Are you offended yet?

I don’t care who I offend!

So claim the dozens of opinionated memes clogging up our social media feeds.  But whether the meme gives the truth about a topic or not, these words are most certainly fake news.  We all care very much about who we offend.  We’re not offending our allies.  It’s those others perverse enough to see things a different way—they need to be offended.  So proudly, bravely we put in the extra effort to upset them.

To be outraged and to outrage others—that’s the goal of far too many interactions.  Why or how to respond isn’t nearly as important as how this purpose fits into the image we want to present to the world.  Since I’m writing this from a church, that image is Christian, and hence the important question:  Who would Jesus offend?

Who would Jesus offend?

Not a hard question to answer:  Jesus offended quite a number of people:  his usual sparing partners the Pharisees, the authorities in the Temple, the occupying Roman government—Jesus offended them all, until their outrage took a violent turn.  Jesus challenged their prestige, their moral authority and even their social standing. Of course he did more than post a few memes.  Jesus offered a vision of an alternative community where love overrides self-interest, service defines prestige, and the least important become the most.  The envisioned community was open to all, inviting the worthy and the unworthy, the powerful and the weak to a life of meaning and belonging. This vision was so offensive that Jesus had to be silenced to keep it from spreading. But we know:  The story doesn’t end here.

Jesus’ mission continues with our own, and that’s where the relevancy of his vision clashes with our online offensiveness and outrage.  Jesus invites us to do odd things, like loving our enemies.  No less an authority than the Book of Common Prayer claims that our purpose is to “restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.”  It’s hard to create an opinionated meme about that.

Being offensive is the easy part. But where does that leave our faith?

This is why Trinity’s Lenten Program will focus on conversation.  “Let’s Talk” will provide us opportunities to practice talking to one another without walking away.  Our goal is to learn to hear and see each other as people, created in God’s image.  Each week we will tackle a particular difficult and divisive issue, not in order to fight it out, but to try to hear the values and concerns behind our opinions, maybe even to see what is holy in the person on the other side.

Being offensive is the easy part.  Maintaining our righteousness and outrage—we can do it in our sleep.  But how does that conform to the image of reconciled community Jesus invites us to share? 

As we attempt these reconciling conversations, it is important to understand:  We are not saying all opinions are equal.  There is right and wrong, things even worth dying for.  We are saying that there is a better way.  The toxic conversations we are having are getting us nowhere.  We’re not looking to fix problems, only to be angry at the other side.  No one’s opinion ever changed due to being offended by a posting online. 

Joining a reconciling conversation doesn’t require giving up your opinion, but it does carry the risk of giving up self-righteousness.  You might lose the ability to tell others what they should think.  Dare to join us for these conversations, Thursdays during Lent, 6:30-8:30, beginning on March 14^th.  Bring a friend.  Or better yet, bring the enemy.

Let’s Talk:  Talking without Walking (Out)

Thursdays, 6:30-8:30pm, beginning March 14.