Wow, what a mess, huh? Civil unrest, politics and global inhumanity… it’s just everywhere.
What to do about it? Stop and consider this for a moment, when you pray you are given audience with the One who created it all! God did not create the mess, but He did create everyone involved - the messy people – and boy do they need prayer!
So, how to cope?
The King James Version of the Bible has a line most other versions do not have. As with all other discrepancies between good versions, it’s not doctrinal, but it is interesting prophetically. Matthew 24:10 begins “And then shall many be offended…”and the result of that offendedness? Still, in verse ten, “…and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” Sounds like today, doesn’t it? Have people ever had so many causes in the United States to be offended?
I cannot tell you to drop your moral guard or to tolerate all things simply for the cause of peace. Right is right, right? But what we can do is to stop being offended. Paul asks the church at Corinth who were taking their battles to court and being offended (1 Corinthians 6:7), “…why not just be wronged? Why not be cheated?”
There is a teaching by Francis Frangipane on being “unoffended.” He says that in the Christian faith, it’s not an option. You cannot love your neighbor, love your enemy and greater than these, you cannot love your God, with an offended heart or spirit. Christians, we must lead the way according to Frangipane. No matter the wrong there is no reason to counterattack. We are to spread the truth in the Good News, God will settle any score that needs settling. We have no reason to be offended. When we make it about Christ the attack is not against us, but against the One for whom we serve as ambassadors. If the attack is against us, we have made the fight about us and need to repent of this. But in general terms for all people, to be offended is to allow others to dictate your emotions and by doing so, to affect your life. To not be offended is to say you refuse to make your purpose a response to others. You have more important things to do than to constantly counter the naysayers in your life. You have a point to make, a message to proclaim, that can be heralded despite the rest of the noise.
Startle everyone! Christ instructs us on how to treat our enemies in Luke 6, “Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Turn the other cheek and be unoffended. It is liberating to not carry the burden of offence. You find yourself saying positive things and talking about others less. Not that I have mastered this, but I have experienced it enough to know its freedoms and its blessing on all around you.
Make a difference. Be unoffended!