Does This Offend You? - Mountain Ridge Church

Before we jump into today’s question from Jesus, I want to quickly recap last week. Sam’s sermon was excellent. The Jesus question he wrestled with was from Mark 8:36 ‘What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?’ NLT

Stop and allow that to impact you. Sam brought out the reality that we spend so much time, money, and energy trying to gain the world while at the same time, we are losing our souls. He asked, have you noticed how easy it is to focus on things of this world, things of today that have no eternal value but could lead to some immediate gratification, satisfaction, fun, or success? Have you noticed the passion, energy, and resources we humans are willing to put into things of today and how little of that we put into the things of God?

It’s true. As we are trying desperately to find what we are looking for, we are seeing mental health issues on the rise. What is happening? We are losing our souls.

Remember the St. Augustine quote Sam gave us?

“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” St. Augustine

Then Sam shared with us, the four ways we may gain the world but lose our souls. Please take the time to watch and read Sam’s sermon.

Okay, to today’s Jesus question. Let’s start with this quote.

Just because someone plays Beethoven badly doesn’t mean Beethoven was a bad composer. Just because someone lives the Christian life badly doesn’t mean that Jesus isn’t worth following. God doesn’t ask you to be like Christians: He asks you to be like Jesus Christ. – Bob Russel

Stop and think about that. Let that sink in for a second.

Just because someone plays Beethoven badly doesn’t mean Beethoven was a bad composer. That’s obvious – right?

Just because someone lives the Christian life badly doesn’t mean that Jesus isn’t worth following. That makes sense – right?

God doesn’t ask you to be like Christians: He asks you to be like Jesus Christ. Doesn’t that put it into perspective?

How many people do you know who say they don’t go to church because they don’t like Church people? Well, the truth is, that the Church was built for imperfect people to find forgiveness and healing. Think through this with me. If the Church was built for imperfect people, what kind of people do you think will fill the Church? You got it, imperfect people. We gladly identify as people who are all a mess. We all wrestle with hypocrisy. We all wrestle with sin and the damage it does. We are not better than anyone, we are just learning how to be better than who we were.

If you see someone struggling to follow Jesus, that just means they are like you, imperfect. And whatever you do, don’t assume because someone isn’t perfect that following Jesus, Jesus isn’t worth following. You were never asked to be like Christians, you were asked to be like Jesus. And that is a process. We call that process discipleship.

Let’s read today’s scripture.

John 6:53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” 61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you?

62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you – they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” 70 Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

Pretty wild moment here. What would you have thought hearing Jesus say these things? ‘You have to eat my flesh and drink my blood for me to remain in you.’ Good grief. Then Jesus asks, “Does this offend you?”

Let’s talk about this moment. Before this story in John 6, Jesus is becoming very popular. Jesus fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish. This miracle created a buzz and the crowd wanted to make Jesus a king, but Jesus slipped away. Now just take some time to visualize this, we are talking about a crowd of thousands of people. This wasn’t a few people at a coffee shop. The next day the same crowd went looking for Jesus and found Him. They demanded that Jesus do more miracles so they could believe that Jesus was truly a prophet sent from God. Jesus doesn’t do a miracle, instead, He begins teaching the crowd.

And then there was a problem. Jesus didn’t say things that made them feel good.

Quick time out here. You would think that if you have a crowd of thousands and you are growing in popularity, you will use that moment to say what people want to hear to keep people around you and attract more people. You would think that Jesus would use this moment to do a spectacular miracle to ‘wow’ people. Isn’t that the world we live in? In our world, if something is bigger, it’s successful – right? If someone or someplace has happy social media pics, they are successful – right? Aren’t we attracted to bigger, better, and more exciting? Not Jesus. Jesus goes in the other direction. If you think about it, if Jesus lived today, Jesus would be a bad pastor. Jesus wouldn’t fit into the North American way of doing things. Jesus didn’t seem interested in success or looking like a success. He pushed away His moment to be a king. He pushed away His moment to do the big spectacular miracle. And then to make it worse, Jesus didn’t say things that made them feel good.

This Jesus story reminds me of the warning Jesus gave His disciples and it’s a warning to us today.

Matthew 10:21-23 When people realize it is the living God you are presenting and not some idol that makes them feel good, they are going to turn on you, even people in your own family. There is a great irony here: proclaiming so much love, experiencing so much hate! But don’t quit. Don’t cave in. It is all well worth it in the end. It is not success you are after in such times but survival. Be survivors! MSG

What is an idol? An idol is a religious symbol or activity that makes us feel good. How? If we worship an idol, we feel like we are doing something religious while at the same time, we don’t have to make any life changes. That’s why Jesus said, there is a price to pay for telling people the truth about Jesus. If you want to be popular with people, be positive and stay away from words like, ‘repent’, ‘surrender’, ‘discipleship’, and ‘holiness.’ We live in a culture that craves image, entertainment, excitement, and good emotions. We live in a culture that craves idols. Things that make us feel good while at the same time don’t make any life changes. Jesus tells us, that when you tell people I’m not an idol that makes them feel good, people are going to turn on you. They will leave your church. Your family members will be mad. But don’t cave in.

As Jesus is teaching the crowd, the crowd can’t understand what Jesus is saying. He’s not making them feel good. It raddles them. They told Jesus, that what He was saying was too hard to accept. It was so hard that they began complaining about it. But Jesus doesn’t give an inch. He doesn’t water anything down. He keeps talking and doubles down. And because Jesus is clear, very clear, you see people walk away from Jesus. Again, if Jesus was a pastor today, Jesus would be a bad pastor. Jesus didn’t seem to care about success.

This is what I want you to see. As people get closer to Jesus, they can draw a line in the sand and say, ‘No’ to Jesus. Why? Because they want an idol that makes them feel good, not life change. There can be a point when Jesus is too much for people and they turn away from Jesus. This happens in churches. We like church because it can make us feel good, but we don’t want to repent, surrender, be discipled, or experience holiness.

Think through this with me. Is there something that the Bible said or something that Jesus said that bugs you? Is there something Jesus asked of you, and you struggle to do it? Maybe it’s too much for you. It’s in that moment that Jesus wants to know, ‘Does this offend you?’

Many years ago, in the days before Facebook and social media, MRC started. Early on, we had to deal with a leader who had an affair. It almost derailed our young church. I was a young leader and found myself in a whirlwind of what to do because this wasn’t something I ever dreamed would have happened. The moment I found out what was happening, I immediately went to see our leader, my friend, face-to-face. The moment they found out I was coming to the house, they left. They didn’t want to deal with anything. In all my attempts to talk to them, they refused to talk. They ended all contact with all their friends. It may sound strange, but we have never spoken about it, they wouldn’t allow it. They just walked away and never came back.

It left us with enormous challenges to navigate. This is why I am telling you this story. Our leader, my friend, drew a line in the sand and said, ‘No’ to Jesus. Following Jesus was too much so they walked away. It was devastating to the family, the friendships, and the church.

Let me ask you, do you have a line in the sand with Jesus? That means, there is an area in your life where you say, ‘No’ to Jesus. Following Jesus becomes too much for you to accept and live out. If you do, Jesus wants to know, ‘Does this offend you?’

What it means to be a Christian or a disciple of Jesus is simple. You give your life to Jesus. You no longer own your life. You no longer are in control of your life. Jesus now owns you and is in control of all the areas of your life. When I say that, I must ask the Jesus question, ‘Does that offend you?’ Let’s read what scripture says.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 19 Haven’t you yet learned that your body is the home of the Holy Spirit God gave you, and that he lives within you? Your own body does not belong to you. 20 For God has bought you with a great price. So use every part of your body to give glory back to God because he owns it. NLT

As we give our lives to Jesus daily, the Holy Spirit leads us into a new life of freedom. A life free from every selfish desire that damages our life. A life free from the bondage of sin. Let’s read about it.

Romans 6:19 I’m using this freedom language because it’s easy to picture. You can readily recall, can’t you, how at one time the more you did just what you felt like doing – not caring about others, not caring about God – the worse your life became and the less freedom you had? And how much different is it now as you live in God’s freedom, your lives healed and expansive in holiness? MSG

The problem is our selfishness wants to take over and say, ‘No’ Jesus. We want to draw a line in the sand and say, ‘No’ I’m not following Jesus. I don’t like what Jesus is saying. It doesn’t make me feel good. Everyone has this battle inside us between the Holy Spirit and our selfishness. And we experience this battle every day.

Galatians 5:16-17 16 I advise you to obey only the Holy Spirit’s instructions. He will tell you where to go and what to do, and then you won’t always be doing the wrong things your evil nature wants you to. 17 For we naturally love to do evil things that are just the opposite from the things that the Holy Spirit tells us to do; and the good things we want to do when the Spirit has his way with us are just the opposite of our natural desires. These two forces within us are constantly fighting each other to win control over us, and our wishes are never free from their pressures. NLT

Being a Christian means, I no longer own my life. I no longer control my life. I gave all the areas of my life to Jesus. Jesus now owns my life and has control of my life. I do what Jesus wants because He is leading me to a better life. Please understand, that giving ownership and control of your life to Jesus is a choice. It doesn’t always feel good. It doesn’t automatically happen.

Discipleship means I made a choice to give my life to Jesus, now I’m going to daily continue to make choices to give my life to Jesus. Now that I gave my life to Jesus, I am going to intentionally make choices to stop being selfish and follow the Holy Spirit. I am in the process of becoming like Jesus. Please hear me, this doesn’t automatically happen. And it doesn’t always feel good. It is a daily choice.

This is why you will hear people say, ‘Being a Christian is hard’ or ‘I tried going to church but it didn’t work.’ Have you heard that before? What they are saying is, ‘I drew a line in the sand, and I said, ‘No’ to Jesus.’ ‘I wanted an idol that made me feel good while at the same time I didn’t have to make any life changes.’ ‘I don’t want to follow Jesus to freedom because the choices don’t make me feel good.’

Being a Christian means, I no longer own my life. I no longer control my life. I surrender, I repent, I want discipleship and holiness. I now give all the areas of my life to Jesus. Discipleship means, I now continue to make choices to change. I intentionally make choices to stop being selfish and follow the Holy Spirit. Remember, this is a process. It’s not automatic, it’s a daily choice. And it doesn’t always feel good. And Jesus wants to know, ‘Does this offend you?’

Before I close think about all the areas of your life. Have you given all the areas of your life to Jesus?

Are you experiencing a relationship with Jesus? This is the greatest and most important area of your life.

What are your daily attitudes like? Do you flop into whatever attitude hits you or do you choose to be joyful in hard times? And yes, never being fake but in the hard times remembering the grace of Jesus.

What comes out of your mouth? Gossip. Anger. Sarcasm. Constant negativity. Constant put-downs.

How are you in your relationships? The whole point of following Jesus is to be better at loving people.

How about forgiveness? God said, if you don’t forgive, I won’t forgive you.

How are you in church? Did you know the Church is God’s body? Your involvement in your spiritual community is your involvement with what God is up to in our community.

What are your views on sex? 1 Corinthians 7:1-6, is it good to have sexual relations? Yes. But within a certain context. Question. Did you know sex is good? And did you know that sexual purity is for everyone? The context of sex is in a marriage between a man and a woman. And in that marriage, both are supposed to be seeking to satisfy each other. And everyone in this area has been tempted to go outside what God intended.

In the area of work ethic. Romans 12:11-12 Work hard and do not be lazy. Be joyful and patient.

How do you live out your life? Are you diligent and dependable?

How do you view money? Is what you earn all yours? Did God provide it? Do you give back to God, save money for the future, and spend the rest? Or do you spend 125% of what you make?