The following is blog post number fourteen and is part of the Racial Reconciliation in America Series, in celebration of Black History Month; it is entitled: Offenses Part One – What is an Offense?

As it is written: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18, KJV).

RACIAL RECONCILIATION

Offenses Part One – What is an Offense?

As it is written: “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!” (Psalms 8:2-9 KJV)

As we continue our series on racial reconciliation we are persuaded that it will serve a good purpose to give a reminder of what is this creature called a human being. There will be no reconciliation without a revelation of what is being reconciled. That seems pretty simple right?  One would think so, so let us give it a go with an overview of the human creature and its nature. Like King David we ask the question what is man?

We are persuaded that there is a realm of spirit and there is a realm of terrestrial life known as earth. We very often refer to the entire earth as one giant plantation, not planet, which of course earth is that. We also consider earth as a plantation for earth is a holding place of a being who cannot as yet escape it and survive. A being who must labor daily in order to have a meaningful and quality life. Earth is a dangerous place and is made so mainly by the human being. Yet, Earth represents its own sort of danger as an always changing and ever evolving planet. Because the human is in the universe a captive creature; unable to leave Earth, the human being labors on a plantation. This is a place of captivity.

We are persuaded that there is such a thing as good and evil. We are persuaded that there is a war being waged between these two realities and the human being is not only in the middle of the war, the human being is also the battleground. Yea, even as this battleground is, all the Earth and within the human being; it is winning this human creature: well that is the true purpose of the war and the human is the prize.

As has been discussed in previous texts we are persuaded not only that good and evil are real, but they are manifestations of what man was never meant to possess and that possession is a conscience. The knowledge of good and evil is the conscience of the human being. As a terrestrial creation of an Almighty God and as such daily with God, the only knowledge the human had, was of God. As such the human being had no need of a conscience. Humans had no need for two forms of knowledge: that is to say of both good and of evil.

So, we are persuaded that the great transgression of the first man often described as the “fall of man” is what brought evil into human knowledge. The knowledge of both good and of evil has become the natural condition of this “fallen” creature. Within the conscience of the human war between good and evil is daily being waged.

In this we are persuaded is the matter of freewill, the choices of a human being and the consequences from those choices. This is a daily process of human life. It is a war being wage by the un-restored human against the Earth and the balance of humanity. It is a war that makes evil choices rather than making choices of good.

The affects of human choices in the Earth are either its rejoicing, or a suffering Earth. With moral choices humans produce a rejoicing humanity. With evil choices humans produce a suffering humanity. Both the earth and the human suffer in the face of evil if good does not overcome. And this is on a daily basis as the human being interacts for or against the Earth and humanity.

We are thus persuaded that the knowledge of evil as revealed through the choices of the human being establishes the proof that evil exists. Evil exists as a force from its source and we contend that that source is Satan also known as the devil, whose singular purpose is to replace God. To be God, to replicate God is the quest of the devil and we contend that the destruction of the Earth and all of mankind is Satan’s principle strategy in a war against Almighty God. The devil executes this work of war through the choices made by human beings.

This “fallen creature” we are persuaded does not universally accept and dwell in the reality that the war between God and Satan has already been won, as Jesus Christ the Son of God has long ago brought Satan to defeat that will be eternal. The un-restored human (the one not walking with God) does not accept this reality and continues to war against God through evil conduct. The simple fact of saying that one believes in Jesus Christ does not matter, in this reality what matters is what choices a human being makes. There are many who speak with words that do not comport with moral actions that are favorable to the Earth and humanity.

We are informed by the Book of Genesis (the Book of Creation), of the creation that is mankind: a human being, a living soul. The human being is a very interesting creature and is more than just the conscience, i.e. the knowledge of good and evil that we have been discussing. This creature is actually a spirit being that dwells within a physical body that also houses a soul. We are persuaded that this creature is physically animated; by that we mean given life, because of the spirit breathed into it by God and as such every human male and female is a spirit.

They are spirits because God is a Spirit. The human being is created in the image of God therefore the creature is a spirit. The physical body is a containment vessel, and what some call an Earth suit. This Earth suit keeps the “human spirit” terrestrially protected yet imprisoned, that is to say bound by the force of gravity to the Earth. We are persuaded that what a human being looks at in a mirror is more than just a physical body that is trapped in this spirit prison.

We are also persuaded that this human creature is a soul; as we are given knowledge from the Book of Genesis. Genesis tells us that once the Creator breathed life into the physical body of creation that body then became a living soul. That  living soul often referred to as “The heart of man” is what we say is: a human soul complex – the conscious mind, center of thought, the human will, memory and conscience.

This soul complex and the interactions with the human spirit form a magnificent dangerous and puzzling creature. This is a created vessel of God that is in possession of the responsibility to subdue and replenish the Earth. Neither of which responsibilities can be accomplished without the ability to create. As such God has put this ability in His human creature.

After the “fall of man” the conscience developed a capacity of emotions that include: fear guilt and shame, which come along by way of the knowledge of evil. There is also in this apparatus the emotion of resentment. Resentment is defined in Webster’s Online Dictionary in this fashion [resentment: a feeling of anger or displeasure about someone or something unfair: a feeling of indignant displeasure or persistent ill will at something regarded as a wrong, insult, or injury] Likely it is fear and resentment that are the most useful tools of the devil in his war against the human being. Fear and resentment are the two most negative emotions and once they are combined they will produce the second most powerful human outcome which is the hatred of one for another. Only the powers of love and forgiveness can overcome this.

Now there is a fear that is good. This is the fear (more a matter of extraordinary reverence) of Almighty God, and Holy Scripture calls this extraordinary reverence, the first act of human wisdom. There is a fear that allows one to make right choices. There is a fear that will keep you safe from calamity. There is a fear that will cause you to flee from sin or danger. This type of fear is good; but mostly, fear is a negative.

Fear and resentment are negative byproducts of unresolved offenses. Such lead unto a negative guilt: this, in the mind and conscience of the human being – feeds the justification of evil acts, like rebellion against the truth, murders, wars, lies, hatred and other vile acts of evil. We contend that fear is the most destructive of all strategies that the knowledge of evil has inculcated into the soul of mankind.

Overcoming fear is the most important effort of the human being; it comes about by love. Fear and resentment within the conscious mind and an impure conscience are truly favorite strategies of the devil; he makes great headway, in human destruction, through this strategy within the human conscience.

The guilt, fear and resentment strategy is present in every broken life, in every single one. With discussion, where there is honesty and truth, I am confident that we can show any person suffering the darkness of life, how their life has been negatively impacted by a conscious mind that has been overpowered by improperly managed guilt: by fear that has been turned into resentment, and an impure conscience. All of this as a result of some type of offense. Committed or received!

Of course, the main issue here is honesty and truth; for these become absent, in the face of fear! Fear blocks the apprehending of truth; hindering the delivery of it. Beloved, fear creates dishonesty; inspiring lies to cover up both fear and truth! In this process fear inherently will cause the furtherance of offense which is likely the beginning of the darkness. The unresolved creator of conflict and the driver of a circular reality: offense anger guilt fear resentment and back to another offense.

A conscience that has become seared is a conscience held within the human being who is continuously engaged in immoral acts. Acts that a human knows with certainty are evil, not good. Such as acts toward other human beings as an example, that would be considered by them as offensive. We are persuaded that nothing is more critical in the discussion of racial reconciliation than the discussion of offense.

Because this is so important we are enclosing the completed and thorough overview of offense, beginning with the lengthy and complete definition. Offense is defined in Webster’s Online Dictionary in this fashion: [ something that causes a person to be angry or upset : something that is wrong or improper : a criminal act : 1 a obsolete :  an act of stumbling b archaic :  a cause or occasion of sin :  stumbling block 2 : something that outrages the moral or physical senses 3 a : the act of attacking :  assault b : the means or method of attacking or of attempting to score c :  the offensive team or members of a team playing offensive positions d : scoring ability 4 a : the act of displeasing or affronting b : the state of being insulted or morally outraged <takes offense at the slightest criticism> 5 a : a breach of a moral or social code : sin, misdeed b : an infraction of law; especially : misdemeanor —of·fense·less   adjective]

Offense is something that the human being does by choice. The question is always was the offense an intentional choice. The answer to that question has to do with the type of consequences that will result from the choice, the act to offend. We can see that an offense is an act with the most powerful of consequences: it is an assault; if intentional an offense is a kind of emotional warfare against another human’s conscience. We say a war against the conscience as it is the conscience that will determine whether a possible human action is going to be a moral or evil act. The conscience will make this human judgment. While within the "human will" the decision is going to be controlled, as to whether or not a response to the offense is going to be chosen. The choice being: “How will I respond to this offense?”

As a human behavior the “offense” is strategic evil, particularly, if offense is done with knowledge and with intent. Purposeful intent of offense is a tool of the devil against humanity and is directed from and through one human being against another human. The result of this type of emotional assault is the production of anger outrage and fear. To make the choice of doing an offense is sin against the human and its Creator for this is to yield to God’s enemy the devil. Offense is the most powerful cause of race divisions in America and around the world; offenses past and present are the hindrance to racial reconciliation on this day.

We are continually given reasons to delve most ardently into a dialogue that will lead to an end of our racial divisions in America. What is glaringly missing is the voice of the White Clergy who not only have a responsibility before God to engage  and to lead this dialogue in America and we contend that they can do the most good. They are less likely to be called a "race-baiter" and more likely to be listened to by White folk. Recently we have seen the offense of murder of young Black men under the age of twenty years.

The men who committed the offense of murder were  both of White decent and both trials were highly public events. An additional offense to the murder was the offense of not holding either man accountable for their doing murder. Rather than trying the murderer, in both trials the court system allowed the dead victim, the Black teenagers who were murdered to be put on trial. No penalty for their death, or for the offense of murder.

This is not only an offense to the parents of the children it is an offense to the psyche of the whole nation. It furthers the searing of the national conscience. In this the law and the failed performance of the Justice System creates yet another offense. We continue as a people and as a Clergy to fail God and the nation by not defeating our separateness.

Let us therefore seize the day and be strong and of good courage. Let us with goodwill and hope engage the forces of light that can bring our nation unto the love of and for one another and this Earth. We can defeat the forces of darkness that seeks our destruction if we will end our complacency and lay down our fears. Yea, let us all seek to do God's Will; let us produce a better America for all of our children. An America that binds the offense and sets loose a love that Almighty God wants for His creation.