Righteous Indignation?

Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord. (Romans 12:19)

Righteous indignation. Have you ever heard of that? Have you ever indulged in it? Do you use it as an excuse to vent your feelings in the name of “standing up for the right”? It is something that often emerges whenever we hear news reports of violence or injustice, especially when done in the name of religion.

I am too familiar with this term from my own experience and the effects it can have on people. But at the same time, while I may avoid using the term myself, I know that the internal reasoning used for this phrase is something I engage in far too often, though many times at a much reduced level. In fact, I believe that most of the “edge” that I am becoming a little more aware of in my communications about various topics is the poison effecting my spirit from roots of bitterness masquerading as righteous indignation of some form or another.

Most people do not realize that righteous indignation is not a Biblical concept or even a legitimate spiritual exercise. I am aware that many religious people use stories from the life of Jesus to justify this exercise, but at the same time they fail to perceive the real spirit which motivated Jesus during those events. Our misperceptions of God's heart and the intense passionate love which shapes all His activities preclude us from understanding the true spirit needed before engaging in any kind of activity that purports to defend God's reputation. Like Moses angrily striking the rock and yelling with passion and frustration at a crowd of very stubborn and selfish rebels, we often indulge in expressions of intense emotion that are contaminated with our flesh's desire to condemn others and self-justify.

Revenge is a word so infected in our minds with the virus of sin that it is almost hopeless to recover, at least in our lives. I believe that God is telling us here that unless we are 100% submitted to and motivated by His Holy Spirit and filled with the pure, undiluted love that flows from God's heart, we are incapable of engaging in any kind of proper “revenge”. In fact, our perception of revenge is so hopelessly tainted that we are better off just leaving it in God's hands because He is the only one who can get it right. And when He does do it most of us will be shocked and maybe even feel scandalized because God's vengeance is so radically different than what we crave for from our perspective.

Vengeance or revenge is really an activity that belongs to the Holy Spirit alone. It is exclusively the Spirit's role to bring conviction to the heart and draw it toward the beauty and holiness of God. Only the Holy Spirit knows the heart condition of each person and that cannot be perceived from a human standpoint. Only the Holy Spirit is qualified to flash the right truth at the right moment onto the mind of a person being drawn toward repentance. Romans 2:4 reminds us that it is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance. The Holy Spirit is full of that kindness, even when it brings agonizing conviction to a heart in rebellion against everything good. The Spirit does not employ force or intimidation or condemnation to draw people to Christ. That would be a betrayal of the integrity of God.

On the other hand, when Christians indulge in what they term “righteous indignation” (the term is never used in Scripture) they mingle in a counterfeit spirit in an attempt to maybe bring conviction to the hearts of others. Righteous indignation invariably involves some degree of condemnation woven into it in an attempt to intimidate others into repentance. It also often involves a subtle desire for some level of control over other people's lives. The term is usually used as a means of justification for indulging in anger that appears to be very noble because it is in reaction to circumstances that appear clearly unjust and evil. We may see children being mistreated and abused or the vulnerable being taken advantage of and we become very angry and incensed.

It is right at this point that our emotions become so intense that we often lose our capacity to think clearly. Because we become so focused on what appears to be a clear injustice we lose sight of the real condition of our own spirit and the flesh injects our hearts with a cocktail of hatred, bitterness and pride to infect what might otherwise be legitimate, godly passion. The flesh keeps the doses at such a low level that we easily ignore their presence in the moment and so we become self-deceived and believe that we are reflecting the passion and anger of God. But the Bible tells us, For the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. (James 1:20)

I am not claiming here at all that there is no place for strong emotion in reaction to injustice and abuse against those around us. The more we become filled with God's Spirit and come into alignment with the pure principles of God's character, the more painful it will become for us to see injustice, violence and selfishness. And the closer we come to the heart of God the more we will be filled with the intensity of His passion against sin. But at the same time, we will also become more aware that the roots that cause others to commit atrocities also have infected our own hearts and every one of us is actually capable of doing the very same things and even worse. We have not one whit more righteousness within our own hearts than the worst and vilest criminal that this world has ever witnessed, and were it not for the grace of God constantly restraining and retraining us, we would be unable to refrain from indulging our own lusts for control and power and abuse in unspeakable ways.

I know this is a very volatile subject that can quickly generate a lot of intense debate and even suspicion. But it is a fact of sin that we are all hopelessly caught from the inside in the slavery of selfishness which will always end up in revealing the character of Satan embedded our flesh. That may be largely hidden from us right now, but that is only because we do not take seriously the nature of our deadly infection and its potential for wickedness that dwells deep inside all of our hearts. Righteous indignation and our desire for revenge is one of the weakest areas of our lives where we too often allow this potential of wickedness to leak out while cloaked in the deceptive garments of “righteousness”.

Why does this text say that we should leave room for the wrath of God? Is this verse telling us that we may be potentially crowding out God's work of wrath? Here's an interesting verse that seems to parallel this text.

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; or the LORD will see it and be displeased, and turn His anger away from him. (Proverbs 24:17-18)

That likely raises more questions than I have time to ponder right now, but I find it rather puzzling in some respects. However, it is very clear that the nature of God's wrath is so foreign to us that we really need to stay away from indulging in it ourselves, for when we indulge in revenge, bitterness or condemnation we are actually trying to displace the Holy Spirit, and that is not something that is ever safe to do. There really is no vacancy to be filled in the God-head.

The biggest problem we have with exercising God's version of wrath is made more clear in the following verse which describes the very atmosphere of His wrath. For God's wrath is largely a perception on the part of those who insist on resisting His love and His compassionate ways. The next verse makes explicitly clear that the unselfishness of God toward those considered His enemies is the very element that produces the most problem for them. It is like heaping coals of fire upon their heads.

This is a very interesting twist of an analogy that most people are unaware of today in our culture. When the other side of this is understood it can be seen that this verse may have a double meaning. I have heard it explained that this metaphor comes from the days when there was no easy way to start a fire in the home for cooking, heating and other uses. Therefore it was very important that a fire be kept burning 24/7 so that these activities could be continued for the day to day needs of the family.

But if one did happen to let their fire die out completely, one of the ways of restarting it was to take a container (hopefully insulated sufficiently) that one could carry on your head and go to a neighbor and ask for a few embers from their fire so you could start a fire in your own house again. What Paul is saying here is that a generous neighbor would not just put one or two embers into the container but from a heart full of kindness and love could heap the container high with coals of fire. Notice also that this is done for an enemy, not just for a good neighbor or friend. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

So how does God plan to repay when He says that vengeance is mine? If we remain true to the passage we will begin to see that the very same kindness that draws us to repentance is the same kindness that will cause supreme torture to those who refuse to be saved by it. This is how good will triumph over evil – not by engaging in evil temporarily to angrily torture enemies in flames of fire until wrath is satisfied, but by revealing so much righteousness, love, kindness and purity of heart that the atmosphere becomes suffocating to evil and all those clinging to it in their hearts.

Overcoming is never accomplished through the use of any degree of evil, contrary to the way we have been wired to believe. Evil can only be overcome with good and good alone, undiluted with any tinge of hatred, selfishness, pride or any other characteristic developed by Satan. (see Revelation 14:10) The great battle between Christ and Satan, between good and evil, between righteousness and wickedness, will at last be resolved when, in perfect freedom and without any coercion, every intelligent being in all the universe on all sides of the issue acknowledge openly and willingly that God is not at fault in any way for all of the tragic effects of sin. God's reputation will be cleared in a fair hearing where all the motives and attitudes and lies and every secret thing will be brought into the blazing light of reality. Evil will not overcome, in spite of all its deceptions, illusions and promises. Good will overcome evil by simply revealing itself as the only workable way to live and thrive and harmonize for all of eternity.

And that is how we are to live right now – today. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21)

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