Recently, a kindergarten class was forbidden from singing “God Bless the USA” because of the fear it might offend someone. This is just one of countless examples of political correctness we hear today. I hope fellow Christians agree with me that political correctness has reached the level of absurdity. Here are a few actual examples, believe it or not. I promise I’m not making these up. A poor person is Economically Unprepared; a bum is a Displaced Homeowner or Involuntarily Domiciled; an Old Person is Gerontologically Advanced; a drug addict is Chemically Challenged; an Obese/Fat person is Differently Weighted, People of Mass, or Gravitationally Challenged; a corpse is Metabolically Challenged, or Terminally Inconvenienced; and a learning disability is Self-Paced Cognitive Ability.
This is laughable when we are referring to the non-Christian realm. Problem is this mentality has crept into the some churches. In 2006 a group of German scholars unveiled the “politically correct” Bible. Now we have “The Feminist Bible,” “The Gender Neutral Bible,” and “Oxford’s New Pro-Homosexual Bible.”
For the last two decades, Church growth teachers have placed a lot of emphasis on ‘seeker safe’ and ‘seeker sensitive’ churches. I did a two year research project for a church on these safe and sensitive approaches. My conclusion was the Gospel is offensive. Jesus offended people—probably one of the reasons He was crucified. Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?” (Mat 15:12).
Sin is definitely not a politically correct word today. People have come up with all sorts of euphemisms. Instead of calling it sin, it’s labeled as a mistake, an error, a slip, or a momentary lapse, etc., etc, etc. Then we hear the excuses for these so called errors. “Oh, I’m just human,” “I don’t know what came over me,” “I had a bad childhood,” or “I was on meth and didn’t know what I was doing,” and the list goes on and on. The most ridiculous defense I’ve heard so far was last week a man charged with murder explained that it was because he drank too much caffeine.
I’m not suggesting as Christians we go around deliberately offending others. But neither should we conceal our Christian principles or what Scripture teaches in fear of offending others. No matter how it’s labeled, sin is still sin in the eyes of God. The New Testament uses several different terms when referring to sin. The most common word means ‘to miss the mark’ as archer shooting at a target but misses the bull’s eye. Sin then is the action of a person missing the goal of conformity to a standard set by God. On the other hand ‘righteousness’ means just the opposite, conformity to the standard. Paul declares, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). He also explains in the Book of Romans that as a result of having sinned, we need a Savior. And the good news is God has provided a Savior and if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Rom 10:9).
An excuse we commonly hear concerning sin is, “I was born this way.” I actually agree with this statement. We are all born with the propensity towards murder, committing adultery, lying , drunkenness, living as sexual deviants or just call it what it is—sinning. Biblically these tendencies or potentials are called the sin nature. Yes, we are born with this sinful nature we inherited from Adam and Eve. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t overcome sin through Christ.
Sinners must stop blaming someone or something for their ‘errors’. Everyone should go look in a mirror, point their finger, and say, “there’s the problem.” Born this way isn’t an excuse. Jesus not only died for our sin, He set us free from the slavery of sin. Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; (Rom 6:6). The key is acknowledging you are a sinner and also understand you can live a life without bondage. I like what Paul wrote to Timothy, Then they may come to their senses and escape the Devil’s trap, having been captured by him to do his will (2 Timothy 2:26 HCSB). Be like the prodigal son in the pig pen—even those who are believers and are being deceived—come to your senses and go home to the Father—you’re free and He’s waiting!
Sustaining Word for the Week:
Don’t let the world mold you into its false ideologies. Stop fearing that you might offend someone. Tell yourself and others the truth, and the truth will make you free (John 8:32).