Christian Forums

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • Focus on the Family

    Strengthening families through biblical principles.

    Focus on the Family addresses the use of biblical principles in parenting and marriage to strengthen the family.

  • Guest, Join Papa Zoom today for some uplifting biblical encouragement! --> Daily Verses
  • The Gospel of Jesus Christ

    Heard of "The Gospel"? Want to know more?

    There is salvation in no other, for there is not another name under heaven having been given among men, by which it behooves us to be saved."

Why do Christians offend so easily?

2024 Website Hosting Fees

Total amount
$905.00
Goal
$1,038.00

wogboy

Member
Since my first thread was shut down due to stepping on the toes of the T.O.S, I wonder why I would want to return to a belief system that obviously causes many of it's believers to offend so easily. The question I ask here is not something I just cooked up because my thread was shut down, It is something that I think should be addressed. I noticed when I was a believer that I also would be offended easily, like those Christians, I would feel that any attack or comment against my faith was an attack on me personally. But on the other hand I knew that this is not how I should be coming across if I was to be an ambassador of Christ. But for some reason it was never the case, and the more I stuck to the belief that I was right the more easily offended I would become.

How is it possible that love your neighbor, forgive your enemy, or turn the other cheek becomes nullified. It's something I see too often, and it is left unaddressed in most Christian circles.
 
Since my first thread was shut down due to stepping on the toes of the T.O.S, I wonder why I would want to return to a belief system that obviously causes many of it's believers to offend so easily. The question I ask here is not something I just cooked up because my thread was shut down, It is something that I think should be addressed. I noticed when I was a believer that I also would be offended easily, like those Christians, I would feel that any attack or comment against my faith was an attack on me personally. But on the other hand I knew that this is not how I should be coming across if I was to be an ambassador of Christ. But for some reason it was never the case, and the more I stuck to the belief that I was right the more easily offended I would become.

How is it possible that love your neighbor, forgive your enemy, or turn the other cheek becomes nullified. It's something I see too often, and it is left unaddressed in most Christian circles.
offense is something we all have to watch for

i get offended/hurt when i think i have been mistreated - done wrong - misjudged - etc

i keep watching myself because there will always be things that offend me - and i can't live like that

to be happy i have to forgive or deal with the situation

forgive means drop it - and drop it works the best

dealing with it is when i want to preserve a relationship - and in a close relationship where someone keeps offending me i have to find out why they treat me as they do - it is hard to talk things through and come to a solution - but it is the only way to preserve a good relationship

if i find the other party does not care that i get hurt by their treatment of me then there is no longer a need to preserve the relationship - so i forgive - drop it - and move on

so the short answer is people get offended when something hurts them

in a christian forum a person's belief in God is the center of their life - so saying something hurtful about God, the bible, etc may cause a reaction

with non-christians you will eventually find something that hurts them too - it's just not immediately clear what a non-christian holds dear

God Bless you my friend
 
another thing that opens a door to offense is to open your heart to someone

in christian forums christians usually come to help others or be helped /loved /accepted

when you open your heart to others you are going to be easily offended

it is a fine art to learn how to keep your heart stuck on God and not on people

non-christians may be more prone to only looking after themselves - so they may be less open-hearted toward others

in any case everyone that has a soft heart toward others and then gets hurt too much will eventually become hard-hearted

christians get attacked a lot in the media - on the job - in life - as stupid just for believing in God - so christians can have a trigger point about being attacked for their beliefs

and your questions may seem like an attack depending on how you word them

i offend christians sometimes simply because of the way i word my posts

i have to find out what i said wrong to make sure i don't do it again - and it almost always was a misunderstanding of what i said - but it really is up to me to say it better next time if i want to be understood properly

and i would have to say that most of my hurt has come from christians - why? - because i trusted christians but not non-christians - so right there i had an open heart to things christians say - and if they say hurtful things it goes straight in and hurts me

so again it's up to me to learn to TRUST God completely but only hear what people say - otherwise i can slip into mistrusting people - which is no way to live either

i can learn to trust God - meaning i ask God about everything people say - and lean on Him no matter what anyone says

that works the best for me - TRUST God - and hear what people have to say - and confirm what they say with God

God bless you
 
Since my first thread was shut down due to stepping on the toes of the T.O.S, I wonder why I would want to return to a belief system that obviously causes many of it's believers to offend so easily. The question I ask here is not something I just cooked up because my thread was shut down, It is something that I think should be addressed. I noticed when I was a believer that I also would be offended easily, like those Christians, I would feel that any attack or comment against my faith was an attack on me personally. But on the other hand I knew that this is not how I should be coming across if I was to be an ambassador of Christ. But for some reason it was never the case, and the more I stuck to the belief that I was right the more easily offended I would become.

How is it possible that love your neighbor, forgive your enemy, or turn the other cheek becomes nullified. It's something I see too often, and it is left unaddressed in most Christian circles.
But only someone who gets offended easily would start a thread like this?
You are offended by having your thread shut down. Why not admit that first. Christians are not the only ones to be touchy on issues.
I think you needed to communicate with mods directly instead of making this public. So this thread has a kind of spiteful tone.
just my 3 and half cents.
 
Having said that, I would like to comment on your assertion that Christians can be too "precious". (translation for Americans- "overly sensitive).
Bad language is one area. Using "f" this and "f" that is disrespectful to a lot of people, not just Christians. And its against one of the commandments. I think it shows a lack of imagination sometimes.
I am actually not that touchy if someone makes fun of things in the Bible. Their ignorance is usually evident so the joke is on them.
I notice people who criticise parts of the Bible, have not read the whole book, so don't fully appreciate the big picture.
"Jesus is gay." Apparently some kids in schools write this kind of stuff on margins in the Bible lent to them for compulsory Religious lessons.
It doesn't offend me. It's harmless.Some Christians might think this outrageous but it doesn't bother me at all, for some reason. Not that I think Jesus was ever gay.
 
There really is just two kinds of offense. One has to do with us feeling as though we are not being treated the way we feel we ought to be treated. This is rooted in pride, and thus sinful. No matter the catalyst if we are getting offended because of this we need to take a step back and pray for God to help us with our pride.

The second is offense taken when someone offends God. This can be done to agree, but God is a big God and can take care of himself. In this regard we merely need to make sure we are not sinning against (offending) God, and living in a way that is a positive example to those around us.
 
There really is just two kinds of offense. One has to do with us feeling as though we are not being treated the way we feel we ought to be treated. This is rooted in pride, and thus sinful. No matter the catalyst if we are getting offended because of this we need to take a step back and pray for God to help us with our pride.
But your assertion seems to say we have no right to be offended.
You might say to me "What would you know? You're Australian." If I thought you were serious, I would be offended that you actually feel superior as an American. By your definition, I don't have a right to be offended? And on top of this you say it is sinful. It is not sinful to take offence at a comment. It is sinful to hate someone for offending you. Saying you are offended is being honest and authentic and lets the person know that their behaviour is not being appreciated.
And maybe you are implying that nothing offends you. I find that very hard to believe.
 
But your assertion seems to say we have no right to be offended.
You might say to me "What would you know? You're Australian." If I thought you were serious, I would be offended that you actually feel superior as an American. By your definition, I don't have a right to be offended? And on top of this you say it is sinful. It is not sinful to take offence at a comment. It is sinful to hate someone for offending you. Saying you are offended is being honest and authentic and lets the person know that their behaviour is not being appreciated.
And maybe you are implying that nothing offends you. I find that very hard to believe.
Thank you for completely missing my point, or at the very least dismissing it. Yes, as I said one aspect of taking offense stems from our own pride, and the belief that people are required to treat us according to some preconceived notion. This is folly and prideful.

You mentioned the age-old dilemma of taking offense because of someone's nationality. This can also be applied to race, creed, political stance, etc... Any offense taken because of these is rooted in pride.

You really need to do a study on what sins stem from pride. It will surprise you how much pride influences.
 
I never got around to looking back at the old thread.

Mm, depends on who you're talking to I think. But I do get what you mean I suppose, I remember being offended more easily back when my faith was more new and I was perhaps more, hm....legalistic? As I've been exposed to more of the world that's toned down a lot and I like to think I'm pretty chill most of the time. Like, when people become Christians, they feel like things HAVE to be done a certain way and freak out when people who aren't Christians act like people who aren't Christians? I suppose.

Also, I think cognitive dissonance plays a part. Like, lotttts of people are just raised on Christian values. They aren't taught to use challenge as a learning opportunity or if they are they don't actually practice it. So when people challenge their views, in their mind their views have to be correct because it's what they always believed and it's likely a dearly held or at least firmly held belief. So it's unpleasant to have it challenged.
Cognitive dissonance isn't limited to religion, you also see it in political discussions all the time. Or like, most of us growing up in the US are taught to respect the founding fathers and admire them. So if someone were to say something that seems less than flattering about George Washington, for example, people may not like that and get offended.
 
You really need to do a study on what sins stem from pride. It will surprise you how much pride influences.
I will take offence at the tone of this one for example. Firstly, I suspect I might be more well-read than you on the topic. Call it pride if you like but you have given me no indication you know more about this topic than I do.
And ironically you seem to have a lot of pride in stating your case here. The difference between you and me is I am aware of mine And I don't see it necessarily sinful to be proud.
Now I could resort to sarcasm like you and rebut by saying: "Knotical . You really need to broaden and upgrade your reading on this." But then I've let myself get dragged down to your level.
 
Well, I don't see Christians getting in an uproar over a cartoon that mocks Christianity, unlike other faiths like Islam which has threatened to kill the author of such cartoons against Islam, like the case of Charlie Hebdo.

In that comparison, Christianity is very friendly.
 
I don't see much point in reviving this thread. This forum is for nonbelievers to ask questions and CFnet Christians to answer. The original poster has not been logged in for almost three years. If you wish to post in this thread address the OP's questions but understand that your answer may not be seen by the OP. If you wish to discuss the topic, please start a new thread in the appropriate forum.
 
Back
Top