Are ya feelin' a bit broken? How did it happen, or..?
Did they not like what you said?
We do our best never to offend people. Some believers won’t even talk to others so that they won’t offend them.
Some people today are offended by nothing offensive.. perhaps cuz of their upbringing or from what they’ve earlier been taught. Dunno, wanna find out.. Jesus told us to go tell cuz he loves all and it’s important.
I say... Live boldly for him. You’ll be so glad you did.
It’s better to temporarily offend someone who doesn’t know Jesus Christ and see them ultimately come to faith than to never offend them in any way and see them enter eternity without Him.
“Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.” —Jesus, Matthew 10:34
Can sharing the Gospel divide people? One day God will divide people for the destiny they each chose. It’ll happen.
In that final portion of a section of Matthew’s gospel containing a series of parables.he wrote in verses 25:31–46 this:
“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me.
"Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you; or thirsty, and give you a drink? When did we see you as a stranger, and take you in; or naked, and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?’
“The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.
’“Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?
’“Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did not do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
It’ll be a time of dividing according to our personal choices made.
Now days most people we’ve known or met understand that they are a sinner who yes, have done some sins ..yes, that we all are sinners really. Man, especially at those parties where I used to hang out at. We all knew it. But some people say Nope. I’m flawlessly good, perfect even and really mean it. Mormons even believe they each will become deities ready to populate the planets out there. No lie.
Some people say.. Yes.. by word and by life..YES, to the Gospel, and some people say.. No.. to God regarding the most imperative Message they’ll ever hear.
The Bible says in Romans 3, “As the Scriptures say, ‘No one is righteous—not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one’” (see verses 10–12 NLT).
That precisely doesn’t sit well with some people even though it’s true. In a society that has changed quite a bit.. where there’s so much emphasis on self-image, pleasure seeking, money, feeling good, youth, looks and self-worth it’s no longer accepted by many. Yet God essentially says, “You’re not good. And there isn’t even one righteous person.” Alone you can’t even perfect yourself or make yourself good in God’s eyes. We’ve all broken his top ten list of commandments -- we all need his free forgiveness and Spirit.
Woe, don’t judge me, man. Who do you think you are to make such evaluations?
Well Buckeroo, those aren’t my words or ideas. Those are God’s. I merely gave you what he said.
And that can sting for many. It cuts to the root of the issue. It hurts even. But then God’s Holy Spirit works within our hearts to convict and prepare us for his Greatest miracle blessing. Salvation, if we’ll simply turn and trust. If we’ll simply receive God’s Son, Jesus Christ into our hearts.
If we allow the Spirit to work, we begin to recognize that it’s all true -- the Bible is. I love the illumination of the Spirit. And we believe it. So, we accept God’s only remedy -- his physically resurrected sinless Son (you’ve heard about Christ’s dying on the Cross ordeal, in my place, in yours too) who is still fully God and fully man and for you.
And that message which initially brought us the sting so to speak ultimately brings us his abundant and eternal LIFE!.
How cool is that!? We can evaluate and witness of his love (as fruit inspectors) and he evaluates too.
Jesus said, “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34).
Has that happened in your family or with relatives cuz of the Gospel? Are some now against you even when you say nothing about what happened regarding your forgiveness?
If you’ve been seeking to please the Lord.. been seeking to live a godly life and it’s causing some division because you’re unwilling to compromise your faith in Christ, don’t lament bro or sis. We seek him, and want to be wisely tactful, so as not to offend anyone, but the truth of the Scriptures will offend some people. There is an offence in the Cross of Christ, we just don’t want to add to that offense by foolish decisions, acts and or words. We want to minister to needy people the way Jesus did while here. In love minus any spiritual compromise.
But remember the people who clearly heard him -- many were offended as well.. all the way to Calvary’s hill.
It’s better to unintentionally.. temporarily offend someone who doesn’t know Jesus Christ and then see them ultimately come to faith cuz seeds were planted and watered in them.. than to never offend them in any way and later see them enter eternity without Him in their lives.
If you’re going to act like a true disciple cuz you actually are one, you'll rejoice with the truth. If you’re going to follow Christ in any given situation, it may bring temporary division among some people. It may cause a temporary sting when even tactfully the truth is shared ..yes, graciously. Can happen. But ultimately, it can bring the greatest harmony of all. That’s what we want for those we care about.
Be born again. Come to Christ.. or as you need, just come back to him today.
