Dare to Offend
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of
courage; be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13 (NIV)
In today's hyper-sensitive world, it is becoming a
dreadful social error to make someone uncomfortable
by publicly stating personal views with conviction.
However, it is an even worse transgression, perhaps
even unforgivable, to express FAITH with obvious
passion to an unbeliever. How threatening! How
intrusive!
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of
courage; be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13 (NIV)
In today's hyper-sensitive world, it is becoming a
dreadful social error to make someone uncomfortable
by publicly stating personal views with conviction.
However, it is an even worse transgression, perhaps
even unforgivable, to express FAITH with obvious
passion to an unbeliever. How threatening! How
intrusive!
Most people are reluctant to offend or to be considered a nutcase, so in the face of these
increasingly frequent negative reactions to any profession of faith the temptation is to
tone things down. Instead of standing strong in the Word, we sometimes find ourselves
offering a soft-focus Bible. We don't want to scare anyone off, right? Especially
children - surely they can't handle the rough stuff yet! Maybe we should limit ourselves
to the gentle, loving parts of the Bible. No controversy, please. Nothing to cause a
twinge of guilt or shame. Let's leave all that talk of sin and death and judgment for
another time. Bringing up our need for forgiveness and redemption would mean
(GASP!) acknowledging our sinful nature. And talking about Jesus' death on the cross
and His resurrection, well, that would bring up all that sticky Son of God stuff.
During a recent on-line search for the lyrics of a favorite hymn, I ran across a humorous
ad for a fictional new hymnal tailored to an inoffensive approach to Christianity and
designed to threaten no one. Here are the titles of a few revamped hymns:
* Joyful, Joyful, We Sort Of Like Thee
* Lord, Keep Us Loosely Linked to Your Word
* My Hope is Built on Nothing Much
* Be Thou My Sideline
* Blest Be the Tie That Doesn't Get in the Way
* Oh, How I Like Jesus
* I Lay My Inappropriate Choices on Jesus
* Sit Up, Sit Up for Jesus
* Special, Special, Special
* What an Associate We Have in Jesus
* Where He Leads Me, I Will Perhaps Follow
* Take My Life and Let Me Be
We laugh at these titles, but sadly this list is not as absurd as it would have been a
generation ago. Standing firm in faith and professing belief in Jesus as our Lord and
Redeemer wasn't as socially risky then. Prayer was common in public school
classrooms, nativity scenes were lovingly displayed on city property and Sunday school
teachers were respected for teaching essential truths. Now prayer is prohibited in
school, we celebrate a "happy holiday" and Sunday school teachers are seen as sweet
volunteers who tell nice stories.
Fortunately, those who have the privilege to teach in Christian schools are in a very
special position. Yes, we live in that ultra-sensitive, hyper-reactive world, but we don't
teach there. In our classrooms, we are actually called to boldly profess our faith to the
children and to guide them toward a personal relationship with our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Are the children offended, appalled, threatened? NO! They feel excited, they feel
loved and they open their hearts to Jesus. And what about those parents who have
chosen the school for academics and not for its Christ-centered focus? Are they
comfortable? Perhaps not, but by choosing a Christian school they have, perhaps
unwittingly, opened the door a crack. In a Christian school setting they should expect to
hear the Word of God through unfiltered Bible stories, through the songs about Jesus
that spring from their child's lips and through attending Chapel or Sunday worship with
their child. Teachers in Christian schools teach the Good News with love and joy!
Heart-touching, yes. Offensive, we hope not, but that reaction won't ever make us
retreat to what is socially safe. Ours is not a lukewarm school - we are on fire for
Christ. You'll never hear us singing "I'm Pretty Sure My Redeemer Lives"; you will hear
us lifting our voices to sing "I KNOW That My Redeemer Lives".
© 2007 Elizabeth Williams
increasingly frequent negative reactions to any profession of faith the temptation is to
tone things down. Instead of standing strong in the Word, we sometimes find ourselves
offering a soft-focus Bible. We don't want to scare anyone off, right? Especially
children - surely they can't handle the rough stuff yet! Maybe we should limit ourselves
to the gentle, loving parts of the Bible. No controversy, please. Nothing to cause a
twinge of guilt or shame. Let's leave all that talk of sin and death and judgment for
another time. Bringing up our need for forgiveness and redemption would mean
(GASP!) acknowledging our sinful nature. And talking about Jesus' death on the cross
and His resurrection, well, that would bring up all that sticky Son of God stuff.
During a recent on-line search for the lyrics of a favorite hymn, I ran across a humorous
ad for a fictional new hymnal tailored to an inoffensive approach to Christianity and
designed to threaten no one. Here are the titles of a few revamped hymns:
* Joyful, Joyful, We Sort Of Like Thee
* Lord, Keep Us Loosely Linked to Your Word
* My Hope is Built on Nothing Much
* Be Thou My Sideline
* Blest Be the Tie That Doesn't Get in the Way
* Oh, How I Like Jesus
* I Lay My Inappropriate Choices on Jesus
* Sit Up, Sit Up for Jesus
* Special, Special, Special
* What an Associate We Have in Jesus
* Where He Leads Me, I Will Perhaps Follow
* Take My Life and Let Me Be
We laugh at these titles, but sadly this list is not as absurd as it would have been a
generation ago. Standing firm in faith and professing belief in Jesus as our Lord and
Redeemer wasn't as socially risky then. Prayer was common in public school
classrooms, nativity scenes were lovingly displayed on city property and Sunday school
teachers were respected for teaching essential truths. Now prayer is prohibited in
school, we celebrate a "happy holiday" and Sunday school teachers are seen as sweet
volunteers who tell nice stories.
Fortunately, those who have the privilege to teach in Christian schools are in a very
special position. Yes, we live in that ultra-sensitive, hyper-reactive world, but we don't
teach there. In our classrooms, we are actually called to boldly profess our faith to the
children and to guide them toward a personal relationship with our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Are the children offended, appalled, threatened? NO! They feel excited, they feel
loved and they open their hearts to Jesus. And what about those parents who have
chosen the school for academics and not for its Christ-centered focus? Are they
comfortable? Perhaps not, but by choosing a Christian school they have, perhaps
unwittingly, opened the door a crack. In a Christian school setting they should expect to
hear the Word of God through unfiltered Bible stories, through the songs about Jesus
that spring from their child's lips and through attending Chapel or Sunday worship with
their child. Teachers in Christian schools teach the Good News with love and joy!
Heart-touching, yes. Offensive, we hope not, but that reaction won't ever make us
retreat to what is socially safe. Ours is not a lukewarm school - we are on fire for
Christ. You'll never hear us singing "I'm Pretty Sure My Redeemer Lives"; you will hear
us lifting our voices to sing "I KNOW That My Redeemer Lives".
© 2007 Elizabeth Williams