Righteous anger. That's a label we Christians often wrongly use to justify our selfish outbursts, emotional moodiness, or fleshly frustration.

Seldom is our anger really righteous. If you really look into your heart, and evaluate the times you get angry you will most likely find that the reason for  your anger, or the object of  your anger is actually quite selfish and indeed sinful. That's what I usually find anyway.

There are however some good examples for us  in scripture of  red hot, burning anger that was not started from the fires of self, but from the Spirit of God.

Moses- Exodus 32:19-20 ESV

19"And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain."
20"He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it."

Yeah, that's a pretty angry man. Why was he so upset? He was upset because the people that God chose, personally rescued and provided for, had turned from Him in a very short time after seeing all His love and holiness. What did they turn to?  It wasn't even something spectacular or supernatural! It was a thing made from gold they had on their ears, necks and arms just moments before melting it down into the object they started worshipping! I mean, c'mon guys, is that the best you can come up with? So, yeah Moses was angry-no, not just angry. He "burned" with anger. The man who saw the burning bush was now also set on fire by God. He was on fire with a determination to restore the proper holiness, respect, and obedience toward God that Israel so blatantly threw away. That's some righteous anger! When is the last time we showed such passion to destroy what is in front of God in our own life, and then in the lives of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ? Hmmm....

Well, stay tuned. (or don't...I can't really make you...)
More to come on this subject in a little bit!

-Chris