Not Offended by the Job Description

On the first day of school and I'm dreaming of a vision for teaching christianly...


"You know, Jesus had it so right. If you want to know what is holy and what is of God, look and see what’s happening. Is there love going on? Are gifts of love being given? Is there healing? Are the blind being helped to see what really matters? Is there strengthening? Are the crippled being helped to walk on their own? Is new life coming? Are the dead coming to life? Is there love going on? Are gifts of love being given? Because if there is love—no matter the creed of the giver, the circumstances of the gift or the trappings—no matter what, if love is going on, Christ is there because Love is there. And blessed be anyone who takes no offense at love.

I think Christians have a special job to do. I think our gift and our job description is to not take offense at love; our job description is to notice and appreciate and thank God for the gifts of love, wherever and through whomever we see or hear love. I really believe our gift and our job description is to not take offense. Not to take offense at people who are different, not to take offense at God’s love which can show up in the most peculiar ways. We live in a country where the body of Christ has been splintered into many, often tiny, sometimes suspicious little groups. We religious folks take inordinate offense at each other.

We live in a world where fear of the different runs deep and where prejudice is often masked by piety. I believe the gift we can give is not to judge the judging ones, the suspicious ones—that’s God’s job—but to admit that we know what it feels like be prejudiced, to take offense at the different.

Blessed are the ones who take no offense at love, who rejoice when the blind see, the lame walk, the hungry get fed, the dirty get clearned up, the lifeless live, the poor hear great news. However awkwardly given however peculiar the giver, blessed are we when we are just so glad to see love. That’s our gift and our job description. Blessed is anyone, Jesus says, who take no offense at me."

-from "Earthly Good"