The other day my SUV was tagged by someone with some offensive writing on the side and male genitals on the back side. Did I jump to conclusions? No. Was I offended? Nope, I actually laughed at the amazing artwork and wonder of our county school system and their influence on the grammar and punctuation of the writing. So by now you may be wondering; Dude, what is your point?
Since I have nearly 1600 friends on Facebook, I figured I would post a picture of this and use it as an opportunity to reach out to the artist. These are the words I put with a nice picture of the F-bomb: “Whoever was brave enough to come and write this on my truck, should be brave enough to come to my house for bible study Sunday night at 6pm!” After a few minutes of posting, I began to receive comments and some likes. Just for the record I would like to state that all the comments I received were great and that I appreciate you and love you no matter the outcome.
The first several posts were very good until some people did not agree with me posting the picture. Many [Christians] said I should remove it. Many said I was at the same level of the unbeliever or maybe believer, who wrote the stuff. This began a snowball effect, was I amused? Somewhat. Was I concerned? Absolutely. Now keep in mind, I was not concerned with the comments per say. What I was concerned with was the reaction to the picture. The Holy Spirit began to stir up some thoughts inside of me, and these are some of those thoughts:
The word offense in the Greek is Skandalon; it is where we get the word Scandal from. This means, applied to Jesus Christ, whose person and career were so contrary to the expectations of the Jews concerning the Messiah, that they rejected him and by their wrong-headedness made ruin of their salvation. The bible tells us in Luke 17:1 “It is impossible that no offenses should come...” NKJV. Those were the words of Jesus to His disciples (Christians). Offense will surely come whether we expect it or not, whether we are prepared for it or not! Our attitude towards offense determines the effect it will have on us. With this being said, I find it sad that this offended Christians of all people. These are people who profess to living their lives laid down for Christ! Yet he says it is impossible for scandals to come against you, but we as Christians assume we must turn a blind eye. So if we do this just because of a lost soul writing profanity on a truck and I post it in attempt to reach out, I can only imagine what else Christians shy away from. Do you only reach out to people who look like you? Act like you? Think like you? Like the same things as you? I hope not. In one comment someone wrote “You should take it off, you could have said it a different way.” – Funny, my wife put “Someone wrote the F-Bomb on my truck last night”, and she has 2 people “like” it. Like it? Everyone ignored it, until something according to a worldview, was not right. Hence, my so-called scandalous picture. You see I believe that God is tired of the way Christians act, they want just enough of God to get by and no more. God has called Christians to a radical lifestyle of being like His Son, not like a smorgasbord where we choose what we want to obey and leave the rest. That is why the Bible talks about a great falling away in the end times. God wants us to be salt and light in the world but we can't be if we water down the truth or don't obey what God has said. You see, salt leaves a taste in people’s mouth that is not very satisfying, including Christians. Jesus said, "You can't serve two masters." You see the same attitude in the Pharisees of Jesus' day. They had their own ideas about what was right and no one was going to change that, not even the Son of God. They didn't really want to get close to God; they just wanted to play like they did. That is why people get offended. But remember Jesus told us the world would be offended by him, so it should be no surprise, although it often times it is.The amazing thing in all of this situation was the fact that I was not offended by what had happen to me and my family, but when I shared it with others, no one, I repeat, no one, asked if everything was okay.
Pride also causes one to be offended, even from Facebook posts. Pride has root in self and the scriptures command Christians to die to self. A dead man can never be offended. Our perception of people and matters determines whether we will be offended or not. A Christian's perception should be based on the words of God. John 16:1 says, “These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.” KJV Having the words of God in us will enable us to think, feel and act as a Christian should think, feel and act. Unfortunately we tend to forget the Gospel is violent, just as my sin was violent and our savior being hung on a Cross and being murdered wasn’t violent enough. Apparently people have been saved since their conception into this world. They have never sinned, never seen sin, nor been around it. Much like the Pharisees who were recognized in oral tradition a standard of belief and life. They sought for distinction and praise by outward observance of external rites (according to Vines Dictionary.) They were bitter enemies of Jesus and His cause; and were in turn severely rebuked by Him for their avarice, ambition, hollow reliance on outward works, and affection of piety in order to gain popularity (Vines). Jesus knew their hearts and if they had seen the picture on Facebook, they would have written some of the comments that some [Christians] wrote.
About 5 years ago, I chose to live a lifestyle with no compromise for the truth of the gospel. I knew that this would become an absolute wilderness experience and that even salt tasting Christians would oppose. So in saying that, I am openly rebuking every negative comment that came from the mouths of professing Christians about my post. I will not tolerate leftist Christians and their worldly ways. Am I calling you out? You bet. Why? It’s what Jesus did. If you have a problem with the way I do things, consult my Father. But know this, the bible says that the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, but the violent take it by force. There is a Force moving through uncompromising Christians that the world has never seen before. Something so real that people will be willing to lay down their lives for the cause of Christ!
This day I ask you to evaluate your life. It is not a matter of being offended; it’s a matter of being captivated by a Man who should be offended by the way WE act around Him. Christ too knew offense all too well. He was criticized, ostracized, and accused for things He did not do. He was hated and never known by many. He was despised and rejected. He went to the cross carrying the offenses of the whole world but yet He did not turn around. He did not mock, He did not scorn and He did not condemn. With love He took up His cross and died for those very same ones.
