Are you afraid to offend?
"If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you."
John 15:18-19
Often when I discuss the subject of evangelism with other Christians, I hear something like this: “You have to be careful witnessing. Not everyone is a Christian, and some people will be offended when you talk to them about the gospel.” Others respond like this: “I try to witness. But I just give a brief testimony and talk about God’s love. There is no reason to mention sin and hell and judgment to people who are not Christians, it will only offend them.”
Indeed, the gospel is an offensive message. To prove this, we simply need to read any one of the four gospels. Jesus loved everyone with a perfect, unconditional, overwhelming love, and people still called for Him to be crucified. Why? He loved, He encouraged, He challenged, He performed miracles, He even raised people from the dead; why on earth would anyone want to kill such a man? In John 19:7, the Jews, hoping to get Christ crucified, told Pilate, “We have a law, and by that law He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.”
Despite His miracles, His love, and His wisdom, they wanted to put Him to death because of His message. Christ gave up His place in heaven, stooped to the level of fallen man, gave up all of His glory, and died a death more painful than anybody can comprehend, all for us, for our sin. He was willing to die because of this message. He was not willing to lessen His message because of the world’s reaction.
Yet, most Christians today appear to have the idea that they need to dumb down the message of Christ, simply because it may offend the lost world. As followers of Christ, do we care more about what the world thinks of us, or what God thinks of us?
When I am witnessing, I feel the best conversations are the ones in which people are offended. Why? Because the gospel is offensive. And that the person gets offended or bothered by it, it is evident that the Holy Spirit is already working in their hearts. That does not mean I go out of my way to sound harsh. On the contrary, when sharing my faith we should all try to be loving. Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 2:24 “The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged…”
When witnessing, we must present ourselves in a loving way, but we must also present the gospel in its pure, unhampered form; for that is the message that has the power to save man from sin. My pastor once said something like this: “In the Christian church today, our favorite verse is ‘God loves all, gives everybody what they want, wants you to prosper financially, and wants you to say a prayer to accept Jesus into your heart.’ And that verse isn’t even in the Bible.” Isn’t that a sad piece of truth in today’s world?
God is perfect, holy, and righteous. He cannot allow sin in His presence. And telling the lost that God simply wants a prayer, and not a commitment, is nothing short of a lie. Only through repentance and faith (being born-again; John 3:3) can we be forgiven of our sin.
Perhaps you are thinking, “But somebody can get saved without having direct knowledge of their sin, and ultimately hell and judgment.” To discuss this point, let’s consider two scenarios.
Imagine you are boarding a cruise ship, and after boarding, the crew comes to your room and gives you scuba diving equipment. Immediately after providing you with the equipment, they walk away without saying a word. You didn’t sign up for any deep sea scuba diving, so without hesitation you place the equipment in a trash can. With a clear conscience, you drift off to sleep, excited about the vacation which lies ahead of you. Suddenly, in the middle of the night, the ship shakes violently. Before you know it, the ship capsizes, and your room fills with water. There is no hope, you are going to drown. Just before your lungs fill with water, you see the scuba diving equipment out of the corner of your eye…
Now consider scenario two. You board the cruise ship, you get settled in, and the crew again brings you the scuba diving equipment. But this time, with a serious face you are told, “Listen to me. A gigantic wave is going to strike this boat in the middle of the night. It is going to capsize, and everyone on board is going to die. If you want to survive, put on this equipment.” Immediately, you throw on the respirator, and hold the oxygen mask in your hand, ready at a moments notice for the wave to strike the ship. As predicted, it does, your room fills with water. You safely swim to the surface, get in a rescue boat, and float away to safety.
What was the difference in those two situations? In one, the crew simply provides you with the equipment you will need to save yourself. In the other, they not only give you the equipment, but tell you why you need it, and in the long run save your life.
We can look at the gospel in a similar way. Why would a lost sinner turn from their sin and repent, if they see no reason to? Presenting the good news of the gospel without a mention of sin, judgment, and hell is the equivalent of providing somebody with scuba diving equipment, but not telling them why they need it. Despite our desire to actually not offend somebody and witness to them at the same time, we are in fact lying to them, and putting their eternity at risk.
When sin is truly understood and repentance is sincere, there is nothing in the world that is more powerful. And only when presented in its entirety (despite its being offensive), can somebody truly be saved. The question is: do we care more about offending somebody, or providing the gospel truth that Jesus Christ died to create?