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To the Offensive and Offended Christians

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Did my graphic offend you somehow? Good! We're about to talk about that. There are many articles out there that discuss different views of how the world should be. With such articles, there are three different kinds of commenters: ones that agree, ones that disagree respectfully, and ones that take utter offense and lash out to such thoughts. America is a place of free speech, we're welcome to share our collected thoughts on how we think we should live. We have many platforms to express such thoughts like the internet or newspaper articles. However, with such amazing freedom comes people with strong feelings and no filter. 


I'm not saying we should rebuke this freedom, but there is a problem here. When you get people with strong feelings and no filter, you get offensive people. Offensive people come in all shapes and sizes, all different kinds of beliefs. Christians, Agnostics, Atheists, Muslims, Democratic, Republican, Feminist, there's no denying that in every believer of any belief there are aggressive and passive believers. That being said we have a problem. We can't go around fixing everybody who's aggressive with their beliefs because that would be demolishing our freedom of speech. So could it be possible that those with a more controlled tongue could do something about this problem? 


To start, I'm going to list off a few heroes in the Bible. Our first three heroes are found in Daniel 3 Radshack, Meshack, and Abendego. In Radshack, Meshack, and Abendego's story, they refused to bow down to a gold idol and were thrown into a flaming furnace. Our next hero is the one and only Jesus as he critizizes religious leaders in Matthew 23. Our final sorta hero is Jonah... in the book of Jonah. He was sent to go save Ninevah despite his offenses against them. Keep these five heroes in mind as we go through.


As an American, I thought carefully over a few overly-used terms. To start, I googled political correctness. Political correctness is the avoidance, often considered as taking extremes, of forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude marginalize or insult groups of people who are socially disadvantaged or discriminated against. Anytime I see a post on how things should be, political correctness is strongly forced. In other words, political correctness is supposed to be using your words carefully in order to not offend someone. Political correctness is basically the filter we use in order to try and not offend anybody. As I read this definition, it irritated me how it beat around the bush to get to the point. It was as though the definition itself had to be censored for the sake of political correctness. I can understand practicing restraint to consider other parties, and choosing our words carefully. However, if we're not careful, political correctness can be used as a tool to promote a specific belief and disprove another.


To start, let's check out Radshack Meshack and Abendego's story. King Nebuchadnezzar makes this big golden statue, and orders everyone to worship it. However, the King's men come to him tattling on Radshack Meshack and Abendego for not worshiping the statue. The offended King orders Radshack Meshack and Abendego to come to him. After asking the three men to bow to the statue again, the three men kindly (emphasis on kindly) refuse. So in the heat of his anger, King Nebuchadnezzar throws the three men in the fiery furnace. But God saved the three men from the furnace, and in turn saved King Nebuchadnezzar's eternal life in the process. The story is well known to promote standing up for your beliefs despite the fear of persecution and death. 


Such an idea might seem silly in America. I don't really fear for my life in America because of my beliefs, and that's something that other countries don't have. But as an American, I have to worry about offending people with my works. Radshack, Meshack, and Abendego might've had to worry for their lives primarily, but they could've excused themselves from the trouble with political correctness. For example, they could've said 'We'll hurt the King's feelings if we don't appreciate his hard work," or 'We'll violate his rights to free will if we don't bow down to his statue'. Of course, we'll never know what actually ran through their minds until we meet them in Heaven. And yet, Radshack, Meshack, and Abendego didn't choose political correctness. They didn't bash Nebuchadnezzar, calling him an idiot for building a statue and asking them to bow down to it. They kindly refused and gave glory to God. They choose the path rarely traveled on. They chose to promote God despite offending Nebuchadnezzar. And it worked for them! God was able to move through them, and Nebuchadnezzar was saved!


In speaking of offense, offense is annoyance or resentment brought about by a perceived insult or disregard for oneself or one's standards or principles. This I find interesting, because there are many people who are offended by many things. I've heard it said before, 'He offended me!' But, in this definition it doesn't state anything about it being the fault of another. Offense is something the receiver perceives. Yes, communication is what the receiver hears, not what you say. However, offense is something that you take yourself. If I were to say that all Christians were stupid, there are people who would take offense to that. Why would you take offense to that? It's a three-word phrase that is extremely ignorant. If I were to honestly discriminate Christians for stupidity, I would only be going by selected personal experiences that I have my own vendetta towards. Most of the time that's the case (uh oh look at me being offensive again). And yes I understand that there are people who are struggling with depression and suicide, and there are people who simply can't control those things, but we have a God who can. It would be under minding his powers to say otherwise. If you look through God's eyes instead of your own, looking at things the way he would, you would expose yourself to a lot of clarity.


Check out what Jesus said to some religious leaders in Matthew 23. Literally this whole chapter of thirty-nine verses is Jesus criticizing the religious leaders for their false practices and pride. A lot of the stuff was pretty mind-blowing. He starts out with telling everyone to follow what the religious leaders order, but not to follow in their footsteps. Then he goes on and on with comparisons as to show how corrupt the religious leaders are. One phrase that is repeated throughout the whole passage is 'What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites!' Nowadays we read the Bible and think that the Pharisees are the bad guys, and we always refer to them as hypocritical Christians. It's widely known that if you're called a Pharisee, it's an insult or constructive criticism. So for a moment, let's put our personal vendettas aside and put ourselves in the Pharisee's shoes. Jesus is telling you, a person of high standard known to be sanctified, that you are a hypocrite. He's saying that you are not true to your word, everything you do is to show off, you shut the doors of heaven to yourselves and others, and that you are the sons of vipers. 


Jesus said a lot of things that might've hurt the Pharisees' feelings, or made them offended at Jesus. In fact, two chapters later they plot to kill Jesus. But I don't think Jesus said these things to be hateful to the Pharisees. Proverbs 13:24 says, "Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them." We all know Jesus to be a kind natured type of person who isn't afraid to save others at the cost of their feelings. So it's hard for me to imagine Jesus legitimately hating on these Pharisees. It's against his nature. So despite how offensive these words might've been, Jesus said them to try and save the Pharisees. He didn't scorn them to hurt them, he's trying to alert them of their wrongdoing. That being said, what would you have thought if Jesus told you those things. What if Jesus called you the son of a viper? Would you repent and follow him or would you use offense as a wall between you and heaven? 


The last word I looked up was self-esteem. Self-esteem is confidence in one's worth or abilities. Since we're talking about political correctness and taking offense, I thought this might be appropriate. The root of taking offense, is what you feel about yourself. We read earlier that offense is something you perceive. Earlier with my example about calling Christians stupid, if you were to really take offense to that, then there's something wrong with how you view yourself. If you were to take those three little words personally and be offended, ask yourself why. Why would that hurt you so bad? Why would you be angered by such a thing? I used to get so irritated whenever I saw a book solely about disproving Christianity and Jesus. In fact, there was a season of my earlier life where I was an aggressive Christian, and I would get into arguments in the comments section with other people to prove God. Let me tell you, the majority of the time I lost the argument and retreated. People told me so many horrible things. One time a woman told me that I should never bear children because I would be a horrid mother. That hit me so hard that I was depressed for weeks. And in that depression I continued and continued to try and correct others on the internet. I hid behind a keyboard and used big words to prove points to people with blinded eyes. The reason I was offended by their words, by how wrong they were, is because what they were saying applied to me. Whenever they called Christians ignorant or dumb, I only proved their points further in my offended pain.  


My final hero I'm going to refer to is Jonah. God sent Jonah to Ninevah, but Jonah wanted the people of Ninevah to perish. So instead of going, Jonah went in the opposite direction. God captures him in the belly of a whale, and after repenting, God released Jonah. Jonah went and delivered the message to Ninevah, and the people of Ninevah repented for their sins. So God had mercy on Ninevah. But Jonah was angered by God's mercy, and pitched a tantrum about it. Look at what it says in Jonah 4:1-4, "This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. So he complained to the Lord about it: 'Didn't I say before I left home that you would do this Lord? That is why I ran away from Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. Just kill me now, Lord! I'd rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not come to happen.' The lord replied, 'Is it right for you to be angry about this?'" 


The way Jonah complained, we understand that he wanted Ninevah to perish. But he wanted it more than God's will for Ninevah. But Jonah talks a lot about how he knew it would happen because he knows God has an unfailing love for everyone. It seems like Jonah was throwing a tantrum, not just because he didn't get what he wanted, but because God favored Ninevah and not Jonah this time. Jonah could've felt betrayed by God because he didn't fulfill what Jonah expected him to do. Jonah could've lacked self-esteem and therefore taken offense at God's favor to Ninevah. Whenever something bad happens to us, we're quick to think that God's deserted us or God's punished us. It's a sensitive time where we're vulnerable to petty words and offensive behavior. We often think that Jonah's just being selfish, and he is. After all, when we have no self-esteem it's only normal to focus on yourself to try and make up for it. 


However, lack of self-esteem isn't determined by how others affect you; it's determined by how you let others affect yourself. We are valued in God's eyes, we are his precious creations. Jerimiah 31:3 says, "Long ago the Lord said to Israel: 'I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.'" We're treasured by him greatly, his lovely creations that he made individually with care. Each of his creations are made with a unique story that makes them significantly different than the others. He put so much care into making us, he has to work every day just to keep us alive. He makes the earth rotate around the sun at just the right distance and blesses us with the beauty of the passing seasons. He makes sure that our bodies are working correctly, making sure that every breath we breathe passes through safely and sustaining us. If you should let anyone affect your self-esteem, it should be God. He is the giver of new names and new identities. He is our heavenly Father, and he is the only one who can say what and who we are.


I talked about a lot of things in this post, and it's been a while since I've written. But the fruit of the message is for two types of people. Maybe you're worried about what you say and whether you could help someone without breaking the rule of political correctness. To you I say that you should ask God to give you the words, and allow him to be the judge of being politically correct. If you let God work through you instead of taking charge with your fears burdening you, God can do amazing things through you. Just don't be scared of what he might have to tell you. Speak with love but don't be afraid of what truths he asks you to pass on. Maybe you're offended by what many people have said about this or that. Allow me to tell you first-hand that your problem lies with you realizing where your value is. God loves you, and has a specific and significant plan for your life. Will you allow ignorant words to offend you, or will you allow God to tell you the truth about what and who you are? 


If you liked this post please give me a thumbs up and if you have a question or a comment, please email me at fire.time.rsmith@gmail.com. Until next time, God bless, and keep your fire for God, blazing! 

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cucur1663626626's avatar

Allah is the only God you dumbysHi SpongeBoob