Telling the Truth, Risking Offense
“And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.” (Matthew 11:6)
Jesus was not one who was careless about giving offense by His words. Isaiah 42:2 says, “He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.”
Yet at times, Jesus offended people. After He confronted the Pharisees for making their own traditions more important than God’s Word, His disciples asked him, “Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?” (Matthew 15:12) Yet He had done nothing wrong. He said, “Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind.” (Matthew 15:14)
During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus also said, “…except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20) Now if there were scribes and Pharisees in the audience, and there probably were, do you think they were offended at that comment? No doubt they were.
Another time Jesus told them publicly, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.” (Matthew 23:15) Another time still, He told them, “Ye are of your father the devil,” (John 8:44) Those were all offensive words, to be sure.
Yet Jesus didn’t hate them or enjoy offending them. He wanted them to be saved: “…these things I say, that ye might be saved.” (John 5:34) He was also God the Son. He always did the right thing the right way. He wasn’t harsh often, but when He was, there was a good reason.
Don’t be recklessly offensive, but sometimes you need to risk offense. If you’re a cop and you stop a possible armed suspect and can’t see his hands, don’t ask meekly, “Sir, please show me your hands.” Bark out, “SHOW ME YOUR HANDS!” with your gun drawn. That’s harsh, but you need to control the situation. If he’s innocent and offended, you can try to smooth things out later.
What if a friend has a problem with, say, alcohol or gambling? You know he’s hurting himself and his family. In order to help him, you need to confront him, even if you risk offending him. Proverbs 27:6 says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend;” A friend is someone willing to “wound” you by telling you something you need to hear, even if you don’t want to hear it.
Bible preaching can also offend. No one wants to hear he’s a hell-deserving sinner or to hear a favorite sin exposed. Yet a minister who preaches like this is giving counsel from God’s Word. If preaching offends you, ask yourself–or ask God–if maybe it’s something you need to hear.
Most of all, if you aren’t sure you’ll be in heaven when you die but you’d like to be, please go to www.clevelandbaptist.org, click “Helpful Links”, then “How Do I Go to Heaven?”
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Brian Miller 2/5/2022
Cleveland Baptist Church 4431 Tiedeman Road, Brooklyn, Ohio 44144 216/671-2822