ANOINTED TO OFFEND
The Stranger
Years ago, I attended a friend’s church — an African-American congregation very different from any I’d known. The service was alive, loud, and full of energy, and toward the end, they invited people to come forward for prayer.
I wasn’t sure why I went. Something drew me there — maybe curiosity, maybe need, I don’t know. A man I had never met stepped forward and laid his hand on my forehead. Then he said something I’ve never forgotten:
"I think God wants you to know that you have been anointed to offend."
At first, I wasn’t sure what it meant. Was he saying I’d be controversial? Difficult? That I would upset people?
Over time, I realized it wasn’t about being difficult for attention. It was about courage. It was about speaking truth when it matters, standing for justice, and challenging systems and behaviors that harm people — even when it makes others uncomfortable.
Jesus was anointed to offend!
He confronted the powerful. He defended the marginalized. He disrupted the comfortable. And sometimes, that meant offending those who had grown used to the status quo.
Being anointed to offend is a call to act with love and conviction, to question what needs questioning, and to speak for the people who have no voice. It’s not about causing drama — it’s about following Jesus courageously, even when it unsettles the world around you.