The Offensive Jesus: Offence or Faith

“My mother is angry and hurt because we will not be attending her wedding. I want to set a good example for my kids. I don’t want my children to be taught that divorce is ok. Also, I’m not sure the man she is marrying is a believer.

“Oh well, Jesus said He didn’t come to bring peace but a sword.”

 ( Religion-speak decoder translation: “I can not stand the guy she has chosen to marry” )

” My dad is not speaking to me because we chose not to go to his brothers funeral. His brother died of Aides because he is a Homosexual. I did not want people to think I approve of that lifestyle so the Lord lead me and my family to stay home.”

“Oh well, Jesus said, “Who are my mother and brothers .”  ( Religion-speak decoder translation: “My mother is such a bitch, I can’t handle seeing her.” )

I wonder how many family fights and squabbles have been started over situations like this where a believer feels they will be “compromised” at a wedding of a funeral, family gathering and so on? Regular folks can see right through this kind of fake religiosity.

I am cringing writing this because 20 yrs ago that was me. What people saw in me was someone who could disconnect from their pain or joy for “spiritual reasons”. It was all about me. My claims of a relationship with Christ, although true, looked just like religion.

In my previous post I mentioned how often Jesus used hyperbole. It was designed to shock and jar the people out of their common religious conventions and moralizing cliche’s.

Jesus often threw a “stumbling block” or “Skandalon” at his hearers to provoke a dilemma… Offence or Faith. He often did this to skewer sacred cows and false religious notions of the Kingdom of God.

An example of this is when he called the Samaritan woman a “dog” knowing full well his disciples would agree with that slur… only to turn it on them and say of her that she had more faith than anyone He had seen in all of Israel. The religious crowd of that day as well as many Jews had a great disdain for Samaritans. It was a common cultural attitude.

Many times an uncomfortable life situation is an opportunity to connect with the joy and pain of others in the same way that God connects with ours.