Wednesday, June 14
Furiously enraged
Scripture: Acts 26
Acts 26:11 I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to force them to blaspheme. Because I was so furiously enraged at them, I went to persecute them even in foreign cities.
Observation
In his defense before King Agrippa, Paul begins with his extraordinary life as a Pharisee, a religious zealot who became a religious terrorist. He arrested Christians, had them imprisoned, beaten and killed, and tried to force them to blaspheme. He was so “furiously enraged” at them that he even traveled to foreign cities to pursue and persecute them.
The words “furiously enraged” mean “to be so angry as to be out of one’s mind; to be insanely angry.” And for good measure, Paul adds the word “exceedingly”! Exceedingly crazy!
Here is a description of religious zeal run amuck. Of all forms of insane anger, perhaps none is worse than religious or self-righteous anger. This is where Paul was when Jesus intercepted him—and why he may have been the most unlikely candidate to become a Christian…ever!
Application
Two thoughts:
First personal: I want to be suspicious of my own self-righteous anger. When I see people (particularly Christians) doing what they know is wrong, I can get self-righteously angry. It doesn’t serve me or them well; it is dangerous. And Paul is a reminder of that. Don’t trust your self-righteous anger—question it and put it in God’s hands and let Him sift it.
Second communal: there seems to be lots of self-righteous or religious anger in the American church. Some of it is directed toward our culture and “the culture wars.” Some of it is directed towards each other inside the church—civil war. And all of it is dangerous.
I don’t want us to repeat Paul’s mistake—his story is a warning. You might think you are fighting God’s battles and actually be fighting God.
Prayer: Lord, I love You, and I recognize some of unconverted-Paul in me. I can be self-righteous and judgmental, too sure of myself, and hard on others. Forgive me Lord, and help me to be more curious than judgmental. And even when I’m right, help me to offer grace over judgment, love over punishment.
More: 2 Kings 13-14, Psalm 70, 1 Thessalonians 2
1 Thessalonians 2:7–8 Like a nursing mother caring for her own children, 8 with such affection for you we were happy to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.
1 Thessalonians 2:11–12 As you know, we treated each one of you as a father treats his own children, 12 exhorting and encouraging you and insisting that you live in a way worthy of God who calls you to his own kingdom and his glory.