I’ll buy you a piece of pie and a cup of coffee at the Royal Blue in Stillman Valley if you can find someone who gets offended if you call them a purple zebra.
Try it. Go to the mall. Or, your local coffee shop and look at someone, and tell her that she’s a purple zebra. See if they get mad.
Of course, no one in their right mind will get upset about being called a purple zebra. Everyone knows the label doesn’t fit.
On the other hand, if you tell someone that he’s a rebellious sinner, things get more interesting. Because, all people, even unbelievers, know deep down in their heart of hearts that they are accountable to a righteous God. The defensiveness of people – – (Romans 2:14 ff) shows that they have a standard of righteousness written on their hearts.
And, for those, who will be broken about their sin, we have good news . . .
It is not only because the label doesn’t fit that makes it inoffensive. The term in and of itself is not offensive–it is rather ludicrous.
As a teacher, I get regular evaluations from my students. Usually they are positive and/or constructive criticism; however, every once in a blue moon I get a student whose panties are in a wad and wants to say something bad about me. It too is a label that doesn’t fit–but it hurts and I take offensive. It takes a while for me to calm down and look at the reality of the situation.
This doesn’t invalidate your point that being called a sinner hurts because it is true. But it is also true that being called a sinner hurts because it is offensive.
Samantha, those are good insights. Being a teacher is like being a pastor in that to do it with integrity, you need to deeply care about what you are doing. But, when you care about what you are doing, it hurts so much when there is unfair criticism.