Fearlessly Courageus
Desk of Dennis Piller
7 15 2026
The Prince of Peace in an Age of Outrage
Part One – When We Pick Up the Offense
Have you ever noticed that we don’t seem to know how to disagree anymore?
I grew up in a different America. We argued about politics around the dinner table. We debated at work. Friends could vote differently, see the world differently, and still go fishing together on Saturday. We didn’t agree on everything, but we respected each other enough to stay in relationship.
What happened?
I’ve asked myself that question for months now. At first I thought the answer was politics. Then I wondered if it was social media. But the more I prayed about it, the more I realized something much deeper may be going on.
Today disagreement has become personal. If someone doesn’t see life the way we do, we don’t just disagree with them—we question their character, their intelligence, even their motives. Families stop talking. Lifelong friendships end. Churches quietly divide into camps. Everywhere I look, people seem angry. And what troubles me most isn’t that the world behaves this way.
It’s that followers of Christ are often behaving the same way.
I’ve written before about what I call the Spirit of Offense. Offense isn’t something that jumps on us. It’s something we choose to pick up. Someone says something hurtful. Someone disappoints us. A politician makes us furious. A family member posts something online that makes our blood pressure rise. At that moment we have a choice. We can lay it down, or we can carry it. We can react…or we can respond. There really isn’t a third option. One is driven by emotion. The other is guided by the Spirit. The frightening part is how often we choose to carry the offense.
The longer we carry it, the heavier it becomes. Before long we aren’t simply irritated…we’re rehearsing conversations in our minds. We replay what they said. We imagine what we’d like to say back. We secretly hope life teaches them a lesson. Come on…don’t tell me I’m the only one. We rarely stop long enough to recognize what’s happening inside us. Offense quietly becomes resentment. Resentment feeds pride. Pride eventually wants someone to lose. That’s how revenge is born.
Here’s what absolutely stunned me. Scientists have discovered that when we imagine getting even…or even watch someone “get what they deserve”…our brains release dopamine through the same reward pathways involved in addictive behavior. For a brief moment revenge actually feels good. It gives us a little emotional high. Then it fades, and we begin looking for the next reason to be angry. The next headline. The next post. The next argument. The next person to blame. In other words, revenge doesn’t simply satisfy us for a moment…it can become something we begin to crave.
Really think about that.
Doesn’t that explain some of what we’re seeing today?
Look I am not writing a bent on politics…this goes much deeper than that.
Turn on the news. Scroll through social media. Listen to talk radio. Read the comments under almost any story. Everyone seems to be feeding the same craving. We cheer when our side humiliates the other side. We celebrate clever insults. We forward videos that embarrass people we disagree with. We may call it justice, but much of the time it isn’t justice at all. It’s revenge wearing nicer clothes.
The problem is that revenge never stays where it started. It doesn’t just affect politics. It follows us home. Husbands and wives keep score. Brothers quit speaking. Children avoid their parents. Friends quietly drift apart. Churches divide over things that have very little to do with Jesus. The Spirit of Offense eventually demands payment from someone.
Then I began thinking about Jesus.
How many stripes did He take because of my angry words…my pride…my need to win…my unwillingness to let something go? Every lash He received was because of sin…mine included. Somehow it’s a lot harder to stay angry
when I remember what it cost Him to forgive me.
Sometimes we talk as though America has never been more divided. Then I remember the world Jesus stepped into. Jews hated Romans. Romans despised Jews. Religious leaders were divided among themselves. Revolution was in the air. Yet Jesus never came recruiting people for one side against another. He came calling people to another Kingdom altogether.
He didn’t come as the Prince of Retaliation. He came as the Prince of Peace.
He didn’t tell us to conquer our enemies. He told us to love them.
He didn’t say, “Bless those who agree with you.” He said, “Bless those who curse you.”
None of that is natural.
It’s supernatural. Are you hearing me?
So why aren’t we thinking about that in the middle of this poisonous pool of rhetoric? Why have we become so comfortable sounding like everyone else? Have you ever caught yourself saying something and afterward thinking, Where did that come from? I have. I don’t want outrage to become my personality. I don’t want cynicism to become my default response. I don’t want my grandchildren remembering me as an angry old man. That’s simply not who I want to become.
Scientifically, anger fuels the desire for revenge, and the craving for revenge has been identified as one of the strongest drivers behind human violence. Most of us would never call what we’re feel “revenge.” That’s too ugly a word. We’d rather call it justice…or standing for truth…or simply giving someone what they deserve. But if we’re honest, our hearts usually know the difference.
I understand that overcoming betrayal and forgiving someone who has wounded you or your family may be one of the hardest parts of the Christian life. Forgiveness isn’t pretending it didn’t happen, and it certainly isn’t approving of what was done. From a biblical perspective, forgiveness is a daily decision of obedience that depends entirely on God’s strength. Shouldn’t that also apply when someone simply disagrees with us? Can’t we lay our opinions at the foot of the Cross, agree to disagree, and still genuinely love one another? Heck, even my wife and I don’t agree on everything.
Maybe that’s why this feels so difficult today. We’ve been discipled for years by voices that profit from keeping us offended. Algorithms are carefully designed to keep us engaged. Outrage sells. Anger gets clicks. Revenge gets applause. It’s like throwing gasoline on a smoldering fire every single day.
That word—discipled—wouldn’t leave me alone.
It bothered me enough that I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
In fact, after finishing this devotional, I realized it deserved a conversation all by itself.
But before we go there, I want to leave you with one final picture.
None of those voices hung on a cross for me.
Jesus did.
And while nails held Him in place and hatred surrounded Him, He spoke words that still confront every offended heart:
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)
If ever there was a moment that justified revenge, it was Calvary.
Instead…
Jesus chose forgiveness.
The Cross settled forever how God deals with His enemies. He begins with sacrifice. Before He asks me to forgive someone else, He reminds me how completely I have been forgiven. It’s difficult to stare very long at Calvary and continue demanding revenge from someone else.
Maybe the greatest question facing Christians today isn’t whether we’re right about politics.
Maybe it’s much simpler.
Has spending time with Jesus made me more peaceful…or just more opinionated?
Questions
1. What offense have I been carrying that Jesus has been asking me to lay down?
2. Would the people who know me best describe me as someone who brings peace into a room…or someone who brings another argument?
Next time – Part 2 – I want to explore a question I honestly wasn’t expecting to ask. If people who genuinely love this country can become so divided…even inside the Church…what’s really shaping the way we think? Whether you’re red, blue, or somewhere in between, I don’t think politics is the deepest issue anymore. I think we’ve been discipled by something we hardly noticed, and until we recognize it, we’ll continue fighting the wrong spiritual battle.
“What part of this hit home for you this morning? What are you carrying today that needs prayer? If you’d like, send me a prayer request here. Let’s invite the Holy Spirit in together. (where two are gathered.) You are not walking alone. Just hit reply…
I read every response.”
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Josh Groban Lord I return to you.
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