Unshackled Moments ~ July 1 ~ Offended Christians: A Spiritual Oxymoron

of·fend·ed:  əˈfendid/ adjective resentful or annoyed, typically as a result of a perceived insult.

It happens. Christians get offended. We get offended by other Christians, and we get offended by non-Christians. People step on the toes of our feelings and we retaliate.  We lash out with words, we cut people out of our life, and we justify our actions by telling ourselves and others how ungodly the other person acted. It happens.

But it shouldn't. For a Christian to be offended for long enough to react negatively is both foolish and a sign that we need to get a little closer to our Daddy, to surrender self a little more, that we are slightly (or greatly) off course with God's will. First, it's foolish because to expect a non-believer who has no access to the power of the Holy Spirit to act like anything other than a messed up human being is a sure way to be disappointed. The same is true of expecting fellow believers to always be in God's will and do what's right. It's also a sure way to disappoint yourself again. None of us are perfect, not yet. It's not going to happen. We're going to fall short and let ourselves and others down. We're going to blow it big time occasionally and hurt people. Other Christians are going to do the same. The difference is hopefully that we will realize when it happens, ask for forgiveness, try to make it right, get closer to God and improve, so that down the road it will happen less and less. We give God more and more control of our lives and in the process we are transformed into more of a loving child of God and less of a messed up self-serving person.

But it's more than just foolish expectations. It's sin. Yes, I said it. For a Christian to stay offended is sin. To be resentful is to be unforgiving. If we hang onto our right to be annoyed at others we are not also capable of blessing those who curse and despitefully use us. You can't be resentful and a blessing to someone at the same time. Both being angry at those who hurt or threaten us and holding on to resentment are in direct opposition to the love that Christ called us to and a failure to follow the example of the One who died for us when we were totally and completely in the wrong. And just one more parting thought. We are called to deny self and pick up our cross and follow Jesus. But in order to perceive an insult or wrong someone does to us is to be focused on ourself and what they are doing to us, how it effects us and how it keeps us from getting and or feeling what we want to. It's selfishness.

The correct response is to see that person who injures us, who attacks us, who annoys and insults us, with the eyes of Christ. Jesus values that person, even the one trying to abolish and destroy everything He came to provide. He loves them. We are called to do the same. We are going to fail. We are going to react with anger and fear rather than love.  But let's make an effort to give more of the reigns to God so that it happens less and less. Let our love lift Him up and draw others to Him rather than pushing them away so that we can be right or less offended, The cure for being easily offended has absolutely nothing to do with changing how the world around us behaves and everything to do with letting God change us, our reactions, our behavior, fill us with our love for others and the compassion and forgiveness Christ showed us. So that when people see how we respond, or better don't respond, to what would make most people annoyed and resentful in a way that shows the compassionate, gut-wrenching love of the Lord instead it will be a testament of the power of God to change lives and make us new.