The Sin Lying At Your Door
There is a new documentary out on NetFlix called The Social Dilemma, if you haven't watched it yet please do. In this documentary, the founders and workers behind the biggest social media companies, like Google, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter make some startling revelations. One of the most mind-bending is that the algorithms that control our news feeds are designed to feed us whatever will keep our engagement the most. Outside of cat videos, the feed serves up a never-ending consumption of fear, anger, and convenient facts that supports our chosen world views. One of the by-products of this is a world where people are becoming offended at the "other side" and hate grows unchecked. This has led to people getting manipulated, attacking, and killing others with a different point of view. I know many will say I could never do anything like that. Or could you?
The Bait
Offense in the noun form is the Hebrew word skandalon. Skandalon was the name of the part of the trap to which the bait is attached. It has also been defined as a stumbling block (Psalms 69:22 and in Rev 2:14. When Balaam advised the king on how to trick Israel to sin, skandalon was used then. Lastly in Matthew Mat 16.23 our Lord perceived a snare laid for Him by Satan.
In these times that we live in, it can be easy to become offended by injustice and rightly so. Because the Lord loves justice and mercy we as Christians love it as well. When we see a video of a police officer beating or killing a civilian over a traffic stop we should be offended, pray, and seek justice. When we are constantly fed a stream of police injustices with justice seeming to move slowly or not at all. Something more dangerous can start to form. What lies directly behind offense waiting to come into our hearts is hate. Whereas offense can seem minor and insignificant, it has the ability to morph into something far more dangerous. Hatred leads to violence and death. Hatred in the guise of justice is one of the most terrifying forms that it can take.
Instead of looking at someone through the eyes of Christ and leaving vengeance in God's hands. Offense and Hatred prefer vengeance to be dealt with by us instead, leaving God out of the equation. In Genesis 4:1-15 we find the story of Cain and Abel. In this story, both Cain and Abel offered sacrifices to God. Because Cain was a farmer his offering was much harder to produce because God had cursed the ground. Abel offered the firstborn of his flock, which was the required blood sacrifice God needed to cover sin. On its face, Abel seemed to have the easier sacrifice and Cain was angry and offended that God rejected his hard work. It didn't seem fair at all to Cain. So God comes to Cain and asks him "why are you so sad"? If you do the right thing you will be accepted. But beware for sin lies at the door and its desire is for you. God warned Cain about letting the offense fester because the sin of hatred and murder were ready to come into his heart. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened and the Bible goes on to record the first murder in human history.
We live in a generation of people constantly getting offended from serious topics like political views, racial inequality, and the pandemic. People get offended over minor things like masks, Christmas and holiday greetings to you name it and people will be offended by it. This division and hatred has started to bleed into the body of Christ. We must remember that no matter what is going on in the world around us. We are not to be separated by skin color, class, or political affiliations. If your brother in Christ has an opposing viewpoint that offends then pray. Never get to the point where you begin to hate and take pleasure in bad things happening to someone that thinks differently than you. We are called to be and think on a heavenly scale. It doesn't mean that we don't work for racial equality or for the unborn. In all things, we are called to love. Do not allow Satan to cause you to stumble and fall in this area.
I'll leave you with a passage from Psalms 119:164-165 "Because of your righteous judgments, great peace have those who love Your law. and nothing causes them to stumble."
