Extra Extra WK3

Now today’s breaking news is centered on tiptoeing. Not literally, but tiptoeing around offending others, especially with our faith. In fact, in our recent poll of teenagers in the United States, beyond, and across the pond, many reported that part of their difficulty in sharing their faith is the desire not to hurt or offend others.

In the short answer portion of our poll, some teenagers sent in their rationale behind not offending others, such as...

“All religions lead to God, right? I don’t think I need to push mine on others.”

“It feels awkward bringing up my faith. It’s just one of those topics that’s easier to stay away from.”

“I’d rather live at peace with the people I’m around. It’s not my job to call them out on anything.”

Our fear of offense oftentimes keeps us comfortable and complacent in our faith. The question remains, is it possible to share Jesus and not offend people?

underneath this there’s fear that may stem from people-pleasing.

Maybe fear that people may not like you anymore or want to come to you with what they’re dealing with if you share with them the Truth. On the other hand, some people live on the other side of this spectrum and believe that in sharing their faith, they must give others the “hard truth.” “You gotta tell it like it is!” they say.

Yet the issue with this approach is, it doesn’t matter what you’re saying if it isn’t being said in love. So how do we remain in the truth of what the good news is about? And is it possible to share the Good News without offending

Ephesians 2:1–3 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

Paul’s addressing where we all came from. And we so often forget that. But look at the state that Paul reminds us that we were ALL in – dead in our sins. At a point in time, we all lived in our anger, in our jealousy, in our judgement of others, in our lying, in our gossip, in our disobedience, in our people-pleasing, in our ignorance of God – that’s where we were! And we looked just like the culture around us, operating in what we felt, dishonoring God, and choosing ourselves over others. Because of sin, that was our natural nature. But here’s where the good news comes in... [Leader, read

Ephesians 2:4–7“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

BUT GOD! Because of God, we are free from the penalty of sin. And because of His great love, we are made alive. Key word here, we!

Here’s the thing: some will choose to take Jesus up on this and see that the rescuing they’ve been looking for, the saving they’ve been searching for, and the deep love and better life they’ve been desiring can only be found in Jesus. Others will spend the rest of their lives searching. Now Paul, in his letter, addresses those who claim to be in Christ

Which tells us that there are standards for those who are in Jesus that are different from those who are outside of Jesus and don’t believe. The standards of the world are different from the standards of Jesus. As for those in Jesus, here’s the standard, and don’t miss this... [Leader, read

Ephesians 2:13–14 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility”

Ephesians 2:17–18 “And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.”

Because of Jesus, the barriers of what makes us different, of what could separate us, of what could cause offense, are gone! This, in itself, should shift how we see going about our faith and offending those around us. How so?

The Gospel is good news for all of us, not just some. In our honest pursuit not to offend others, we forget sometimes that sharing the good news isn’t just because the person in front of you needs it – we share the good news because we all need to be reminded of the Savior who came for all of us. That will naturally offend or be off-putting to some; but for others, this news will be absolutely life changing!