Offenses And Our Walk

Yesterday during worship I felt like the Lord wanted to use my recent knee surgery as a sort of prophetic image to deal with an issue that might be present in some of our lives, namely offenses that we are holding in our hearts.

The image is simple, I had a chunk of cartilage that got stuck under the patellar (kneecap) tendon and because of that I couldn't straighten my leg, which caused me a fair amount of pain. I was able to limp, and walk slowly, and still get by, but my normal gait was affected and soon my low back and other knee started being affected as well. I definitely couldn't do all the things I wanted to do, and some I needed to do, and I definitely couldn't run.

Anyway, as it seemed the Lord brought this back to mind, I was reminded of several verses that spoke about stumbling blocks, and usually the stumbling block was Jesus. The idea that God would come to earth as a humble man, born in poor circumstances, and then effectively being quiet for 30 years, then ministering to sinners was offensive to the Jews. The stumbling block was offense, not understanding and not wanting to understand because it made no sense.

There are several places where people were offended by Jesus, and one of them was in His home town of Nazareth. Here is the situation as captured by Mark 6:1-5 NIV:

[1] "Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. [2] When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What's this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? [3] Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

[4] Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” [5] He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them."

I felt like in our case, the potential for offense, more often than not, has come from those in the church who have hurt us, rejected us, or failed to recognize the gifts or callings in our lives. These offenses can, over time, grow into larger issues of bitterness, mistrust, ad even unbelief. The enemy tries to divide the Body of Christ and one of the ways he does that is through offenses. If we don't deal with them, they just sort of float around our life and occasionally they come up and cause us pain again. However, they can also create a blockage in our life that does impact our walk, our call, our purpose in God. Isn't it just like the enemy to try to attack us in the area where are supposed to be strongest, our love for one another, trying to get us to mistrust one another, doubt their love for us, and hold onto to our offense, effectively limiting our commitment to being part of the body?

I felt like the Lord was offering us an invitation to deal with our offenses, offering to help us remove them, asking us to be willing to lay them down and speak forgiveness to those that hurt us, and asking forgiveness from Him for judging Him by the actions of those who were acting in His name, when they hurt us. The Lord wants to help us, He wants us to be all in, and these offenses will cause us to hold back! They will impact our walk, they will keep us from running into the things He has for us, and they will ultimately limit our faith in Him for they are a judgment against Him.

Although Mark doesn't list the actual offenses, I believe it has to do with all the things Jesus didn't do while living in Nazareth. Here the people of Nazareth are hearing of Him healing people of every disease, even raising the dead, and the whole time He lived among them He never did any of those things. I can just see them judging Him for not responding when their loved ones were sick or dying, or standing by and seeing the Romans abuse them or squeeze them for more taxes, or whatever wrong they experienced. I believe their offense centered on what He didn't do, the things He allowed to happen. Is that not exactly what we become offended by in our own lives?

Again, I feel like the Lord wants us to choose to lay these down, to repent (to change the way we are thinking and acting) and to choose to be free of these offenses. We might need His help, and we might need to go to some people in the spirit of Matt 18, and make them aware of the hurt and pain they have caused. This is not to air our grievances, but rather to heal our relationships! We don't need vengeance, we don't need retribution, we need our brothers and sisters to be standing beside us and all around us, arms locked together, and united in love.

Lord Help us!

Blessings, Sam