Recently, on Wednesday evening Bible Study, we have been working our way through John Brevere’s Bait of Satan Series on offence.
It has been a fantastic reminder of how sneaky offence can be, how easily it derails one’s relationships with others and God and all the sneaky ways it can hide in a Christian’s heart.
If I had to guess, I would say that offence has been the number one reason mature Christians lose their way. Offence is one of Satan’s superpower tools.
With this in mind, I was reading my regular daily devotions – this time in The Passion Translation – when I came across this very familiar verse translated slightly differently, which added a whole new insight.
[1] As for us, we have all of these great witnesses who encircle us like clouds. So we must let go of every wound that has pierced us and the sin we so easily fall into. Then we will be able to run life’s marathon race with passion and determination, for the path has been already marked out before us.” Hebrews 12:1
The great witnesses he is referring to are found in the previous chapter, which is a summary of the many, many people who became martyrs or suffered a lot for the sake of their faith. Obviously, it is not a complete list, but it gives you a good idea that if you have been offended or even given your life for your faith, you are not alone.
And these people who suffered so much are watching us. People who had every reason to be offended and walk away, yet they didn’t. They marked the path of how to proceed for us and are watching as witnesses to our decision of how we will handle the wounds or offences that pierce us and the sin we can so easily fall into as a result of our choice of how we will respond.
The Passion Translation uses the word wounds. Most of the other translations use the word weight so I was curious and looked it up in light of our Bible study on offence.
Is ‘wound’ a valid translation? Does this verse apply to offence … which is definitely a weight on us and holds us back if nothing else?
I looked up the Greek word being translated as weight or wound (ogkos), which means a mass as in bending or bulging from its load … it says it is probably from the root word agkale, which means a bend or ache.
Interesting that both the translated word and the probable source word leave room to consider a wound perhaps inflicted by weight.
Have you ever seen a bulge fracture caused by placing an object that is too heavy on top of something not strong enough to bear the weight? This translation reminds me of a bulge fracture. A wound.
I can see how the translator got to ‘wound’…
A quick Google search of bulge fracture reveals that this can happen not only in stacks of containers but also in our bones, particularly in children.
“The ai overview summarizes a bulge fracture as …
“This type of fracture typically occurs due to a fall on an outstretched hand, where the force causes a compression of the bone, leading to a bulge rather than a clean break..”
A wound caused by pressure or weight compression.
The same can happen when heavier containers are stored on top of containers without the structure to support them. They can buckle and bulge.
“This internal damage might not be immediately visible but can compromise the safety of the cargo and the container’s structural integrity,” according to Arnold & Itkin Trial Lawyers website.
Thinking about all of this through the filter of offence, it brings new insight.
An offence is often a sudden injury.
Words spoken or not spoken.
Actions taken or not taken,
and the wound is inflicted.
It usually doesn’t break the offended, but it is a weight, an internal pressure that, without release, will cause a bulge wound from carrying something too heavy. Intense internal pressure will always find the weakest spot to push until the pressure is relieved.
It weighs us down. Paul tells us the solution is to put aside the wounds / weights so we can run the full race of this journey with Jesus.
Much easier said than done you say. Very true. And as Christians, we tend to gloss over these things. “I have let it go,” we say. What we mean is we didn’t retaliate. We put it under the carpet in our brain, but there is still a lump in the carpet, and we take it out and look at it every so often and ‘choose to forgive’ them – again.
John Brevere goes on to teach that we know we have forgiven when we can genuinely grieve with the person that offended us when they are hurt and rejoice with them when they rejoice. When we can sincerely pray blessings on them and mean it.
No lump in the carpet anymore. The offence is gone.
He’s right. It’s a good test. If you can say you can do that, but have walked away and put them out of your life, perhaps you need to examine that one more time to make sure.
Even in offence, Jesus is our example …” I was wounded in the house of my friends…” Zechariah 13:6
I am in awe of Jesus’s example of how to live after being offended.
He didn’t build walls to keep people at arm’s length.
He still allowed himself to be vulnerable. To be able to be hurt again repeatedly.
And he ultimately died to save those who cursed him.
And all men will know we are His disciples if we have that kind of love for one another. (John 13:35)
It’s discipleship – another look at what it truly means to be a disciple of Christ.
