The Truth Is Offensive

After Jesus told the Pharisees and scribes their hearts are far from God and they worship in vain, he said, "it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person" (Matthew 15:11, ESV). Then the disciples told Jesus, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying" (Matthew 15:12, ESV). The Pharisees were offended because their religion was being trashed by Jesus. They were offended because Jesus took their own interpretation of the Law and tossed it like trash.

In today's culture, the truth is offensive. We tell people about Jesus and they get offended because it is not what they want to hear. One way to really get people offended is start talking about sin. Tell them you are a sinner and they are a sinner. See how they react. Tell people who think they are good enough to get to heaven, that they are not good enough. You might lose them. Greg Gilbert wrote in his book, What Is The Gospel?:

The gospel of Jesus is full of stumbling blocks and this is the largest. To human hearts that stubbornly think of themselves as basically good and self-sufficient this idea that human beings are fundamentally sinful and rebellious is not merely scandalous, it is revolting.

Jesus is the Truth (John 14:6) and the Truth is offensive to those who do not believe.