Are you angry? (Matthew 21:12-16) 290107
Recently I was chatting with a friend in Singapore Bible College, we were talking about how some of our students did not bother to keep the newspapers after reading them and wash the cups they brought out from the student’s lounge. We were very upset and disappointed by these irresponsible and inconsiderate behaviors. These students were called by God to be His servants! Can’t they even be kind enough or humble enough to clear up the palace after they used it? I can’t believe it! People always say that the church is full of sinners and the pastors are the chief of these sinners, then seminaries are the place which train these chief sinners. No wonder there are so much issues and problems in SBC.
As the student council chairman, I felt angry and wanted to catch those irresponsible people and give them a good lecture and humiliate them. They are stumbling others. Singapore Bible College is a place to train the servants of God. I entered this institute with dreams and hopes to learn and be encouraged by fellow students. I stepped out to serve as the student council chairman was a hope to serve our student body to create a better learning environment. But this is what I get: messy reading lounge, used cups not washed, monopolized the TV channel, discussing loudly in the oasis while others were trying to rest there, talking loudly on handphone in the library while others were reading quietly, and some good books were even hiden during the critical period, but will automaticaly reappeared afterward.
I guess I can at a very small degree understand how Jesus felt when He entered the temple, and saw money changers and doves sellers there (v12). It was because Jesus knew that these activities were preventing others (especially God-fearing Gentiles) to worship God. When Jesus healed the blind and the lame, the chief priests were also indignant (I think is another word for feeling angry) because they were jealous of Jesus getting praise (v14,15).
Both Jesus and the chief priests had the same emotion of anger, but the former was because of unjustice did to the temple and the later were out of jealousy. I reflected on this, whenever I was feeling angry, what was the root of it? When you were feeling angry or upset or disappointed, what was the root of it? Was it because of some unjustice done to the kingdom of God or His people? Or was it purely out of personal pride, jealous or ego?
I must confess that when people were late or didn’t turn up for CG, I get angry and disappointed. But am I angry because I was worried for their spiritual growth and commitment or am I feeling that I was being belittled or taken for granted therefore I was angry? I guess its the same for many of us when our friends mistreated us, failed us or taken us for granted, we will feel angry or disappointed, but we have to check the root of our emotions. If it is not right, confess to God, which I have been doing too. If it is for a just cause, pray for wisdom to handle it and ask God to help to intervene. Are you angry?
