"An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, but the one whose way is straight is an abomination to the wicked" (Proverbs 29:27).
In the movie Braveheart, the English king, Edward I, offers William Wallace a bribe of land, title, and gold to stop his crusade against England's oppression of Scotland. When the princess, who was speaking for the king, offered him the bribe, Wallace responds, "A lordship and titles. Gold. That I should become Judas?" She continues, "Peace is made in such ways." Wallace, who is now visibly angered, shouts, "Slaves are made in such ways! The last time Longshanks spoke of peace I was a boy. And many Scottish nobles, who would not be slaves, were lured by him under a flag of truce to a barn, where he had them hanged. I was very young, but I remember Longshanks' notion of peace!" The princess takes Wallace's response back to Edward I who is baffled by what he hears. He assumed that his bribe would be accepted. He trusted in the greed of men. He trusted in his deception, and the fact that his bribe was turned away confused him. Even more telling of Edward's character is revealed in his response when he learns that his royal emissary gave the gold away to help those suffering as a result of the war. His son, Edward II, asks Isabella, "You brought back the money, of course."
Isabella: No, I gave it to ease the suffering of the children of this war.
Edward I: Ha! That's what happens when you send a woman.
Isabella: Forgive me, sire. I thought that generosity might demonstrate your greatness to those you mean to rule.
Edward I: My greatness will be better demonstrated when Wallace returns to Scotland and finds his country in ashes.
The wicked are confused, confounded, and offended by what is good. They expect everyone else to be as greedy, treacherous, and wicked as they are, and they do not understand it or expect it when a person acts righteously. You might even be able to remember a time when you stood for Jesus and there were people who reacted in a way similar to Edward I. They might have been confused by it. They might have even been angry about it.
I was informed recently about something like this that included me. I was in a group, and I mentioned something about homosexuality being wrong. Now, I do not dislike people that practice homosexuality. God loves all people. He commands us to love all people, too. However, homosexuality is not a people. Homosexuality is a practice, and it is a practice that Scripture says wrong, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). What is also clear is that it is not the only thing that is considered unrighteous. Homosexual sin is put on the same level as a number of other sins. It is also clear that people can come out of such practice just as they can stop being drunkards and thieves. Paul said so, "And such were some of you" (1 Corinthians 6:11). It is not easy. Just ask an alcoholic, but it is possible. The point is that I mentioned that homosexuality is wrong, but I did not say they were ugly, rancid, disgusting excuses for people. In fact, I believe just they are just like the rest of us, searching for good and missing it. However, to that person, it sounded like I was a hateful and horrible person merely by saying what Scripture already says. She did not understand it, and it was very offensive to her Therefore, I was offensive to her, and she got angry at me. Righteousness offended.
What is important to understand is that even those of us who are saved by the blood of Jesus are unrighteous people becoming more and more righteous. The process of sanctification is still at work in us. We come to Christ with many questions, and nobody understands everything from the beginning. The important thing is to submit ourselves and our thoughts to the Word of God. If we do this, we will be on the right course, but we will also offend. Even the thought of submitting to the Word of God is offensive to many ears, but Jesus did not come to have everyone get along, "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 10:34-39). He came to reveal righteousness, and righteousness offends the unrighteous. In many cultures today, when one member of the family becomes a Christian, their whole family will turn against them. They will abuse them, disown them, or even kill them. Many have to keep their faith a secret from their own families in order to survive. Righteousness offends.
Righteousness is an abomination to the wicked because it casts light on the evil that they commit or give approval to. Jesus brought the light to the world, "Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life'" (John 8:12). It was because He illuminated the darkness that those who loved the darkness hated Him. The same will be true of us, "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours" (John 15:18-20).
Edward I never got passed his confusion at the way Wallace acted. Lies and deceit were his strategy throughout the entire movie. He bribed Wallace's allies even as he sent assassins to kill him. At the end of Braveheart, Edward I has Wallace tortured. He attempts to use pain in order to get Wallace to submit to England, thereby admitting that he was wrong in fighting for freedom. I will always remember how the magistrate extended the English royal seal to the prostrate Wallace telling him to kiss it as a sign of submission to the crown. Wallace, in visible pain, coughing and heaving as a result of the torture, got to his feet and stood defiant in the face of pain and death for the what was right. In the same way, Christians must stand upon the Rock that is Jesus Christ in the fact of all opposition. We will offend. We will be hated, but we must never relent.
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