The Jonah Anger Test (Updated April 5, 2012)
Do you have an anger problem? Or is the anger you feel justified and your expression of it appropriate?
This test can help you answer that question.
Read the Jonah case study below. Then, in the "message" section at the bottom of this page, list which of the five action steps (shown in red) you are taking. Please also view the subpage "Choice Quotes on Anger," which shows as an extension when you click The Jonah Anger Test page (left margin of this page). Dealing constructively with anger is one of the most important things we can do to keep ourselves from behaving in ways that are are cruel and destructive to others. And to ourselves.
Here is the story:
Best known for his sea journey in the belly of a whale, Jonah also had a run-in with a fast-growing plant. Chapter 4 of Jonah, which here follows, is immensely revealing about human anger. (Dialog from New American Standard Bible. Cartooning by Philip Williams. Used by permission (www.staircasestudio.com.) This chapter begins with Jonah miffed because he has learned that God intends to spare Nineveh from destruction because the people have repented.
Do you have an anger problem? Or is the anger you feel justified and your expression of it appropriate?
This test can help you answer that question.
Read the Jonah case study below. Then, in the "message" section at the bottom of this page, list which of the five action steps (shown in red) you are taking. Please also view the subpage "Choice Quotes on Anger," which shows as an extension when you click The Jonah Anger Test page (left margin of this page). Dealing constructively with anger is one of the most important things we can do to keep ourselves from behaving in ways that are are cruel and destructive to others. And to ourselves.
Here is the story:
Best known for his sea journey in the belly of a whale, Jonah also had a run-in with a fast-growing plant. Chapter 4 of Jonah, which here follows, is immensely revealing about human anger. (Dialog from New American Standard Bible. Cartooning by Philip Williams. Used by permission (www.staircasestudio.com.) This chapter begins with Jonah miffed because he has learned that God intends to spare Nineveh from destruction because the people have repented.
Here is the account as rendered in The New International Version:
1 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. 2 He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live." 4 But the LORD replied, "Have you any right to be angry?"
5 Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the LORD God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, "It would be better for me to die than to live."
9 But God said to Jonah, "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?" "I do," he said. "I am angry enough to die." 10 But the LORD said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?"
Characteristics of Jonah’s anger:
1. Self-righteous. Twice God asked Jonah if he had a right to be angry. Jonah insisted that he did (vv. 4, 9). Our anger may feel completely justified but that does not mean it is.
Action: Question your assumptions. Human anger is usually misguided according to the Bible. (Please read Bible quotations section on Anger subpage, left margin.)
2. Hypocritical. Nineveh was a wicked pagan city that offended Almighty God (Jonah 1:1). Nineveh richly deserved God’s judgment, and it angered Jonah that the city might get off unscathed. However, Jonah was guilty of the same basic sin: disobedience to Almighty God. When God told him to go to Nineveh, Jonah headed in exactly the opposite direction and grabbed a boat to Tarshish (v. 2).
Action: Cleanse your own heart. Jesus said we are to love our neighbors and even our enemies. If we don’t, and won’t, we are in that regard just like the the disobedient sinners we are judging.
3. Self-Centered. Nineveh represented a serious military threat to the nation of Israel. As a patriot, Jonah's attitude was: We are God's people; Nineveh is God's enemy. Let them be destroyed. God went to great lengths to show Jonah that he viewed things differently, but Jonah saw only his own desires (vv.5-10).
Action: Recognize and admit you are self-centered. Deliberately choose to replace: "What do I want?" with, "What does God want." God has commanded me to love.
4. Cruel. Jonah may have considered himself a good and kind human being, and maybe he was, as a rule. But anger makes people do cruel things. God pointed out to Jonah that the inhabitants of Nineveh included 120,000 innocent children (v.10, described as unable to tell their right hand from their left).
Action: Commit to kindness. Decide what kind of person you want to be, one whose anger damages innocents who cross your path or one who lightens loads and blesses hearts wherever you go.
5. Stubborn. The Book of Jonah is open ended. We have no indication that Jonah learned anything at all from God’s remarkable efforts to instruct him. After all that Jonah went through in the storm at sea and in the belly of the whale, he was still in anger mode in chapter 4. Two things can happen next if Jonah remains unrepentant. One, he can continue to get unpleasant lessons from God until he learns what a destructive influence and a bitter person his anger makes him. Or, two, God can accept Jonah’s choice to remain self-righteous, hypocritical, self-centered, cruel, and stubborn. What awful alternatives!
Action: Ask God's forgiveness and his help in dealing with your anger constructively. Read anger management books or take courses, looking for insights you can apply personally. Pray for grace.
In the "Message" section at bottom of this page, copy each of the 5 "Action" steps above that you will sincerely take in your own life. Add any comments you care to make.
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1 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. 2 He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live." 4 But the LORD replied, "Have you any right to be angry?"
5 Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the LORD God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, "It would be better for me to die than to live."
9 But God said to Jonah, "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?" "I do," he said. "I am angry enough to die." 10 But the LORD said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?"
Characteristics of Jonah’s anger:
1. Self-righteous. Twice God asked Jonah if he had a right to be angry. Jonah insisted that he did (vv. 4, 9). Our anger may feel completely justified but that does not mean it is.
Action: Question your assumptions. Human anger is usually misguided according to the Bible. (Please read Bible quotations section on Anger subpage, left margin.)
2. Hypocritical. Nineveh was a wicked pagan city that offended Almighty God (Jonah 1:1). Nineveh richly deserved God’s judgment, and it angered Jonah that the city might get off unscathed. However, Jonah was guilty of the same basic sin: disobedience to Almighty God. When God told him to go to Nineveh, Jonah headed in exactly the opposite direction and grabbed a boat to Tarshish (v. 2).
Action: Cleanse your own heart. Jesus said we are to love our neighbors and even our enemies. If we don’t, and won’t, we are in that regard just like the the disobedient sinners we are judging.
3. Self-Centered. Nineveh represented a serious military threat to the nation of Israel. As a patriot, Jonah's attitude was: We are God's people; Nineveh is God's enemy. Let them be destroyed. God went to great lengths to show Jonah that he viewed things differently, but Jonah saw only his own desires (vv.5-10).
Action: Recognize and admit you are self-centered. Deliberately choose to replace: "What do I want?" with, "What does God want." God has commanded me to love.
4. Cruel. Jonah may have considered himself a good and kind human being, and maybe he was, as a rule. But anger makes people do cruel things. God pointed out to Jonah that the inhabitants of Nineveh included 120,000 innocent children (v.10, described as unable to tell their right hand from their left).
Action: Commit to kindness. Decide what kind of person you want to be, one whose anger damages innocents who cross your path or one who lightens loads and blesses hearts wherever you go.
5. Stubborn. The Book of Jonah is open ended. We have no indication that Jonah learned anything at all from God’s remarkable efforts to instruct him. After all that Jonah went through in the storm at sea and in the belly of the whale, he was still in anger mode in chapter 4. Two things can happen next if Jonah remains unrepentant. One, he can continue to get unpleasant lessons from God until he learns what a destructive influence and a bitter person his anger makes him. Or, two, God can accept Jonah’s choice to remain self-righteous, hypocritical, self-centered, cruel, and stubborn. What awful alternatives!
Action: Ask God's forgiveness and his help in dealing with your anger constructively. Read anger management books or take courses, looking for insights you can apply personally. Pray for grace.
In the "Message" section at bottom of this page, copy each of the 5 "Action" steps above that you will sincerely take in your own life. Add any comments you care to make.
I want to receive newsletters, updates, and special offers
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