Years ago I approached a certain young man and offered him a gospel tract. As is generally the case, he seemed a bit confused and he began to refuse my offer. But, then he said something that I had not really heard before in that situation. He said, “You don’t want to talk with me about religion; I don’t want to offend you”. I thought about what he had said for a moment and then it occurred to me— I couldn’t think of anything he could possibly say that would offend me.

After years of street preaching and door-knocking, I had been cussed, spat on, falsely accused, and threatened on numerous occasions and yet, I wasn’t offended by those things. Grossed out, yes. Frightened, occasionally. Offended, no. I always just figured that those were things that accompany Bible preaching.

So, I responded to the young man that day by saying, “There is nothing you could say to offend me, so let’s just go ahead and talk”. He seemed a bit skeptical and he reiterated his statement: “No, no. I don’t believe in Jesus and religion and I don’t want to hurt your feelings”. So, I looked him in the eye and said, “You couldn’t offend me if you tried. I know I have Jesus Christ as my Savior. I know I’m right with God. I have a perfect Bible in my hand. And I have a home in Heaven when I die… What would I possibly have to be offended about?”

On the other hand, the average American today is constantly offended about something. Racism, sexism, homophobia, liberalism, conservatism, and a thousand other media “buzz words” have been created to highlight this fact. To make matters worse, certain easily-offended groups are attempting to have laws passed in order to make it illegal for you to offend them!

I can’t help but think that the reason there are so many easily-offended people today is because so many people have no solid foundation for what they believe. To explain what I mean, let me give you an example: Let’s say you get into an argument with someone about the color of the grass in the springtime. You say the grass is green and the other party insists it is purple. Would you be offended by their ignorance? I would hope not. You might feel sorry for the other person, but when you know the truth, there is not much to be offended by.

It is doubt which leads to offense. The reason the homosexual gets so offended when someone tells him he was not born that way, is that deep down in his heart he himself doubts that he was born that way. He is offended because you have highlighted one of his greatest fears! The reason why an evolutionist gets so offended when a Christian tells him that the Earth was created roughly 6,000 years ago is because he really knows that there is not any solid evidence to the contrary. He is standing on a plank over a pool of sharks and he is afraid you’re going to shake the plank!

As Bible-believing Christians, though, we should be the exception to this rule. The Bible says, “Great peace have they which love thy law: and NOTHING shall offend them” (Psalm 119:165). In other words, because we have a perfect Bible and we love our Bible, we can have a calm, peaceful assurance in the midst of an easily-offended, doubting world. As a believer, we have the high ground and nothing in the world can change that!

We don’t have to silence our opponents as the world does! We don’t have to wage a “jihad” against those who speak against us. The Bible is the truth and it’s light will shine regardless of the attacks formed against it!

While others around us are constantly raging and upset, offended by seemingly everything, let us be a source of calm assurance. Let’s show the world that we love the Lord and we love His words, and nothing will offend us!