peace. James 1 states:
19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;
20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
In Proverbs 19, we read:
11 The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, And his glory is to overlook a transgression.
So, there are two Scriptures that address not being quick to get angry, and you could say that can be interpreted to mean not being easily offended. That is not the methodology of today's culture - we allow small infractions to become large irritations. We become polarized just simply because other people, sinful people just like you and me, do not act or speak in the way we think they should. There is no "safe space" from offense - rather than run and hide, we can rely on the strength of the Lord and the foundation of His Word to direct us in our responses.
In the 119th Psalm, we can read a passage that addresses love for God's Word and how that can shape our attitudes:
162 I rejoice at Your word As one who finds great treasure.
163 I hate and abhor lying, But I love Your law.
164 Seven times a day I praise You, Because of Your righteous judgments.
165 Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble.
That is from the New King James Version - the King James says in verse 165:
165 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
On yesterday's program, I highlighted this "cry closet" that was in place at the University of Utah during final exams. A Christian family therapist had told CBN News that this as an example of "coddling" today's college students. In this case, it was an artistic attempt to provide a place to escape stress.
But, we know there has been much discussion of the notion of so-called "safe spaces" on college campuses, where people could go and be free of offense, even to the extent of being shielded from comments with which they disagree. Last year, The Daily Signal published the findings of several surveys relative to this topic. Here is some data from one of those:
This is a very complex subject, but you are seeing this trend on a number of secular college campuses where people want to shut down speech just because they disagree with it - rather than allowing students to engage in a free (and civil) exchange of ideas, school administrators attempt to manipulate the conversation.
School after school has been challenged on its restrictive policies allowing so-called "free speech zones," again attempting to shield students from ideas with which they disagree; and not only that, but claim to be offended by. It is interesting - those who champion tolerance end up being intolerant of those with whom they disagree, there are those who claim to speak against injustice, it seems, are unjust and uncharitable to those who don't necessarily hold to their point of view.
For the Christian, we have to realize that we have to take the posture of not being easily offended. People are going to say and do things that we don't like. We are not going to agree with people all of the time. Rather than draw lines in the sand and manufacture conflict, perhaps we can engage in discussion, and even create an atmosphere in which we can share truth. But, this comes through conversation, not public confrontation.
And, the truth is, we live in an age of tolerance and we're simply not going to find a place where we are shielded from thoughts contrary to our own. So, we respond by being grounded in our own beliefs and making sure that we offer carefully thought-out, Biblical positions of the issues that are being discussed. Rather than seek to be "safe" and withdrawn, we should seek to be salt and light to a culture that needs to see truth lived out.
That's not to say that we should see how much worldliness we can incorporate into our lives - when Paul said that he adapted the ways of particular groups of people in order to win them, he certainly did not mean that we are to compromise our position. We have make sure that we are sharing God's truth in the culture, rather than allowing the culture to determine or shape our ideas. It's not a "safe" world, in many aspects, but we do have the goodness of God and the foundation of His truth on which we can rely.
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In the 119th Psalm, we can read a passage that addresses love for God's Word and how that can shape our attitudes:
162 I rejoice at Your word As one who finds great treasure.
163 I hate and abhor lying, But I love Your law.
164 Seven times a day I praise You, Because of Your righteous judgments.
165 Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble.
That is from the New King James Version - the King James says in verse 165:
165 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
On yesterday's program, I highlighted this "cry closet" that was in place at the University of Utah during final exams. A Christian family therapist had told CBN News that this as an example of "coddling" today's college students. In this case, it was an artistic attempt to provide a place to escape stress.
But, we know there has been much discussion of the notion of so-called "safe spaces" on college campuses, where people could go and be free of offense, even to the extent of being shielded from comments with which they disagree. Last year, The Daily Signal published the findings of several surveys relative to this topic. Here is some data from one of those:
Sixty-two percent of students did not agree with or felt indifferent to safe spaces, according to a poll of 1,659 current college students taken by LendEDU, a student loan consolidation and refinancing organization. Of those surveyed, 37 percent agreed that safe spaces “are completely out of touch with reality” and 25 percent said they were indifferent. Thirty-six percent said they felt safe spaces are “absolutely necessary.”The article points out:
The phrase “safe space” has multiple definitions. When used to describe campus life and culture, it usually means protection from emotional discomfort, according to the Harvard Political Review.That Daily Signal piece also relates:
...72 percent of college students believe colleges should not be allowed to restrict political expression or ideas, according to a 2016 Gallup poll conducted by the Knight Foundation and Newseum Institute, two First Amendment advocacy organizations.Well, you won't find any "safe spaces" at Oklahoma Wesleyan University. After receiving pushback from a student who was offended by his speech on 1st Corinthians 13, school president Dr. Everett Piper declared in an op-ed that the college was "not a day care." That became the title of a book. He told WORLD Magazine that the concept of safe spaces was:
...ideological fascism rather than academic freedom. Like fascism, the idea goes: If you don’t think like we think or believe what we believe, you’re unwelcome. Ironically, safe spaces exclude people under a banner of inclusion. The entire call for safe spaces is self-refuting at every turn. C.S. Lewis wrote that the great lion Aslan is not safe, but he is good. The great lion of the liberal arts, the great lion of the academic ivory tower, is not supposed to be safe, but he’s supposed to be good.He also is quoted as saying:
We’re completely missing what our culture is begging for right now: The culture is begging for a solution, which is to confront everybody with the gospel of truth and grace. It’s a gospel that loves people enough to confront them. We the church have the living water of the gospel, but rather than giving the world what it wants, we are just parroting back the postmodern marsh with the message of tolerance, which people intuitively know is a lie.You can access my conversation with Dr. Piper on The Meeting House at the Faith Radio website.
This is a very complex subject, but you are seeing this trend on a number of secular college campuses where people want to shut down speech just because they disagree with it - rather than allowing students to engage in a free (and civil) exchange of ideas, school administrators attempt to manipulate the conversation.
School after school has been challenged on its restrictive policies allowing so-called "free speech zones," again attempting to shield students from ideas with which they disagree; and not only that, but claim to be offended by. It is interesting - those who champion tolerance end up being intolerant of those with whom they disagree, there are those who claim to speak against injustice, it seems, are unjust and uncharitable to those who don't necessarily hold to their point of view.
For the Christian, we have to realize that we have to take the posture of not being easily offended. People are going to say and do things that we don't like. We are not going to agree with people all of the time. Rather than draw lines in the sand and manufacture conflict, perhaps we can engage in discussion, and even create an atmosphere in which we can share truth. But, this comes through conversation, not public confrontation.
And, the truth is, we live in an age of tolerance and we're simply not going to find a place where we are shielded from thoughts contrary to our own. So, we respond by being grounded in our own beliefs and making sure that we offer carefully thought-out, Biblical positions of the issues that are being discussed. Rather than seek to be "safe" and withdrawn, we should seek to be salt and light to a culture that needs to see truth lived out.
That's not to say that we should see how much worldliness we can incorporate into our lives - when Paul said that he adapted the ways of particular groups of people in order to win them, he certainly did not mean that we are to compromise our position. We have make sure that we are sharing God's truth in the culture, rather than allowing the culture to determine or shape our ideas. It's not a "safe" world, in many aspects, but we do have the goodness of God and the foundation of His truth on which we can rely.
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