Is offending someone a sin? Some (okay, many) would say it is, however, we need to think about the context of the offence. Offending someone by wronging them is of course, not okay. However, if the source of the offence is the gospel truth itself, then the answer is no, it is not sin.

If in proclaiming God's Word we were supposed to take care to "never offend anyone,"

Jeremiah would never have suffered the ways he did,

Neither would Ezekiel,

or Isaiah,

John the Baptist would have never lost his head,

Stephen would never have been martyred,

The Apostles wouldn't have, all 12 of them, been martyred,

And many many others who died for standing up for God's TRUTH would never have suffered or lost their lives.

If a cardinal ethic of Christianity was never to offend anyone, Jesus would have never turned the tables in the temple and shooed out the money changer with a whip. He would have never spoken out against the "Scribes, Pharisees, Hypocrites," the way He did and He never would have been crucified.

The pure Gospel is necessarily offensive. God's message to rebellious man and even (and especially) to His rebellious children is always a rebuke of sin and a call to repent and obey His Commandments. That message will always offends. It offends the rebellious layman and the rebellious religious leader alike.

Offending people is not wrong when it's offending those who love lies by telling them the truth.

Jesus spoke highly of John the Baptist. He said in Matthew 11:11 "I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist." And don't forget what John did and what happened to him as a result. He did a lot more than just baptize people in the river Jordan. He called out Herod for his sin and did so publicly.

Preachers today would say John wasn't so wise for doing that, after all, he was imprisoned and lost his head over it. But what did Jesus say?

"I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist."

John wasn't worried about offending people. He was concerned with the Truth and obeying the Lord's call on his life - regardless of the consequences.

Offending people with the TRUTH isn't sin. Our modern "live and let live" society wants to make it a sin, but the real sin is disobedience to God as God Himself defines it, not as man defines it.

How are people going to get saved if they don't get confronted with their sin and realize how ugly and vile it is? Unless they are offended in such a way as to become offended by their sin, and no longer desire it, how will they come to realize they need Jesus and need to repent of that sin?

...something to consider.

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