A lion stepped before my eyes!
This one seemed to be coming straight for me,
His head held high,
His hunger hot with wrath…
—Dante, ”The Inferno” Canto 1
“Only by outraged pride[1] comes contention” (Proverbs 13:10).
When Dante begins his spiritual journey toward Paradise, he meets a lion “hot with wrath” impeding his way, a symbol of Dante's smoldering resentment.
Dante was outraged by the injustice visited upon him by his political enemies. He was a rising star in the city of Florence, but his political ambitions were thwarted and he was forced into exile. He railed at the perfidy of those who wronged him—as we’re inclined to do.
Pride lies at the root of rage. We are indignant that anyone would stand in our way; that we should have to defer satisfaction; that we should have to suffer. We lash out at those who oppose us: “No one has the right to treat me this way,” we fume. “I will not be silent,” we shout, forgetting the silence of the Lamb who quietly bore injustice and prayed for those who debased him.
We do have rights and when those rights are assailed anger is the normal reaction. The temptation to become angry and bitter is not sin, but it can quickly become sin if we allow it to linger. Temptation to sin can be redeemed by turning it into intercessory prayer (Matthew 5:44).
There is a place for righteous anger—moral outrage over injustice done to others—but for those who follow the Lamb, there is no place for bitterness when we have been unjustly treated. This the ”lion” that impedes our progress toward Christ-likeness.
There may be righteous measures to redress a wrong, but we must do so in meekness and humility, and in quiet confidence in our Heavenly Father who alone “judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23). We can trust him; He will set things right in the end.
David Roper
6.3.21
[1] The special Hebrew word for pride used here suggest the Rambo-like reaction of those who will not be “kicked around.”
