At the Risk of Offending You...

Americans seem to be so easily offended these days. Perhaps it's because we are so self-centered. Rather than assume someone is pointing something out as a means to make us better or even begin a discussion, we go right to insult and negate anything that could be beneficial. We refuse to see good in others and judge them strictly by their actions, while we tend to evaluate ourselves by our intentions. Or perhaps it's because we are so fearful. We have nothing in our lives to hold onto and hope for; we perceive offenses and danger under every rock and, like cornered animals, strike at anyone who gets too close. Or perhaps it's because we are just so spoiled and weak. Yeon-mi Park, a defector from North Korea and now an American citizen, has said the current social climate and indoctrination at some of America's top universities are reminiscent of life under a dictatorship. She also called an athlete who protested the playing of the national anthem "spoiled," saying she doesn't know how good she has it. Any one of these things-- ego, fear, privilege --or some combination, could be the reason for such a propensity to offense. 

The Bible tells us the gospel is an offense, foolishness to those who are perishing and the aroma of death. As our pastor would say, "Not exactly one of those passages of Scripture you'd find on a refrigerator magnet." Jesus Himself is described as "a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense." So how do you share such offensive news with the world? Well, if you're Peter, you tell a group of Jews that they themselves are responsible for the death of their own awaited Messiah. And if you're Paul, you ride into a foreign region and tell a crowd of idol-worshipping citizens to turn from their "useless things" to the living God. How is that for offense? After Peter's sermon, three thousand people came to follow Jesus. Paul received a different response: they wanted to worship him and his coworker, Barnabas, thinking them to be gods! These men did not hold back in their preaching; they gave the masses the straight truth. They were bold; they did not "leave out the messy parts;" they did not fear offending anyone. In obedience, they spoke the words placed in their mouths by the Holy Spirit, and God blessed their work. 

Honestly, I don't think people today are much different from those in the days of the early church. The people Peter and Paul encountered were religious. They worshipped their own deeds or they worshipped created idols, and they didn't want to leave behind their old way of doing things. Sound familiar? The Bible tells us "there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9). I think it's time we stop sugar-coating and dumbing down the good news of Jesus. It's time we stop reinventing the gospel to make it more palatable to the world. It's time we stop focusing on people living their "best life now," and start focusing on pleasing the perfect, holy, eternal, almighty God of the Universe. People want to know if they measure up. They want to know where they came from and where they're going, and they want to know how to know. Those that don't will probably be offended. But since it is God who looks on the heart, let us obediently speak boldly in love and let God handle their offense.