Hello Guys and Gals!
I have been hearing more and more of late about how we are supposed to be careful with the truth we share because those hearing it may be offended and turn away from hearing about Christ and the cross! I do not think this is right! I believe with all my heart that this is wrong! I believe that we should call sin for what it is, that is sin, and that we should call a lie for what it is, that is a lie! If we are not bold, in love, in telling the truth about Jesus, then why would anyone continue to believe in the Jesus we preached to them if we held something back when we should have spoken up?
Look at what Jesus said to his disciples:
"Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet." - Matthew 10:14. Jesus knew that they would not be received by many people! He told them to shake the dust off their feet as a testimony against them when they leave!
And when Jesus healed on the Sabbath and spoke against the Pharisees of that day, did they not immediately start planning to kill him? Do you think that Jesus did not know of their plotting? So when Jesus sees the Pharisees again, he rebukes them because they were saying he casts out demons by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons. This is where Jesus speaks about how a house divided cannot stand in Matthew 12:22-29!
But what about those who didn't believe in him? When Jesus returned to Nazareth the scriptures say that he didn't do many miracles there because of the people's unbelief (Matthew 13:58).
I can go on and on about the many examples where Jesus preached the truth and was not concerned with his own safety, or whether or not he would offend the hearers of his words! Anyone living in sin will be offended by the words of truth you speak about Jesus no matter how nicely you put it! But if you do not speak the truth, then you turn the testimony of Jesus Christ into a lie!
What about those who have been brought up being told lies about their history and would be offended in you correcting their misconceptions of historical fact? You tell the truth anyway! If there is something that they do not understand because of a lie that has been taught to them, you correct that lie to them! If you know the truth and remain silent, then you are just as guilty of the lie they believe as the one who taught it to them!
Look at when Jesus spoke the truth to people. Do you think they were not offended and walked away? They did! But I did not see Jesus go after them! He didn't chase them saying wait, maybe you didn't hear me! I love you! Why are you still walking away? Maybe I didn't say it in the right tone. I love you! Why are you still walking away? Maybe I didn't learn enough of your traditions to be able to explain myself accurately enough so as not to offend you when telling you of myself!
Jesus did not chase after them! He did not change the truth he spoke! He did not worry about offending them! He knew they would be offended and walk away and even plan to do him harm! He spoke the whole truth anyway! He even rebuked those who were already planning to do him harm with the truth that he spoke openly and publicly to them!
So why, I ask you, do we today preach in such a way as to be politically correct and inoffensive in presenting Jesus Christ to people? Do you not know that the holiness of Jesus Christ and the very message of him is offensive to every sinner? Why are we mincing our words? How do you know that the very truth you speak, even though it offends the sinner at that time, won't have a huge impact upon the person hearing it and the Holy Spirit won't guide them into finding out the truth of what you said? How do you know that they won't say to themselves 'if this person told me the truth about this thing, maybe they are telling me the truth about this Jesus as well'?
The point I'm making here is quit being Politically Correct Christians! Jesus was about as Politically Incorrect as they come! So what if you offend someone in speaking the truth in love about Jesus Christ? Yes I keep saying in love because I do not believe that you should yell someone into salvation! But you should still be firm and kind in doing so! You can tell the truth, calling their lies a lie and calling their sin a sin and the power of the Holy Spirit will give strength to your words, if they are the truth, and that person you spoke that truth to, even though they may walk away, has had a seed planted within them! Why is it that we Christians believe that we are the ones who are supposed to reap the harvest of our planting? Are there not other laborers out there doing God's will?
So when you hear someone say that they are offended by the gospel that you speak, simply tell them you know they are and why you know they are! But do not stop speaking the truth of Jesus Christ for if you do then the very lies that you do not correct you will take a share of the guilt of that person believing those lies!
May God bless you all this day!
Francis A. Schaeffer writes about this in his book The Great Evangelical Disaster,
ReplyDelete“Truth carries with it confrontation, loving confrontation, but confrontation nonetheless. And if our reflex action is always accommodation regardless of the centrality of the truth involved, the something is profoundly wrong. If we use the word love as our excuse for avoiding confrontation when it is necessary, then we have denied the holiness of God and failed to be faithful to him and his true character. In reality we have denied God himself.”