About Things Which Trip Us Up

 I wrote and deleted a post this morning about events that were happening in the news. These events triggered my sense of right and wrong as I perceived a deceptive injustice was being committed. They offended my sense of right and wrong. But then I had to ask, what is more important? That I point out the wrong which had been done, and risk turning away more people who disagree with my assessment from reading those posts which point them towards being a disciple of Jesus Christ? Is it worth it placing a stumbling block in their way just because one had been placed in mine and I tripped up on it?

     And this got me to thinking about the word "skandalon" in Greek. It's the linguistic ancestor of the word "scandal," but it literally means "something which someone trips over, an offense." And then the thought came to me, what is being tripped up? The sense of right and wrong. What is being agreed with or disagreed with. Another way to express this idea is that a "skandalon" is a good/evil, right/wrong "trigger". It's something which offends, triggers the hamartia malfunction, and makes us take back control of our behaviors from the Spirit of Christ.

     I hate watching the things which are happening in the news, and what's happening within the halls of power and behind the scenes. But anything which could be a trigger for me has to be let go so as not to disengage from the cooperation with the Spirit of Christ, and this is one of those things.

     As disciples, we need to be careful of those things which will trigger us to take back control of our behaviors and words from the Spirit of Christ. If there is something which can be a catalyst for doing this, then it needs to be removed from our lives, as He taught. Otherwise, we run the risk of wandering off of the path of Jesus Christ and getting lost in the darkness. Such triggers are a threat to our discipleship, and are the reason why He taught to let them go, and those would didn't couldn't be His disciples. You can't be a disciple of Jesus Christ and continue to surrender control to your own malfunctioning neurology. These two things are contradictory to one another. It's one or the other, not both.