“OH MY GOSH, I’M SO OFFENDED!”
I remember when my 12-year-old washing machine stopped
working. When we went to buy a new one, the worker told me they had a new
delivery service and could deliver within two days. But, they couldn’t tell me
what time the delivery would happen, so someone had to be home all day. What?!
They expected someone to stay home all day waiting for the washing
machine? That was crazy. I was appalled, offended that they would expect us to put
up with such an inconvenience! Added to that, my roommate overheard two ladies
in the store complaining about the delivery service, so we were ready for a
hassle, but what could we do?
As it turned out, our offense was unfounded. The delivery
service called us the evening before, and though we had to wait on the line for
about 15 minutes, a very nice woman answered and gave us a 2-hour window for
the delivery. Two very polite young men showed up right on time, installed the
washer, took the old one, and finished the whole process in only 10 minutes!
Our offense was totally out of line! Sorry, Lord!
These days, it seems that we are so easily offended by
everything: the internet is too slow; the traffic is too fast; the radio isn’t
playing the songs we like; the neighbor’s dog is barking, and so many other
things I can’t even begin to name. If we started to count how many things annoy
us or offend us in just one day, we’d probably shock ourselves.
Offense is bad for the heart. It’s bad for the
nerves. It’s just bad for the universe in general. Matthew 24:10 tells us that
when people carry offense, they “shall betray one another and shall hate one
another.” Let’s make a real effort to change the course of offense in our
world. It’s become quite a big problem. But this kind of problem doesn't get
changed by an edict or demand. This kind of problem gets solved by one person,
making one decision, one incident at a time. And you are that person, and I am
that person. We can change our world, by changing the way we respond to it, one
person at a time.
First Corinthians 13 is the chapter in the Bible on the
love of God. Verse 5 tells us the love of God “is not easily provoked.” God’s
love is like a river; when it comes to an obstacle, it just goes up and over or
around. It doesn't stop and have a hissy fit, but just keeps flowing. We need
to be more like that, to stay healthy and out of stress.
Jesus said this to His disciples:
“Peace I leave with you,
my peace I give unto you: not as the
world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart
be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). We need to not get so
riled up about everything, but calmly and prayerfully observe, then engage in
life from a Godly point of view, a God-loving point of view. The Lord will help
us and guide us. I’m not saying it’s easy; I’m just saying we need to judge
each event on its own merit and not jump to conclusions (especially negative
ones) so quickly.
We have a real problem in America with critically biased
news. But we all are plagued at times with certain biases in our everyday
attitudes and actions. Jane and I were offended by our perception of what the
washing machine delivery would be like. We were biased by what we heard and
swayed to think negatively, and instead it turned out more than wonderful. We
need to be more careful about letting offense go wild and ruling our actions,
rather than letting the wisdom and peace of God rule.
The disciples of Jesus were offended because someone who
wasn’t part of “their group” was healing people. But Jesus handled it. John
self-righteously declared, “Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name,
and he followeth not us: and we forbad him because he followeth not us. But
Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my
name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is
on our part” Mark 9:38-40). Jesus had a way to so calmly answer the
disciples with the truth and take away the source of their negative bias.
When my experience with the washing machine delivery
turned out so great, I immediately got on the phone to the store where I bought
it. I told the lady in the appliance department the whole story and that the
only glitch was that you had to wait on the phone a little bit before someone
answered. She was thrilled to hear it and asked me to fill out a short survey
so that others would know the truth. I pray that this will help stop the
negative talk in the store and help the delivery company with their business.
We have a challenge, and that is put to us in Philippians
1:10: “That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere
and without offense till the day of Christ.”
Our greatest goal is to love God above all else. That is
the only answer to peace and the removal of offense. “Great peace have they
which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them “(Ps. 119:165). Now
that’s an awesome promise and challenge, wouldn’t you say?!
Love, Carolyn
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