When is it okay to curse people in the name of the Lord? 2 Kings 2:23-24


  From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road,
  some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here,
  baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!”  He turned around, looked
  at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then
  two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.


Not that I would consider doing so... except for that guy who cut me off this morning on the freeway. :)  This just comes across as against Christianity as I know it.
First off, "boys" is a very unfortunate translation here, as the original word properly means "youths" (teens/young men, not children.)  And a group of over 40 youths coming out to confront a single man with angry words is a lot more than simple "jeering".  Imagine the scene!  His life was most likely in danger.  (Remember when Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away because Ishmael was endangering young Isaac with his "teasing"?  The ancient Hebrews seem to have had quite the gift for understatement in these matters!)

Also, this wasn't just any man they were harassing.  This incident came right after Elisha witnessed Elijah's ascendance into heaven, when Elisha was granted an official status as the spiritual heir to Elijah.  In other words, he was the new prophet of God, as Elijah had been.  To harass him was to reject his authority as the emissary of God to Israel, and that is where Elisha is different from us.  He was a prophet of God, and he had the authority to call upon the powers of heaven in order to protect himself, as Elijah did.