, anger is an entirely appropriate and human response. Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung, an Aquinas scholar, suggests that we must be “careful to distinguish anger, the passion, a part of normal human emotional makeup, from wrath, the vice, which is anger in its sinful, excessive, misdirected form.”

Appropriate anger has as its goal the pursuit of justice, while wrath seeks to hurt others in an attempt to achieve a goal. Anger becomes warped when it “fights for its own selfish cause, not for justice, and when it fights dirty.” How can we advocate for justice while avoiding wrath and fighting dirty?

To the church at Ephesus, Paul gives a checklist of items that for him constitute dirty or destructive fighting and are to be abandoned at all costs. “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice” (Eph. 4:31). New Testament scholar Clint Arnold notes that in ancient literature bitterness, rage and anger often appear together. The thought being that bitterness was an inward feeling of hardheartedness that a person feels toward another, fueling a response filled with anger and rage. Paul adds malicious talk, which is denigrating or abusive speech meant to hurt another. Arnold concludes that believers “need to give focused attention to eliminating these ugly attitudes and behaviors from their lives. They are exceedingly destructive to community life.”

Is anger ever an appropriate response to those in power? Yes, if your anger is rooted in seeking justice and void of the negative characteristics listed by Paul. However, if your opposition to power consistently fuels rage resulting in your attempt to hurt those who have hurt you (malicious talk), then in pursuing your cause—however just—you have crossed a line. If malicious talk becomes the norm, then perhaps it’s time to refrain from activism or leave.

Conversely, you might be in a situation where leadership’s response to your concerns or objections could be characterized by resentment, rage and malicious talk. In that case, church leadership may need to be confronted—a possibility Paul himself acknowledges (1 Tim. 5:19‑20). In all cases, destructive anger must be carefully managed. DeYoung offers a nice summary of the role anger plays in addressing unjust power: “Motivated by good anger, we hunger and thirst for righteousness, an appetite that depends on justice for its object, but on love for its right expression. Anger in these cases adds energy and passion to the execution of justice. The love that underlies it, however, keeps it in check, for love does not seek to destroy the other, but to set things right.”

It may seem that those resisting power are hopelessly handcuffed by Paul’s scriptural prohibitions. The reality is that God cares about both the content level of our communication (our arguments and grievances) and the relational level, a concern consistently found in the admonitions of biblical writers. Paul commands us to speak the truth in love, while Peter instructs a church experiencing persecution to respond to an insult with a blessing (Eph. 4:15; 1 Pet. 3:9). In short, God cares not only that we resist injustice but how we do it. 

Taken from “Winsome Conviction: Disagreeing Without Dividing the Church” by Tim Muehlhoff and Richard Langer. Copyright (c) 2020 by Tim Muehlhoff and Richard Langer. Published by InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL. www.ivpress.com

Do Good:

Download this page as a PDF

You May Also Like