Daily Devotional – I’m Normal.™ I AM Ministries
“To promote Godly living in a culture committed to destroying it”
Monday, August 1, 2016
The Offense of the Gospel
Why are the lost so angry at Christians? Why is it people often get angry when you try to share to Good News of Jesus Christ with them? What prevents them from accepting the Truth and conforming to God’s will? The answer is they are offended by the Gospel. Deep down, they know something very important is missing in their lives, and they are offended and angry at the Gospel because it reflects their true spiritual condition.
Many who are living in rebellion to God are not even aware of their true spiritual condition. Paul warns us the Gospel will be a stumbling block for many (Romans 9:33, 1 Corinthians 1:22-24). Even though the Gospel is Good News, it is not the kind of good news lost people are interested in hearing.
One reason the gospel is offensive to nonbelievers is that it challenges man’s self-image. Today’s culture teaches us to place great value on our self-image. We take offense any time our image is jeopardized or tarnished. Thus, fallen man wants to believe somehow that he is just fine the way he is. Psychotherapists try to convince sinful men the guilt they feel is not real or justified because they are just fine as they are.
To compound the problem, we use humanist doctrines to try to explain eternal problems. The foundation of humanist doctrines is that man is basically good. The Gospel, from the very start, tells us what should be obvious all along – that man is basically sinful (Genesis 3:6). We are fallen creatures in the eyes of a Holy and Perfect God. So, in an attempt to bolster our own self-images apart from God, we systematically attempt to eliminate any category of sin. We play the ostrich-in-the-sand game, thinking if we ignore sin or claim it doesn’t exist, then everything will be OK. This game may be typical, but it is definitely not normal.
Unfortunately, this game has become a cultural art form. We’ve convinced ourselves sin is no longer that which violates the righteous and just standards of a Holy and Omnipotent God. We’ve declared sin to be whatever interrupts our happiness, contentment, and personal comfort. Trying to cover our sinful tracks, we have exalted the concept of tolerance as one of our most precious core values, hoping this will keep from hurting anyone’s self-image by calling their lifestyle, behaviors, or beliefs “sinful”.
If you speak out publicly in support of behaviors declared by the Bible to be sinful, such as abortion and homosexuality, today’s liberal culture will applaud for your tolerance and concern for a person’s right to do what they please. Speak out against these acts, and others such as promiscuity, drunkenness, recreational drug use, adultery, gambling, and others, and you will be reviled as backward, intolerant, and evil. The only sin today is a refusal not to tolerate sin.
Thus, the Gospel is offensive because it requires man to face the reality that he is a sinner. The Gospel is offensive because it forces man to deal with his ugly, black, God-separating sin. We try to cover our sin by telling each other “I’m OK, you’re OK”, but the Bible tells us that we are not OK. In fact, the Bible tells us we are sick from the top of our heads to the bottom of our feet (Isaiah 1:6).
Paul summarized numerous verses in the Bible pointing to our fallen condition. “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Psalms 14:1-3, 53:1-3, Ecclesiastes 7:20). “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” (Psalm 5:9). “The poison of vipers is on their lips.” (Psalm 140:3). “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” (Psalm 10:7). “Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.” (Isaiah 59:7-8). “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Psalm 36:1).
These verses expose our dark, sinful nature and show how despite what we choose to believe, we are all sinners in God’s eyes. It is not normal to deny sin, for it will not go away or be eliminated if we ignore it or declare it doesn’t exist. The normal thing to do is to confess our sin to God, for He has promised to heal us if we do (James 5:16). The Gospel will continue to offend those who wish to deny its Truth because it forces them to look at their fallen condition. Pray today that the lost will accept the Truth and no longer take the Gospel as an offense.
Jeff Myers
A servant of Jesus Christ
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