The Offensive Gospel

There’s a saying that’s tossed around quite a bit lately, on Twitter and Facebook, and it has me doing some serious thinking.

If you’re not offending people, you’re doing something wrong.

On social media, people use this to preach against homosexuality, stay at home dads, working moms, and to use profanity as a way to preach the ‘edgy gospel’.  I’ve often wondered where this comes from.  Where’s the Biblical Truth in this. Surely, with so many pastors using that phrase, it has to be in there somewhere…

Jesus did offend people.  A lot of people.  Jesus offended people by healing on the sabbath.  Jesus offended people by hanging out with lepers, whores and outcasts.  Jesus offended people by saying to love your enemies.  Jesus offended people by not saying it’s ok to stone the adulter.  Jesus offended people by telling them, instead of focusing on everyone else, focus on the plank in your eye.  Jesus was offensive because he cared more about people than he did for the ‘religious laws’.

So.  There you have it.  Jesus was offensive.  He loved people so much it was offensive.  He loved people so much that he couldn’t stone them, so much that he would heal them on the ‘religious day off’.  He loved them so much that he told them the Way to eternal life. 

How does this translate today?  Does it mean we need to post status updates about the extremist muslim that will surely burn in Hell?  The homosexual or the stay at home dad who is worse than a non believer?  I don’t think so.  I don’t think that’s offensive, I think that’s more of the same.  It’s the same hate that this world is filled with.  It doesn’t surprise anyone, and surely, it can’t offend…

How do we live truely ‘offensive’ lives?  I think the only way is to take up our cross daily, shine the light, and love so much that it makes us uncomfortable.  Go out of our way to help and love the sinner.  Become uncomfortable in living a life in closer parrallel to Jesus.  Become more concerned with loving everyone than we are with the Christian laws we’ve laid down over the years.  Jesus did not call us to judge, and we’ve become all too good at that.  Jesus did not call us to tell people they were going to Hell, he called us to tell people they could go to Heaven.  Jesus did not call us to throw stones, beat up, or crucify people.  He called us to love.  Love our friends, love our God, and love our enemies.

Do you really want to offend people?

Drop the rules, drop the show, drop the judgements, drop the regulations and start loving.