When Do You Offend and When Do You Not

“But so that we might cause offense… “ (Matthew 27:27).

In the passage we looked at in church yesterday, Jesus decided not to offend religious leaders. These were the very same ones who would be present when he decided to turn over the tables and scatter all the animals in the temple. These are the same ones he would call “a brood of vipers” (Mt 12:34) just a few chapters before.

So when do say and do things that we know will offend others, and when do we not?

Sometimes we think it would be nice to have a clear set of rules to follow when it came to questions of discernment like this. Do you blow up your Thanksgiving dinner with extended family by brining up the genocide in Palestine or the erosion of democracy in America - or do you not?

One of the challenges of scripture is that so many of these decisions are circumstantial. Of course, we’re always called to love well, to do justice, and to forgive. But one of the reasons that we rely on the Holy Spirit is because it can be so hard to discern which way to go when the lines are blurry.

There’s a great set of proverbs that deals with this issue:

Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
    or you yourself will be just like him.
Answer a fool according to his folly,
    or he will be wise in his own eyes. - Proverbs 26:4-5

Do you feel the tension? Perhaps that’s the mark of maturity - feeling the tension and realizing that a choice has to be made and that we need God’s grace to make it wisely even though there’s no absolutely guide which way is right. May you step intdo that maturity and wisdom today.