Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.
Proverbs 19:11

It was a passing comment, but it was enough to get me thinking. 

“Pastor Chris, thank you for not apologizing in your sermon yesterday or for saying ‘I hope you weren’t offended’  by Titus 2 as you discussed the women’s role in the home.” I asked my friend why she said that, and her answer was simple but straightforward, “I find that far too many people these days want God to cater to them — and when he doesn’t, they get offended! Whatever happened to letting God be God and allowing his word to be over us instead of us thinking we can be over his word?”

Wow, now that was profound thought!

The more I thought about what she said, the more I agree, people are being offended in record numbers in our society, and often at the silliest things:

– “You look tired.” What do you mean by that? Are you saying I am getting old?
– “You throw like a girl.” How dare you, girls are just as capable as guys!
– “I know you are wearing a dress, but you have a beard. So, are you a man or a woman?” I am so offended, I want justice!

I once had a person leave our church because I didn’t wave at them at a four-way stop. As a pastor, over time you get a bit gun-shy at all the offended people. I often wonder if preaching is even safe these days? Just by reading the Bible out loud in a public forum I may unintentionally offend someone. Two weeks ago just from reading the passage, “An elder must be the husband of one wife,” I was genuinely worried that some disgruntled female would think the word husband was too gender specific. I debated with myself,  “I shouldn’t have read that because what if a smart woman puts 2 and 2 together and realizes Paul is saying men only are to be elders because no one ever heard of a female husband? Oh no, everyone will start believing that Pastor Chris is keeping misogyny alive and well at Kent City Baptist Church! Off with his head!”
​
But if I could be honest with you, my considerate and critically thinking reader, I am convinced that those who are the most easily offended, especially by God’s word and sound preaching, are usually the most conceited and arrogant. Let me explain.

Last week I was listening to a debate on youtube. Two transgendered Canadians were accusing a professor named Jordan Peterson of exercising hate speech because they were ‘offended’ at his gender-specific use of pronouns. They didn’t like it when he said a man dressed up as a woman should be called a “he.” They wanted this gender fluid person to be called either “ze” or “they”. And because the professor refused to bow to their demands, they felt he should be punished in some way under Canadian law. During the debate, the professor gave the best definition for political correctness I ever heard, and listen closely…

“Political Correctness is an Ideological game; the objective is to make one player feel morally superior over others while taking an axe swing at the foundations of society. Here is how it is done: Step One – Identify an area of human endeavor which has a distribution of success, winners and losers, where there are some who are doing comparatively better and some worse. Step Two – define those as doing worse as “victims”, define those as doing better as “perpetrators”. Step Three – Side with the victims and then point out who the enemies are. Vent your resentment on them, and then feel good about it without it requiring any work on your part. And continuously repeat.”

Brilliant strategy! This is exactly what is happening around America daily: people are claiming “offense” when in reality they are playing an ideological game of “King of the Mountain.” If I can convince others you have offended me, I will gain the advantage over you. Popular consent and support for the victim are now at an all-time high in our culture. And all it takes is for you to say you are “offended.” I may even get some government money to boot!

What offends you? The flag? The cross? Someone did not smile when they passed you by on the sidewalk? The Ten Commandments? Someone’s tattoo? Drums at church? Or how about someone drinking a beer? When you are offended at trivial things, it says more about you than it does about the person who offended you. Here is what lies deeper in the offended person’s heart:

(1) Pride: When you are easily offended it often means you think you deserve to be treated in a certain way, or you think people owe you something. Why? Because you are better? Because you are a victim? Stop playing this silly ideological moral game – – you are the true divider.

(2) A Judgemental Spirit: Offense means you think a person is doing something against you in a malicious way. You don’t know that? When a person calls a transgendered male a “he” they are simply trying to communicate. And seeing this as a microaggression of hate speech is emptyheaded and wrong. (And you better not get offended for calling that behavior emptyheaded!) You don’t know why a person does the things they do? What right do you have to call someone homophobic, misogynistic, lazy, ignorant or any of the other political attack labels that are being slung around like mud these days? Until you actually have a conversation with someone, you don’t know them. Stop being offended.

(3) You are Scared of Honest Conversation: Once upon a time when a person acted less than their station in life, their friends and family would call them immature. The Bible calls this sort of speech “admonishment.” There needs to be a place where those who love you, or even your neighbors, can call you out, or at least discuss their disagreements without being labeled a hater. But now that everyone is offended at everything the only conversation allowed is “niceness.” Plastic Walt Disney smiles are now taking over the world, yuck! It reminds me of what happened to American Idol, once Simon Cowell left the show it no longer had any judges who told the unvarnished truth. Sure he was harsh and sometimes offensive, but at least he told you the truth. So when a singer’s voice sounded like a wounded cat, he said they sounded like a wounded cat. But once he left, the judges repainted the wounded cat into a person with potential, yuck! Don’t you see, niceness is not the truth, in fact, it keeps the wounded cat a howlin’!

The more we let the offended have their way, the less real and humble we become as a society, as a family, and as a church. In truth, over the last few years this obsession with offense has really gotten under my skin…so much so, it offends me!