“I Find That Offensive!”
By Wayne Harmon
People are so quick to find offense these days. We only “find offense” if we are looking for it, and therein lies the problem.
The world is filled with people that I call “Professional Offendees.” They are constantly on the lookout for reasons to be offended. By declaring themselves “offended” they immediately become artificial victims, and the alleged “offenders” are thoughtless villains who should be forced into a constant state of apology.
The news media love Professional Offendees. You can frequently find one sitting in a news studio looking somber and telling a tale of misery due to some offense that was found. The offense really doesn’t matter. The news is that here is one whose life has been negatively impacted because of the words or actions of another, and by golly we’re gonna make ‘em pay!!
But for those who will read this, I’m “preaching to the choir”. I’m not writing about the Professional Offendees, I’m writing about US, Believers in Jesus, because this is the time of year when we find ourselves becoming the Offended. We justify it by calling it “The War on Christmas.”
Every year we read stories of retail clerks who are told by “corporate” to say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”. And Christians, you know, those people who like to quote John 3:16 and sing songs about love, peace on earth, and good will toward men? Yeah, those people, lash back with, “Don’t you mean ‘MERRY CHRISTMAS’?”
Yep. It’s Christmas. Time to break out the “Put Christ in Christmas” and “Jesus: The Reason for the Season” bumper stickers. (Where would I be today had I not encountered so many life-changing bumper stickers over the years?)
The so-called “war on Christmas” should give us an opportunity to demonstrate the love of God. When we get sucked in the “war” it is we who become offensive.
Several years ago I wrote the following article. It is a good conclusion to what I’m saying today.
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Hook, Line and Sucker
by Wayne Harmon
“Evangelical” means, “One who declares the Good News that Jesus paid the price for the sin of humanity and made reconciliation with God possible for everyone”. Today’s “evangelicals” bear little or no similarity to this definition. They are a group of angry people, easily offended and full of hate, and they have fallen prey to one of Satan’s greatest schemes (See II Corinthians 2:11).
THE HOOK – “We are right.”
THE LINE – “We must protect our nation from the constant attacks against our Christian heritage.”
THE SUCKER – “I’ll give you my money and my vote. I’ll sign your petition, attend your church, and hate whomever you tell me to hate.”
Once Satan tricks Christians into a “them vs. us” mindset, he successfully creates a barrier that cuts off those who need the love of Christ from those who claim to have it.
It isn’t God that the lost world rejects. What they reject are those who condemn them. Jesus didn’t condemn the lepers, the crooks or the adulteresses. He condemned those who made such people “the enemy”. He condemned those who stood between God and His creation for whom He sent His Son to redeem.
When you hear the next plea to “join the fight for Christian values”, or whatever form such manipulative messages take, don’t take the Hook, don’t believe the Line, and don’t be a Sucker.
Copyright 2013 Wayne Harmon