Sermon: How to Offend Someone

A Beginner's Guide to Offense
#1820B

Given 31-May-25; 34 minutes

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We all have unintentionally offended others by ignoring cultural or situational awareness and forgetting that different gestures, actions, and words may carry diverse meanings across other cultures and contexts. Cultural differences include hand signals (such as a thumbs up or crossing fingers) which are innocuous in one culture but highly offensive in another. Biblical teachings on offense include Abraham misleading Pharoah and Abimelech about his "sister" and Jesus's rebuking Peter for attempting to deter Him from God's purpose. We must observe the following principles to avoid offense: 1.) maintain situational awareness, understanding the contexts and needs of those around us, 2.) maintain humility, prioritizing the well-being of others over our own, and 3.) maintaining action-oriented love-taking deliberate steps to care for relationships, even if it requires self-denial. Even though offense is inevitable, we must emulate Christ's love by avoiding unnecessary harm while prioritizing the spiritual growth of others. In our daily interactions, we must continually reflect on our own behaviors, striving to build up rather than tear down relationships.




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