We are looking at what can happen in our lives when we take offence. We have to take ownership for the offence we carry and not try to pass the blame onto others.
Offence is NOT sin. Taking offence upon ourselves is sin! Jesus often caused offence but no one would recognise His actions as sin. He offended the Pharisees; He offended the demons; He even offended His own family!
There are two examples I wish to show you when He seems to deliberately offend those He loved!
John the Baptist was a cousin to Jesus and was the one who first declared that Jesus was the "lamb of God, come to take away the sin of the world". He had baptised Jesus in the Jordan and had seen the dove descend upon Him and had heard the Father's voice from Heaven. Of all men, John knew that Jesus was the Messiah.
Later, as Jesus began His ministry, John's importance declined until he was taken by Herod and cast into prison. I can imagine his thoughts as he lay there.
"My cousin is the Messiah and he has come to overthrow Herod's little empire and to establish His own kingdom! He'll get me out of this prison soon for He has declared that He has come to set the prisoner free. Surely it wont be long! John sits back in his cell and waits .. and waits ... and waits.
Meanwhile, Jesus continues His ministry in the neighbouring villages, not even finding the time to visit His cousin in prison! Surely He would at least come to visit Him! Others did! He does not come - and John is offended!
John's disciples are sent to Jesus to ask a question. "Are you truly the Messiah or should we wait for another?" ie; "You do not meet our expectations!" (Matthew 11)
Jesus replies "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard. The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them, and blessed is the man who is not offended in me". In other words, "I am doing exactly what I was anointed to do!" (Luke 4:18,19)
Could it be that the Lord allowed offence to come to John to teach him something about himself. Though John had declared that He must increase and I must decrease, John had to learn that the agenda, the timetable ,must be the Lord's , not ours.
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Gareth Evans ( - )
Gareth Evans is an itinerant pastor/teacher with a burden to minister to the hurting church his ministry website is Gareth Evans Ministries. Formerly a Physics teacher in the UK and Canada, he became a pastor with the Christian & Missionary Alliance in Canada in 1979. In 1991, he was invited to serve as pastor on board the M/V Anastasis, a medical, missionary ship operated by Youth With A Mission (YWAM). Since leaving that ministry four years later, Gareth has traveled to many countries, encouraging pastors and missionaries.He is married to Anne and they have three married daughters, nine grandchildren and three great grandchildren. Gareth and Anne live in Victoria, in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. Some of his main burdens is to mentor young men to see them walk in the anointing of God and soar on wings as eagles. He has also prayed for revival and moderated many revival conferences across the world.