As a leader, you will get angry at times. In fact, you should get angry. I don’t mean when your team makes mistakes. After all, mistakes help people learn and grow. I mean you should get angry when you see people take advantage of the vulnerable.
Because of this, the question is not whether a leader should get angry. Rather, how a leader should respond when they are angry. Psalm 4:4 reads, “Don’t sin by letting anger control you” (NLT). Meaning, it is your responsibility to control your anger, not let your anger control you.
When we look at the leadership of Jesus, we see He got angry. An example of this is when He cleared the temple (Matthew 21:12-17; Mark 11:15-19; Luke 19:45-48; John 2:13-16).
In this story, Jesus saw people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He responded by flipping over the tables and kicking out the merchants (Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-16; Luke 19:45; John 2:14-15). 1 Peter 2:22 states that Jesus never sinned. Therefore, we can conclude what He did was right.
If you have ever led in a church setting, you have likely seen coffee, books, or other items being sold in the lobby. It is important to note that this is not the same buying and selling that angered Jesus.
As I previously mentioned, the merchants were selling animals for sacrifices. The book of Leviticus details several reasons for needing a sacrifice. Usually, these sacrifices required lambs.
In Matthew’s account of this story, he specified Jesus flipped tables that were selling doves (v. 12). This is an important detail. According to Jewish law, if someone could not afford a lamb to sacrifice, doves were an acceptable substitute (Leviticus 12:8). Because of this, the merchants were likely taking advantage of the poor.
In Matthew 21:13, Jesus said, “My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!” (NIV). Essentially, they were stealing from the vulnerable.
While Jesus’ anger led Him to flip tables and kick people out, He didn’t stop there. Matthew’s account of this story reads, “The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them” (v. 14, NIV). Luke’s account adds, “Every day he was teaching at the temple” (v. 47, NIV). By doing this, Jesus restored the temple to a house of prayer, as it was meant to be.
By clearing the temple, we see Jesus used His anger to restore the temple to a house of prayer. As a Christian leader, there are likely people in your circle of influence who are vulnerable. It should anger you when they are taken advantage of. Like Jesus, you too can control your anger and use it for good.
Think about it: When was last time you got angry. Did you control your anger or let your anger control you?
A Leader Worth Imitating, Principle 27: Anger
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Nick Chellsen 