OH MY, I’M SO OFFENDED!
My 12-year-old washing machine stopped working. When I 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 when 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 and offended
that they would expect us to put up with such an inconvenience! Added to that,
Jane 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 arrived on time, installed the washer, took
the old one, and finished the 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 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 a mandate or
demand. This 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 how we respond to it, one person at a time.
First Corinthians 13 is the Bible chapter on God’s love. 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 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; instead, it turned out more than wonderful. We need to be more
careful about letting offense go wild and ruling our actions rather than allowing
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 of answering the disciples calmly with the truth and removing the source of
their opposing bias.
When my experience with the washing machine delivery turned out so
great, I immediately got on the phone with 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 support the delivery company with their business.
We have a challenge presented 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 and love His Word.
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 extraordinary promise and challenge, wouldn’t you say?!
Love, Carolyn
M O R E of my TRUE STORIES ON CHRISTIAN LIVING:
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