On Offending the World

In Matthew 11:6 and Luke 7:23, Jesus tells us that we are blessed if we do not take offense at him. Even his Father, in Isaiah 28:16, calls the Christ a stumbling block and a rock of offense.

The fact is that the Truth offends people. Jesus knew this then and now. The truth that we are all sinners and destined to the very real place called Hell is very offensive.

Are we offending people with the Truth or with something else under the veneer of Truth?

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:31-33, “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God; just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved.”

In Romans 14:20, he writes, “Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense.”

As Followers of Christ are we offending people by shunning the social outcasts? Are we offending people by scoffing at those who are “different”? Are we offending people by boycotting companies with a homosexual agenda or for saying “happy holidays”? Are we offending people by holding them up to a standard that cannot be met without Christ abiding in them? Are we offending people by being nuisances?

I think we are. Did Christ offend people? Yes, absolutely. Christ offended people so much that he died for them, a true offense to a sin-filled world. The question is, are we willing to offend the world by sacrificing our lives to it, as Christ did, or are we only willing to suppress the world in order to maintain our own comforts?