Embracing Offense in a "Cancel Culture"

One step ahead and you are a hero. Two steps ahead and you’re a martyr. We are coming into a Two-Step Age.

As evidence of the twisted thinking that will shape the coming season, some liberal journalists consider smoking and obesity greater moral issues than abortion. They cite that unborn babies have no “claim to be born.”¹

In December 2008, an atheist group called the Freedom From Religion Foundation was given permission to place an antireligion sign next to a Nativity scene—part of Washington state’s official holiday display. The sign read: “There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

In the years to come, harsh value judgments will be made concerning the supposed dangers Bible-believing Christians pose to society. Anticipate a culture anxious to ostracize for “unreasonable,” “irrational” and “unacceptable” beliefs.

Dr. Albert Mohler describes new attempts to marginalize the Christian message in his book, Culture Shift, “A new and unprecedented right is now the central focus of legal, procedural, and cultural concern in many corridors—a supposed right not to be offended. The risk of being offended is simply part of what it means to live in a diverse culture that honors and celebrates free speech. Those who now claim to be offended are generally speaking of an emotional state that has resulted from some real or perceived insult to their belief system or from contact with someone else’s belief system. Now, ‘the right never to be offended’ is not only accepted as legitimate, but is actually promoted by the media, by government, and by activist groups.”²

We have already discussed how, at times, Christians offend those outside the faith by inappropriate behavior. This type of offense is completely unacceptable and indefensible. But this is not the context of offense Dr. Mohler describes. He continues, “…there is no way for a faithful Christian to avoid offending those who are offended by Jesus Christ and His cross. The truth claims of Christianity, by their very particularity and exclusivity, are inherently offensive to those who would demand some other gospel.”³

“When Paul spoke of the Cross as ‘foolishness’ and a ‘stumbling block’,⁴ he was pointing to this reality—a reality that would lead to his own stoning, flogging, imprisonment, and execution.”⁵ The very nature of the gospel offends the unregenerate mind.

There is inconsistency between the desires of our flesh and the holiness of God. Offense can actually be seen as a point of contention between the Spirit of God and sinful man. How do we react to having our mind offended by a God who is bigger than our understanding? What’s our response when our flesh is offended by a God who is perfectly holy? Do we numb our consciences with the painkiller of “a right to not be offended”?

Do we placate our addiction to comfort by saying, “God is a gentleman and would never make me feel uncomfortable”? Or do we embrace conviction and die to ourselves? Choosing to die is not easy. But everything is easier after you’re dead! You cannot offend a dead man. Jesus said, “God blesses those who are not offended by Me.”

May we be wise and humble enough to let the Cross be the offense and not our own insensitivities.