Offended People

One of the hardest things I get to deal with in my line of work is offended people.

The person in pain, who is offended and scared and angry, is actually in the lower seat; they are the one with the disadvantage. They are less in control of themselves than I am of me. If I get angry at them and “put them in their place,” call them to an accountability they don’t know how to manage, I end up adding to their pain and tightening their connection to the spirit of offense. This has been one of the most painful surrenders I’ve been privileged to give to love. When someone comes at you with a knife, it’s easy to want to pull your sword out.

But the King, the One who cannot be wrong and cannot be evil, doesn’t touch His sword. To their offense and aggression, He offers gentleness and humility.

If we can get past the temptation of pride and offense, we can hear the song in their scream. We can see the child in their eyes, we can feel the pain in their heart. How can we know them like this? Because they are us. Their pain is our own, it’s easier to reject them than to feel it.

Love is unconcerned with deficit, He’s unafraid of running out of Himself. He is endless in His supply but even if He wasn’t, by His very nature, He would still spill all of His blood to spare them. If I attack while He surrenders, I attack myself. If harm them while He bows, I harm myself.

Offense is evil but offended people are not, they are sick and the sick need a doctor, not a judge.

It’s when we have the power to discern between good and evil, the power to be correct, and we choose mercy that we have allowed love to be our sword.