Proverbs 22.24-25
“Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.”
The book of Proverbs teaches that we must associate with wise people and avoid foolish people. Otherwise, as this passage states, the bad behavior of the foolish will have a negative influence on us, and we will get caught up in their destructive activity.
In this verse, angry and combative people are specifically identified as those to be avoided.
The Hebrew text paints a vivid picture. A man “given to anger” in the Hebrew is literally someone “owned by anger,” and “a wrathful man” in the Hebrew is literally a “man of heats.” This is not a description of people who occasionally let off excess steam. It is a description of people who are veritable steam engines with very low boiling points and extra loads of fuel. Today we would say these are people who “have a short fuse.”
Anger is their path of life, thus the reference to “ways.” To walk that path with them is to put your life journey at risk, since their path is full of traps and snares. “Snare” refers to a latch that springs the trap. To follow in the footsteps of angry people is to travel through a minefield. Sooner or later you will take the wrong step, and things will blow up.
Unfortunately, many people today are “owned by anger.” Indeed, anger in our society is on the rise. America is now experiencing what many are describing as an “outrage culture,” where people are quick to be offended and get angry. Social media has become a platform for constant expressions of outrage and anger at virtually any perceived (or fabricated) offense. People are quick to accuse, and they display a rush to anger and speed to outrage.
It is a foolish, dangerous, and destructive way to live. “A man of quick temper acts foolishly.” (Proverbs 14.17)
But outrage is a destructive loop. It draws people in and increases their rage, and the result is that society has become progressively more polarized from the incessant bickering. In the end, the constant state of fighting and taking offense comes with blindness to how much we could actually accomplish if we took the time to listen to each other and engaged in meaningful dialogue.
“Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.” (Proverbs 14.29)
The problem is that activists, agitators, and pundits put more value on emotional reactivity rather than logic and reason. They are not seeking to unite; they are seeking to divide. We are now living in an era where people’s alleged desire for social justice and righteousness has led them to become social predators who are constantly looking for targets to attack because of a perceived injustice. They don’t seek to listen and understand; they seek to attack and condemn. The tragic irony, of course, is that this predatory, angry mindset is terribly self-righteous.
“He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.” (Proverbs 16.32)
Outrage has become an integral part of our current culture. The rage is contagious and infects people like a deadly virus, and we are definitely not flattening the curve. Indeed, the rate of infection is spiking. It is time for the madness to stop. Cooler heads must prevail. We don’t need more heat; we desperately need more light.
“Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.” (Proverbs 19.11)
“Be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” (James 1.19)
