“The modern-day obsession of too many with not being offended…” Note by me.(7/19/17)
The modern-day obsession of too many with not being offended may be summed up thus: “If you offend me, then you hate me.” Such a conclusion would not be reached by the use of logic but by the person’s feelings of the moment and a flawed perception of another’s intentions. To assume that someone who offends you hates you is just that, an assumption not based on fact but a sort of extreme conclusion reached by some strong feelings of the moment.
I think very few offend others because they hate them; many times offending is done by accident and sometimes offending people is necessary such as during a necessary conflict or when you know you must speak the truth to them but you know they’ll get offended. You must value the person above their momentary feelings. The need to offend must be driven by love. They may get offended, mad at you at first, but later may thank you for what you did because that actually helped them even though their feelings were hurt at the moment.
While we shouldn’t make a habit of offending people, especially if there’s no good reason, the fact of the matter is that offending people at some point or other will become a needed thing, if we truly love a person and want to help them but it would mean offending them. I say it’s worth it in the long run, and maybe even in the short run, depending on the person and what their need is at the time when offending them is necessary.
If we think offending people is evil, we call Jesus evil since He did it many times but He did it at the right time and for the right reasons; He knew when it had to be done and why. Knowing that why and when isn’t instant; it’s a learning process, and we can start by learning from the people in the Bible who did that, why and when, and our greatest example should be Jesus Christ. If we’re going to offend people, we should do it like Jesus did, and like His disciples and apostles.
Battle, Adventure, Beauty 