Offended

It is said that being offended is a big cause of people quitting church. If the pastor is a true man of God, he will preach what God tells him to preach.

Thayer's Greek Lexicon meaning of, "be offended":

“To be offended in one, (find occasion of stumbling in), i. e. to see in another what I disapprove of and what hinders me from acknowledging his authority:"

"And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me." - Matthew 11:6 KJV

"And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house." - Matthew 13:57 KJV

"Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad." - Matthew 26:31 KJV

"Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him." - Mark 6:3 KJV

If we love our brothers and sisters in the Lord, we will not turn on them over being offended. A lot of what we are offended by is coming from God, but we find an excuse to blame the preacher. We need to take from the message what God wants us to apply to our life, making the changes God wants us to make for our good and for our salvation. 

If there was something a preacher said that hurt us personally, we need to forgive the messenger, so that the devil will not trip us up in our walk with God by our unforgiveness.

"Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye." - Colossians 3:13 KJV

"Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices." - 2 Corinthians 2:11 KJV