Give No Offense

Devotions from Life, Hope & Truth 

There is a scripture I have been considering. The apostle Paul wrote, “Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God” (1 Corinthians 10:32).  

What can we do with this instruction? 

To “give no offense” means to avoid anything that may cause an offense, stumbling, wound or grievance in the minds of others when and where possible.  

That doesn’t mean Christians will never be in a situation where others might take offense at their actions. For example, we may find it necessary to intervene to help a friend or loved one who is addicted to drugs or alcohol. An action like this is always very difficult and no doubt involves strong emotions and tears. But the goal is to help and deliver the person, and it is done out of love for the individual—even if the person initially takes offense. 

And there also are occasions when someone may take exception to something we believe—they may even be very strongly offended! There have been times when members of the Church of God have been disowned by their parents because the parents were so deeply offended by an element of the biblical truth reflected in the practice of the Church. As sad as that is, we cannot help it if the truth itself offends someone.  

But as Paul’s instruction implies, we can control how we react and how we present or represent the truth!  

Regrettably, there have been times when brethren have discussed or presented the truth of God in a manner that is confrontational and certainly offensive. Not only is this a violation of Paul’s command, but I’ve never known of a situation where a verbal attack ever helped bring someone to God. 

Jesus Christ warned His disciples to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves when they went out with the gospel message (Matthew 10:16). We must stand for the truth, but we don’t have to be offensive in the way we do so. 

In the second part of 1 Corinthians 10:32, Paul tells us who we shouldn’t offend: Jews, Greeks (that is, gentiles) and the Church of God. That just about sums up everyone on earth! We need to be considerate of all.  

It should go without saying that we each ought to be very careful not to cause offense to a brother or sister in Christ. We share a common faith, a common spirit and a common goal of the Kingdom of God.  

We need each other, and Solomon pointed out that a brother who is offended is harder to win than a strongly fortified city (Proverbs 18:19). We should take great care how we interact with each other. 

And what about those who don’t fully share our faith? The Jews had part of the truth, but not all of it, and they didn’t have God’s Spirit. The gentiles were for the most part pagan and entirely ignorant of anything from the Bible. Yet Paul tells us we need to be careful to give no offense to anyone. We need to live with an eye toward how we, the truth and the Church of God are viewed by everyone around us. 

The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary sums up Paul’s words with the following: “In all essential things affecting Christian doctrine and practice, even in the smallest detail, we must not swerve from principle, whatever offense may be the result. Giving offense is unnecessary, if our own spirit cause it; necessary, if it be caused by the truth.”  

We certainly cannot compromise in the slightest with the precious truth of God and how we live it. But we can and should be wise as serpents and harmless as doves in how we do so. How we address questions and deal with the hurt feelings or offenses family or friends may take because of our faith is very important.  

“Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God.”