We are living in a time when a lie is portrayed as the truth and the truth is denounced as a lie. We have elected officials who follow and don’t think for themselves. Such times would lead to depression anddespair; however, the songwriter has stated, My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ and His Righteousness.” How did we get to this point, where Christians believe it is more important to be Nationalist than to be Christ-like? A time when the “Moral Majority” props up an amoral individual for the sake of power. In his book The Bait of Satan: Living Free from the Deadly Trap of Offense, John Bevere posits that the inability to forgive an offense allows sin to infect the host. Sin is a spiritual infection that can have physical manifestations. More critically, this developing case of unforgiveness can stunt the believer’s spiritual growth without continuous spiritual growth. Christians can be ineffective and impotent. Understand that the question is not if we will be offended, but when the offense will come. Being offended is a powerful bait for Satan against Christians. It is rooted in the fact that the offense is taken personally. It takes the Christian’s focus off Jesus and places it on themselves. The offense occurs when a level of trust and respect has been betrayed. The greater the level of trust and respect, the deeper the offense cuts into the victim. The Church is the hospital where wounded souls go to be healed, delivered, and set free. This is why Church Hurt is so traumatic. It lingers long and cuts deep; rather than healing the wounded souls, they are castigated for their carnal shortcomings. Instead of being delivered, they were conscripted to the expectations of what they used to be. Finally, rather than being set free from their past, they are condemned by the expectation that they will be repeat offenders and therefore are not worthy of care and compassion, and, most importantly, not worthy of grace. Yet Jesus repeatedly teaches us to forgive one another. The Old Testament is filled with stories in which forgiveness leads to disastrous results. The first homicide ever recorded: Abel slays Cain because Abel was offended that his offering was not accepted, but Cain’s was.
Yet right after the offerings were given, God admonished Abel, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.“ Despite God’s warning, Abel remained offended when he went to speak with Cain about the incident. Rather than rebuking the spirit of offense, Abel allowed it to infect him, and he killed Cain. Joseph’s brothers were offended when Joseph prophesied that his brothers and his parents would bow down to him. They remained offended. Initially plotting to kill Joseph, they were persuaded to sell Joseph into slavery and told their father that a wild beast had slain Joseph.
