My father grew up in an era and culture in which racial slurs were so common that people thought little of them. Born in 1916 and raised in the Jim Crow south it wasn’t just African Americans who were referred to by such terms but virtually all races from Japanese to Jewish. Sometimes my dad would say things about other people that I found offensive but my kids would just laugh because it was so outlandish. He wasn’t at all being mean. He was just being who he was.
We’ve pretty much gotten past using racial slurs (and that’s a good thing) but we have become so sensitive to the slightest remark that it is difficult at times to carry on a conversation without giving offense. Yet, the Bible makes it very clear that overlooking an offense is a sign of greatness.
Jesus essentially called Peter “satan” and rebuked him in this passage. How easy it would have been for Peter to say, “How dare you. I gave up a thriving business, my family, and a comfortable home to go around following you. I only spoke up against this plan because I cared about you and am trying to protect you. And this is the thanks I get?”
That kind of thinking could easily lead to the decision to just leave and go home. So many today take that very path when seeming offense arises. Had Peter done so he would not have been in the upper room on the day of Pentecost. He would not have led the early church. He would not have had buildings all over the world named in his honor, nor become one of the most famous men of all time. And this isn’t even considering what he might have forfeited in eternity.
What might we be forfeiting when allow ourselves to be offended?
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