Week 4 of the series " Beneath the Surface", confronts the instinctive human response of anger to a broken and violent world, and challenges believers to pursue God’s justice and mercy instead. The story of Jonah reveals how even righteous outrage can become distorted when anger hardens into resentment, as Jonah grows furious at God for extending compassion to the brutally violent people of Nineveh. Scripture makes clear that human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires (James 1:20), and God’s haunting question—“Is it right for you to be angry?”—is left unanswered so the listener must wrestle with it personally.
The New Testament calls followers of Jesus to be slow to anger and quick to listen (James 1), to love and pray for enemies (Matthew 5), and to overcome evil with sincere, self-giving love (Romans 12). The central invitation is to resist reactive anger and instead embody Christlike justice—one rooted not in revenge, outrage, or power, but in humility, mercy, patience, and love that reflects the heart of God to a hurting world.
