Food for Thought-Let's Start Offending

August 2009: I arrive at my dorm at the University of Mississippi and meet my roommate for Freshman year.
September 2009: In a casual conversation, my roommate states that he doesn't see much use for religion in today's society, saying that he believes philosophy trumps it.
Fall Semester 2009: This conversation is repeated several times, and I take the hint that he doesn't have an interest in church.
Spring Semester 2010: I begin going back to church, after a hiatus while I rejoiced not being told to go by my parents. I mention this to my roommate, and he repeats his lack of interest, but says he respects my choice. Not wanting to cause a conflict, I don't mention it again, unless he is asking where I'm going on a Wednesday night. I pray for him once or twice, but never invite him to anything church-related.
May 2010: The school year ends, and we part ways.
June 2010: I visit my old roommate at his new apartment. We hang out for a few hours with another friend, during which I never mention church.
August 2010: I run into my old roommate at lunch while with a mutual friend. I am now living at my church's student center. We talk for an hour. Again, I never invite him to church or mention it.
November 12, 2010: I see my old roommate at a friend's party. We talk from 10:00 PM that night until around 1 the next morning. I never mention church.
This is the last time I see him in person.
February 11, 2011: I have a brief text conversation with my old roommate. I do not mention church.
This is the last communication I have with the person I lived with Freshman year.
January 15, 2012: at Gulf Coast Getaway, an annual campus ministry conference in Panama City Beach, I ask for prayers from my group to give me the strength to invite people I know to church, even if it offends them.
Today, January 19, 2012: I browse through old Facebook pictures, and come across one that I took of my old roommate when we saw a celebrity in the dorm. Curious as to what he's been up to, and maybe at least subconsciously thinking about my recent prayer request, I click on his profile.
10 seconds later: I see many posts on his Wall saying how much people miss him and wish he was still with them.
8:05 AM: I learn that my old roommate was killed in a car accident 4 days ago. I have no idea where he stood in his relationship with Jesus Christ.
Now: I'm siting in my room with this feeling that's both empty and yet still full of pain. We never were very close, and we didn't see each other much after we moved out, but this was a person I lived with for roughly 9 months. This was a person that God put in my life to help and to bring to Christ, and I let the opportunity slip right through my fingers because I was afraid of causing conflict with the person I had to live with that year. If nobody ever reached him with the Message, then where is he now? And, is it my fault?
If there is someone in your life that you feel even the slightest urge to talk to about church or God, do it. Don't be afraid of offending them or irritating them. It is the job of every follower of Christ to offend. Our life is not meant to be an easy one, full of respecting boundaries. It is meant to be a radical one of telling the story of our Savior, and bringing home all of His lost children, no matter what the cost. God did not intend for us to be a timid people, He intended for us to be warriors on his battlefield, soldiers in His war, giving up everything to follow Him and teach others how to do the same. We will never be worthy of his sacrifice or his gift, but we will be even less so if we allow ourselves to sit by quietly and watch loved ones as well as strangers fall into the hands of Satan. As a follower, to truly call yourself a friend of someone must be to impress upon them the importance of their relationship with Christ, though they may hate you for it, though you may lose them for it. In the end, the gain of them in Heaven is worth the temporary loss of them on Earth.
Let's start offending,
Sam

Food for Thought-Political Incorrectness

Question: If you saw something at the park that walked like a duck, and talked like a duck, what would you call it? I would call it a duck. What about a car designed by Ford with the logo of a horse? It's a Mustang. These are facts. So why do we have trouble calling things what they are when it might make somebody uncomfortable? There's a line between honesty and inappropriateness, and we're so afraid of crossing that line that we've given it complete control. I'll be the first to say we shouldn't intentionally be rude or disrespectful to others, but we each have to be able to speak our mind. It's not only the fact that we have become afraid of stubbing toes, it's the fact that society has become conditioned to be extra sensitive to completely appropriate statements. Take race for example. As a black person with a group of friends that includes many white people, who I value and appreciate, I am constantly amazed by their misguided attempts to be sensitive to the fact that I am a minority in the group. I can think of countless occasions where one person has been telling a story, and when it comes time to describe a person involved who happens to be black, they feel the need to turn to me and say "No offense". We discussed this recently. It's not the fact that you interacted with a black person and wanted to describe them as such that offends me-feel free to describe every character: the blonde, the short guy, the atheist-it's the fact that you don't consider us to be good enough friends that you can say what's on your mind. If a black person has wronged you and you're angry about it, don't apologize to me, just get over your anger. You wouldn't apologize to me if the person you were angry with was a Republican( yes I consider myself a conservative most days). Equally irritating is when a stranger wants to correct you so you don't offend somebody. While sitting in a dentist's waiting room with my father recently, a black lady sitting near us commented on how much alike we looked, except for my lighter shade of skin. "Your mom must be light-skinned", she assumed, to which I responded, "she's white." This woman, whom I had never met, told me in a stern voice not to say 'white', as if she was my mother herself. I gave her the most sarcastic look I could muster and said, "sorry, Caucasian". Where's the difference? Isn't 'Caucasian' a synonym for 'white'? I won't say 'automobile' when it's more convenient to say 'car', and this is no different.
Where's this rant coming from? I'm taking a Topics in Film class, where we study drama through plays and movies, and I just finished reading "Oleanna" by David Mamet. It is about a female student who is having trouble in a class, and the male professor who decides that he can help her get an 'A' through private lectures in his office after she helps him realize how he failed her. She asks why he's helping her, and he says because he "likes her". Later in their conversation, she becomes upset and he places a hand on her shoulder. She reacts negatively and files a complaint against him, costing him his tenure. She calls him sexist and elitist, all because he said he liked her, surely as a professor likes an interesting student. It disgusts me that professors can no longer teach and help students for fear of losing their jobs. If it had been a woman teacher who said she liked her, I doubt anything would have been done. In this day and age, we have become so sensitive that compliments are considered assault, and you can no longer tell someone of the opposite gender that they look nice today. Honesty has taken a back seat to compassion, and it will lead to nothing good.
I could easily go on forever with this topic, so I'll just end here.
Thanks for reading,
Sam