Embracing Diversity as a Family Blog #10: Chapter 8. Biblical Offense or Our Offendedness

Posted September 14, 2024

[Chapter begins in the book.]

It seems every person, every group of some kind these days has their own truth and is offended by others who disagree with their personal truth, despite the eternal truth of the matter. What offends you? Is it that you have to pay taxes used to fund programs you do not believe in? How about people who are too lazy or physically incapacitated from substance abuse to show up for work on time? How about drivers who cut you off in traffic? How about parents who do not meet their own children’s emotional, educational, physical, and spiritual needs, so others need to do so in the name of “compassion”?

I am guilty of all of these offendable offenses. But is that what the Bible says should offend us? Or, are we easily offended by trivial things? A brother offended is harder to win than a strong city (Proverbs 18:19a). And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me (Matthew 11:6). And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another (Matthew 24:10).

Abigail Dodds, writing for Desiring God blog, had this to say about being offended, “There is more than insecurity and fragility underneath our proclivity to take up an offense, although those problems are constantly feeding it. At root, our easily offended hearts are full of pride and idolatry. We have set ourselves as the standard of what is right and good and what must be honored — any perceived challenge to that assumption results in anger, resentment, and the taking up of an offense. But we are not the standard; God is — which is wonderful news for sinners. Because He is the standard, because only He can see into hearts and discern the motives of each of us, we can be free to assume the best of others, trusting that He will judge perfectly in the end. We can have the good sense to be slow to anger. We can become gloriously unoffendable.”

[Chapter continues in the book.]
Here is the Amazon link for Embracing Diversity as a Family: Preparing the Next Generation to Flourish.

sharimcminn

Shari Howard McMinn is an author, editor, farmer, writer, and most importantly Mom to 11 children. Widowed very unexpectedly on June 2, 2013, Shari continued the direction of her life built with her late husband, Cary, and launched her public speaking and writing business which he had often encouraged her to do. Drawing from her 'over the top' life, she writes non-fiction and presents PowerPoint talks on issues related to family life, including adoption, childhood nutrition, family economics, homeschooling, and proactive parenting. She is available for broadcast interviews and presentations in Colorado and surrounding states, as well as Florida and Georgia. A dynamic speaker, Shari engages the audience with her true-life storytelling and practical advice based on experience and biblical wisdom.