A Rock of Offense

Paul exhorts believers in Ephesians 4:15 to speak the truth in love.  God's love looks very different than what passes for love according to man's selfish standard.  Because we love people, we ought to tell them the truth.  We know the adage rings true:  the truth can hurt.  Sometimes we don't want to tell people the truth because we are afraid of offending them.  When I am faced with this dilemma, I admit that the battle is not so much about others.  My natural tendency is first to consider myself:  what others will think of me, how uncomfortable I am, or countless other self-absorbed rationale.  Those are tendencies I must confess as sin and forsake as I follow Jesus.  It is the love of Christ which should compel Christians to speak the truth in love because we deeply care about others more than ourselves.

The message of the Gospel and the cross is a most offensive message.  1 Peter 2:6-8 says, "Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame." ⁷ Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, "The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone," ⁸ and "A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense." They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed."  Jesus is this "rock of offense."  The chief priests and scribes stumbled at Christ's Word because of His claims of deity and how He trumped the Law of Moses.  He openly spoke of their hypocrisy and sin according to God's righteous standard.  The offense of Christ continues to this day.  To say a man is a sinner and needs salvation through repentance and faith to avoid facing the wrath of a furious God for eternity is very politically incorrect.  There are some modern day churches that avoid any talk of hell, sin, judgment, or even the blood of Christ because it is offensive.  But the love of Christ compels believers to speak the truth on even these difficult, unpopular, and polarising topics - even when faced with being ostracised, mocked, arrested, tortured, and killed.  God and the scriptures are immutable, though the world continually sways like a ship at the mercy of the tide.

The day is coming, and even now is, that the divide between Christianity and the world becomes so wide no one can possibly straddle it.  The world's opinion of Christianity and what is commonly called "the church" has changed markedly over the last twenty years.  It used to be that Christians were considered "Jesus freaks" or a mild nuisance at best.  Others looked upon followers of Christ as deluded people entrenched in tradition since their childhood, brainwashed of reason, and in need of a support group or crutch to cope with life's difficulties.  "To each their own," people would say through a wry grin.  Today even in countries with a strong Christian tradition, there is much more vitriol directed towards the church.  People who are tolerant towards everything under the sun are increasingly intolerant and accusatory towards Christians as being bigots, haters, and unloving.  Pity has given way to fierce anger.  Are Christians without faults?  Of course not.  The Bible and our consciences tell us that all have sinned and no one is perfect.  But the reality is we believers are called to speak the truth in love, and love does not mask the truth.  We must be mindful there are ways to deliver an offensive message without having an offensive tone or attitude. 1 Corinthians 10:32-33 says, "Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, ³³ just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved."

Jesus came to earth as a revelation of divine love.  Many of the things that He said were deemed offensive by the people who heard Him.  His words were offensive because they did not believe He was God.  If they believed He was God, the religious Jews would have given Jesus latitude to speak as God.  But because they did not believe His claims, they were deeply offended by Him.  Even though Jesus did many great things which could not be spoken against, they desired to kill Him!  Therefore the followers of Christ will be despised, despite any social programs or good things we may aspire to do.  Jesus said to His followers in John 15:17-19:  "These things I command you, that you love one another. ¹⁸ "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."  Christians are not of this world, yet there remains a temptation to soften the rough edges of the Gospel to be more palatable to the world.  What is created is another gospel which is devoid of the power to convict, justify, transform, redeem, or sanctify.  It is a false gospel that is no Gospel at all.  We are messengers bringing Christ's message of salvation unto all people, and only an evil messenger selectively edits the message.

As Joshua told the people who entered into the land of promise, so the Holy Spirit exhorts us today:  choose this day whom you will serve.  Choose this day whom you will fear.  Choose this day whom you will trust.  We cannot serve two masters:  either we believe the scriptures are the perfect, unchanging, unalterable words of God and we preach and live them without apology, or we cast them aside and trample them under our feet as rubbish.  It is time for us to believe the scriptures so we might know God.  Even if our love is misconstrued, distorted, or interpreted as hatred by those blinded by the ruler of this world, so be it.  May we speak the truth in love, fearing God alone.  May we follow Christ's example as He went about doing good unto all.  If it is ordained we suffer persecution, trials, scorn, slander, loss of credibility in the eyes of the world, loss of physical freedom, or even our lives, AMEN!  Even in these things we can rejoice, when our eyes are fixed upon Jesus.  Is a servant above His Master?