The Offense of the Cross

By Larry Rosenbaum

“All who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12). Christians love to claim the promises of God, but this is one promise few Christians like to claim. Whenever we talk in our newsletter about arrests (which haven’t occurred since 1998), permit denials, and being shut down by the police, some Christians assume that we must be doing something wrong. Otherwise the police would leave us alone.

The apostle Paul had the same problem. He knew that being persecuted was part of the Christian life and he expected it. However, he found that many Christians forsook him and denied that he was an apostle because he was constantly being imprisoned. He found this really hard to take.

“At my first defense, no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me” (2 Tim. 4:16‑17). Paul was suffering tremendous hardship in a Roman prison, yet the thing that disturbed him most was that every Christian  seemed to have forsaken him. We expect that non-Christians will not appreciate our Christian preaching and will persecute us. However, it really hurts us when Christians say that the reason we are being persecuted is that we are preaching the gospel in the wrong way.

While the persecution we have endured in San Francisco is not nearly as bad as what Paul experienced, it is real persecution. And it seems that every time we mention this persecution in our newsletter, we hear about Christians who are saying that the police are acting justly, and that our method of witnessing is wrong.

Of course, we are not perfect. I am sure there are times when we are not completely led by God’s Spirit in our witnessing. However, those who criticize us seem to think it is possible to preach the gospel without offending anyone. The methods they generally suggest are “servant evangelism” and “friendship evangelism.” Nobody will get upset if I give out food to a homeless person or offer to mow my neighbor’s lawn. I can make friends with all kinds of people without upsetting them.

Feeding a homeless person is a good work, but it is not preaching the gospel. Making friends with someone is not preaching the gospel. I can spend my life feeding people, but if I never mention the name of Jesus, or God’s plan of salvation, most likely nobody will be saved. “How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” Romans 10:14.

At some point, if I feed a homeless person or make friends with someone, I must tell that person that he has sinned against God, and that he needs to repent of his sins and trust in Jesus for his salvation. At that point, no matter how tactful I try to be, the person may get offended.

“Brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense of the cross ceased” Gal. 5:11. Paul could have avoided persecution by preaching salvation by works. However, that would have been a lie. The preaching of the cross is an offense to the self-righteous person, who thinks his good works will save him. It was the Pharisees who were most upset by Jesus’ preaching, They were responsible for him being crucified. Self-righteous people are offended by the gospel. They get upset when they hear it, and often will try to stop it from being preached.

I realize that there are some preachers who are obnoxious and condemning. We try very hard to preach a balanced message. We play lots of music, because it is a much more gentle way to minister to people. We speak of God’s love and mercy. But we must not neglect to talk about God’s holiness, His judgment, and repentance from sin. We do so as gently as possible, but we must not compromise the Gospel message that our Lord has commanded us to preach. I only wish more Christians would pray for us instead of criticizing us.

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