Copyright 2014 Theresa Harvard Johnson
Have you read an angry book lately? Have you seen an unforgiving play, a mocking skit or a mean monologue (or sermon for that matter)? The answer for most of us is YES, as this is actually quite common. On any given day content is published with malicious or manipulative intent. Among the congregation, it’s a “I’m-gonna-get-em” mindset — as if we can avenge God or any wrongs done to us or him. This, however, should not be the case for the prophetic scribe, and this article explores why.
First, we need to define what is meant by the phrase I share here: “angry book.” An angry book could be any scribal project completed by an author that is not drenched in the LOVE of God, meaning saturated with the desire to bring forth reconciliation. It is a project that drips with offense, anger, unforgiveness, PRIDE, SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS or some other out of control emotion that has the potential to wound or devastate the souls of men. While this might not be a big deal in Babylon – meaning the world system, it is of deep concern to us.
Before continuing, I want to ask you a serious question: “Has God ever spoken to you out of unforgiveness or anger?” The answer is, “No.” That’s just not his nature. At some point, our love walk has to cause us to KNOW HIM as a God who is FIRM but not HURTFUL. Again, this is not his nature and it should not be our nature either. Our walk with him is one in which we resist the rising of the flesh and pursue the evidence of his love. I know all about this people of God, as I have written angrily man times. As a young believer, I would often here people talk about pastors or leaders who “bled” on their congregation. I did not understand what this meant at the time, but as I matured I began grasping the concept of the popular cliche “hurting people, hurt people.” I became one of those people. Whether its over the pulpit in a congregation or over the pulpit of a book, play, skit, rap, song or poem — it’s all the same.
Over the years, I’ve read, viewed and listened to many angry projects – especially as they relate to divorce and custody, family betrayal, issues of justice, politics and especially topics surrounding “church” hurt and traditions. Scribes, depending on where we are in our healing will write out of the soul’s anguish and frustration! This isn’t necessarily negative if we see it from the perspective of godly purging, and cleansing in the intimacy of working out our soul’s salvation. What goes in the body whether it be positive or negative, spirit or natural must come out. What we do have to remember is this: (1) Some writings are just between you and the Father; and (2) emotions often LIE to us, clouding our ability to discern our own intent.
I know this is a sensitive topic but we must address it. As prophetic people whose spirituality is rooted in following God, we can also be some of the most closed people you could ever imagine as it relates to correction and feedback concerning our scribal projects. The denial can be so severe, that prophetic scribes fall in habits of interpreting their “anger or harshness” as a display of “authority or tough leadership.” When in truth, there is still unforgiveness and offense erecting and fortifying buildings in the background. Hello, Theresa!
Our Father sometimes uses our scribal projects to help us face this reality. It means that the scribe may have to write out the entire manuscript or poem to get the pain up and out. While this does not look like a traditional “journaling to healing” process, it holds the same concept – even if the writer isn’t aware of it. It presents our heart condition before God and before self like a mirror. And then, if we allow Him… he will take that pain, the stony heart and begin to soothe the wounded soul, and bring forth forgiveness and wholeness in that situation.
Angry scribal projects walk in the same surging electric atmosphere as angry people. Sometimes, that negativity can transfer to others – fueling or adding to the chaos in their spirit. The words from angry books:
- Operate in indifference
- Wound and accuse
- Attack, belittle, devalue, mock
- Drip with bitterness
- Pronounce condemnation, judgment
- Release shame
- Pronounce self-righteousness
- Lack God’s love, authentic forgiveness and reconciliation
- Release fear and the spirit of death
- Avenge, or pays evil for evil
In addition, angry books:
- Affirm the demonic
- Brings forth ungodly agreements (Binding people by tragedy or pain, instead of freedom and love in Christ)
- Bind people by perversion
- Feed offense
- Breeds paranoia
- Affirm others in their right to be angry, bitter, unforgiving
- Provide open doors for self-justification and pride
- Pull people into the past causing meditation on the wrong things
- Evokes unhealthy emotions, thoughts and ideas
- Propel hate, division, feed wrath, vengeance
- Perverts thinking, thoughts
- Promotes severe self-reliance
- Promotes misandry, misogyny, and secret misopedy
Listen, it is entirely possible for these types of situations to be revealed through scribal projects that we produce. Some of you who are reading this can testify to movies, plays, skits or even sermons that have left you feeling “slimed” as you discerned the pain operating in the life of the scribe. And like me, you may have even experienced this response in yourself. This posted is not intended to shame anyone, but to challenge us to do what is necessary to be free.
If there is a chance that your manuscript (play, skit, song, sermon, etc.) is angry, please consider some of the strategies I have gained from my own life, and believe the Lord would have me share with you. I want to encourage you to practice:
- Stepping away from your project for a while. Pray over it, and in time come back and reread what you have written. Holy Spirit has an amazing way of helping us re-write rewrite those topics that we often dragged through our bleeding souls on their way out.
- Having several different people read your project. Seek feedback from those who will tell you the truth in love. Earnestly consider the feedback you receive and follow up on it.
- Acknowledging that you may have written out of a place of pain. Thank God for allowing Holy Spirit to expose those feelings in you. Then set out to forgive, let go of offense and receive Christ’s healing balm.
- Recognizing the timing of God. Don’t worry about missing your publishing deadline. As stewards over the word, you only want to release a project when it is “ready.” Just as you trusted God to write the project; trust him to see it to the book store shelp. Your time hasn’t been wasted.
- Always seek to write from your prayer place. In saying this, I am not talking about being super-spiritual or churchy. I am simply saying write from a place of longing for God to be made known within every single LINE of your writing. This is about HEART CONDITION. We seek healthy hearts before a HOLY GOD… as no one needs to go into spiritual cardiac arrest, especially your readers, viewers and listeners.
Finally, remember that there’s no condemnation here. In addition, decide in your heart that you DO NOT want to write an angry book and then trust Holy Spirit to intervene when or if you head in that direction. The only thing God wants us to do in the midst of this is let him have his way so that your project can be a catalyst for enlarging heaven.
Romans 8:28-29 NIV says, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren…”{jcomments on}
