Beautiful is a description we often use for Jesus. We picture him holding children in his arms, forgiving broken people, tenderly healing the suffering and welcoming those who are considered outcasts. Offensive, however, is not a word we often use to describe Christ and yet when we read the Gospels we frequently find him offending people to the point they want to kill him!
When we offend others it is usually for selfish reasons. We are either getting even with them for offending us or they have done something we don’t appreciate and we’re letting them know our feelings. Jesus’ motives for upsetting people were far different. His intent was always to get them to re-evaluate their relationship with him.
It is not an exaggeration to say that if a Christian has never felt offended by what Christ said or did, they are missing some essential teachings. Jesus always pushes people to grow not only in their understanding of God, but also their commitment to him. He is never content to leave us as we are, but rather to help us grow into the kind of people he saved us to be.
But why does he have to be offensive? Because we’re stuck in comfortable attitudes and habits which distance us from him and need to be changed. We resist being moved out of our comfort zone and so he has to confront us strongly to move us ahead in our walk with him.
If you’ve never seriously considered the “offensive Jesus”, join us for one of our weekend worship services. You might find that an unpleasant confrontation with Christ might open your eyes to blessings and benefits you never imagined.
Worship service times: Saturday: 6:00 pm &
Sunday: 10:00 am.
