Discovering the Time to Offend

On Gentleness and Offensiveness III

There are times to go on the offensive against the schemes of our enemies. Be ready to.

When Offence is Winsome

In the first post in this mini-series I reflected on Paul’s exhortations in Ephesians 4 to be gentle, kind-hearted, and upbuilding to one another. This remains true within the context of everyday Christian fellowship and should be our default posture towards one another. Even to unbelievers who personally attack us we should “patiently endure evil” and correct our opponents “with gentleness” (2Tim. 2:24-25). However, this call to gentleness can easily be misunderstood. Clearly it does not trump those moments where there is a need to speak sharply and even “offensively” to others.

Christians often need to do this for various reasons: to win our opponents (or their hearers) away from sophisticated deceptions; to win them to to the truth of the Gospel and its moral implications; or even to show that God really means business when he talks about judgement; to show he “is not mocked” (Gal. 6:7). Christians are starting to realise that such moments are becoming increasingly necessary as the free expression of Christian convictions is increasingly eroded in our time, paving the way for an increasing assault upon such convictions.

Much, of course, hangs on what you think “offensive” actually means. It’s a hard sell to tell Christians we ought to be “offensive”. This is because, for most, the word connotes a kind of deliberate cruelness or an intention to harm someone deliberately, even malignantly.

There are other ways of seeing it, of course, more akin to going on the offensive in sport or war. If you have enemies whose weapons are intended to attack the truth, there are indeed times to go on the offensive. It is a good thing to oppose those you mean to oppose, depending upon how you oppose them. Sometimes, what you may be opposing from them or in them will ultimately end up being for their good.

Godly Grief

In another New Testament letter, for example, Paul literally says that he doesn’t regret that his previous challenge to the Corinthians left them “grieved” (i.e. offended) by what Paul said to them (2Cor. 7:8). This is because, he says, their grief was “godly grief”, leading them to true repentance. Paul was not glad that they were offended per se but he knew (and rejoiced) that this offence was necessary in order to lead them to conviction of sin, and to a more earnest affection for the authority of the Word and those who brought it to them (cf. 2Cor. 7:9-11).

If Paul had taken his own advice from Ephesians 4 exclusively (the way we might tend to do today) he would not have spoken “boldly” enough to confront the Corinthians about the sin they were tolerating in their church (cf. 1Cor. 5:1). This would then have failed to result in the earnest zeal and readiness to give and serve which he then sees in the Corinthians as the good fruit of his (strong) words to them. We can see how the very Apostle who speaks about our gentleness to one another does not shirk back from saying things that he knows will cause people “grief”, when necessary.

Alternative Outcomes