People seem to be easily offended these days. Our church split about 5 years ago because one person who was teaching young adults got offended by the pastor. The pastor had heard a rumor and went to talk to this individual in private. However, this individual did not want to talk and instead left the church and spread rumors to get others to leave as well.
Well a few years down the road, the pastor wanted to do a revitalization of our church and invited some people who came in and interviewed all those that wanted to be interviewed. There were some people who were offended by this and by a few other things the pastor did and they left.
A friend who had lost his wife decided to travel for about a year. He cam back and wanted to speak to the congregation. The pastor knowing how this individual could offend people because he has no filter wanted to see the speech. The man refused and wanted to be treated as a missionary, but he was not. He got offended and spread rumors about the pastor. A few left because of this.
A good friend of mine who donated money for the new windows got offended because the pastor decided to reorganize/rearrange the sanctuary which allowed drinks and food during the church service. He thought this was very disrespectful. He he forgot is that in the days of old, church may have been held around food and drink. He was raised a particular way and was unwilling to adapt. No one told him he had to eat and drink in the sanctuary, but he did not want others to either. He left because he was offended.
Then recently, the individual in the first paragraph reached out to us to kind of rub it in that some of those that left our church were not attending where he was going. He is obviously still offended and this is 5 years after the incident.
He and the others that attended our church and left instead of talking to the pastor, stormed off offended stomping their foot in temper tantrums. I will be sensitive to all of those people in this blog since they really have know idea who is writing it. Here it goes, “GROW UP”.
Would I tell this to their face in real life? Yes and wanted to do so, but something has been holding me back. Not sure if it is God or Satan. My suspicion is that it is God:
Proverbs 15:1 New International Version (NIV)
15 A gentle answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Ephesians 4:32 New International Version (NIV)
32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Proverbs 16:28 New International Version (NIV)
28 A perverse person stirs up conflict,
and a gossip separates close friends.
If you are offended by others, then I ask you to check yourself and ask why? You have to understand why you are offended before you can ever be healed of the offenses. Once you have that, either go confront the person and talk about the offense(s), or just forgive them and let God handle it.