One of the signs Jesus mentioned about the last days was that many people would be offended (“…then shall many be offended…” - Matthew 24:10). This is certainly true today. Some wear their offense as a badge of honor, as if by being offended they display some sort of moral superiority. Sometimes it is not enough for them to be offended; they find it offensive if you or I are not offended to the same degree, or at the same circumstances that offend them. But Jesus wasn’t recommending behavior, He was merely providing insight about the type of outlook that would prevail in the last days. In fact, one of the keys to blessing and happiness, He said, was in living “unoffended” (Luke 7:23).

If we wanted to, we could find something to be offended about every single day. But when we focus so intently on the faults of others, we often don’t have time to focus on our own. Politics is one of those places where we can be easily offended. Some personalities in the public space seem to thrive on triggering offense in others and have become quite successful in doing so. Often even supporters of a particular elected official can find their personal comments or behavior distasteful at times. But “personally distasteful” is sometimes preferred to “publicly unacceptable”.