After the service the couple noticed that their friend
was somewhat upset, but didn’t pry as to ascertain the reason for her change in
behavior. Later that week when they were
visiting their elderly neighbor Lucille revealed her dilemma.
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Songs of Offense
It didn’t take long before Lucille let the couple know
why she had become so distant during their Sunday visit.
“It was those songs.
I don’t see why we can’t stick to the traditional hymnbook for the song
service.
We have that other building for
the contemporary worship services, so they should sing those songs over there
if they want to and leave our service as it’s always been. I hate those songs!”
Well, apparently this had been bothering Lucille for a while, but for some reason she spilled the beans to her friends that didn’t
attend her church. It seemed like as
good of a time as any for the couple to voice their opinion on what they had
just learned.
After a few minutes of running down a list of questions
as to why Lucille didn’t like the new songs, it was clear that she was offended
by the song leader’s selections. This
led the young lady to ask her neighbor one more question.
“Would you say that singing the Psalms is scriptural or
any passage in the Bible for that matter?”
Of course you can surmise that Lucille agreed without
question. Then the woman went on in her
dialog about songs in a place of worship.
“Did you know that song you said you hated was directly
quoting passages in Psalms? Those songs
that you are so offended by were written based on verses in the Bible. To say you hate them is saying you hate the
Word of God.”
Even though Lucille didn’t like the songs, she changed
her tune when it came to the songs her church incorporated into their rather
“traditional” services. She accepted
that the Word of God trumped the custom of man that was regulated as church
doctrine.
Two Thousand Plus Years
It’s funny how things that we grow so fond of tend to
turn into traditions whether or not we realize it. Song selections, church carpet, flashing
lights, black walls and torn jeans seemed to have made their way into our
sanctuaries. Even after 2,000 plus
years, Jesus’ so called “disciples” and followers are finding new ways to become
offended among themselves.
Stepping back into our disciple forefather’s lives, we
read how Jesus became a bit ticked that His first twelve men let offense
override His teachings. In studying the
Word of God this week I was amazed at how much the disciples still doubted and questioned
what Christ was teaching.
Can We Have Some More Please?
The mass feeding of the five thousand was over, so the
Master left the disciples and the “diners” for some one-on-one time with the
Heavenly Father. All alone Jesus
departed across the sea and disappeared into the desert. (See John chapter 6)
Catching up along their journey, we are led to believe
that the disciples had come to terms with Jesus truly being the Son of God
after they witnessed Him walking on water (apparently the miracle feeding didn’t
totally convince them). It has only been
a short time since that event and now it looks like unbelief is making a
comeback in their thinking; this time it came when Jesus was ministering to the
multitudes about Him being the Bread of Life.
Although He had dismissed the people and escaped for some
private time, they hunted Him down like wolves on a chase for food until they
found Jesus. It was during this occasion
that the Lord revealed their true colors as to why they really followed Him.
By now the disciples were reunited with Jesus in the Temple
in Capernaum, and heard the conversation He had with the “groupies” that wanted the
Lord to believe they were true followers.
Calling them on their actions, Jesus spoke to the people about seeking
Him as the true meat and bread they needed in order to enter into Heaven.
“Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with Me because I
fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. You’re only here for the food!” (John 6:26 NLT emphasis mine)
Responding
to what Jesus said, they requested that He perform more miracles so they would
believe by giving them bread every day as God did Moses and the Israelites in
the wilderness. Instead of granting
their requests for miracles, Jesus explained that in order for them to have
eternal life and do the will of God, they would have to believe on Him as God’s
Son sent from Heaven.
Jesus replied, “I am the Bread of Life. Whoever comes to Me will never
be hungry again. Whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty. But you haven’t believed in Me even though
you have seen Me.” (John 6:35-36 NLT)
When
they heard what Jesus said they were confused as to what He meant by being the “Bread
of Life” they needed to obtain eternal life. Making a claim that He was sent from Heaven as
a type of manna really sent them into a boil.
As
Jesus spoke in the temple directing the people to the Bread of Life for salvation,
the Jews started murmuring among themselves over Him saying He “is” the bread
that came down from Heaven. "How can He say that He came down from
Heaven? He's Joseph and Mary's boy and
we know both of them." (vs. 52)
With
the crowd now being agitated, Jesus was about to make another statement that would
open the door to offense among God’s people.
Disciples Go MIA
Jesus
knew what they were saying and went into one of the toughest to take messages
in the Bible. It's about eating His
flesh and drinking His blood. Many people freaked out when they heard it. To clarify it a little better here, the
Amplified version says in John 6:53 that unless you appropriate, take to
yourself His life (the bread) and the saving merit of His blood, you can have
no life in you.
Beginning
at John 6:60 we read how the latest disciples that joined the first followers said
that this message was hard, weird, strange, offensive and unbearable. They basically
said, "Who can be expected to listen
to such teaching that goes against anything we’ve ever been taught in the synagogues."
These
are the same people who were miraculously fed (loaves and fish), had seen the
sick healed, the blind receive sight, and demons cast out. Yet they were
offended by His words. When Jesus saw
that even His followers got caught up in the murmuring He wasn’t about to let
it go and said,
"You're
offended at this? What will you think if
you see Me rise to where I was before. I
have been speaking to you from the Spirit who gives life, but some of you (and
I know who you are) still don't believe or trust and you don't have any faith
in Me."
At
that moment many of the new disciples left and didn't follow the Way of the
Master anymore. They were actually offended by what they had heard because it
was different and not what they were traditionally taught each week from
previous Rabbis.
Was
this about to cause more doubt and unbelief among the rest? Watching the people walk away because of
offense, Jesus said to the original disciples, "Are you twelve going to desert Me and leave too?"
Peter,
who appeared to have been the self-appointed spokesperson of the bunch, uttered
what he assumed the other eleven believed: "Who
are we going to turn to? You have the words of eternal life and we are sure
that You are Christ the Son of the Living God (regardless to what we’ve traditionally
been taught, learned or have done in the past)." (vs. 68-69 emphasis mine)
Would
this finally put an end to complaining, doubting, murmuring and offense among
and with the disciples? Could they
handle breaking tradition in the synagogue to allow the Word (Jesus) to take precedence
so more souls could be brought into the Kingdom of God?
Singing
the Message
I have to admit that some of the things that are taking
place in the churches today are really pushing the envelope when it comes to
true worship the way I’ve been taught. This
goes for the message as well as the music.
However, something I’ve learned as a worship leader/pastor
that wasn’t taught in the church is that music is a key component when it comes
to inviting the Holy Spirit into the service.
When we sing the scriptures we are literally singing the message of
Jesus.
Singing passages of the Bible is a sure way to have Rhema Fire
from Heaven fall on the people, so that the message is received into the hearts
of mankind. In order for this to happen we
have to break away from how we traditionally do things as we think they should
be done, in order to receive the Spirit of Favor for worship.
Understanding the Rhema Word of God
The disciples that Jesus first led had no problem with
the scriptures being sung.
Many of the
passages in Psalms were set to music and they sang them during times of
worship. King David knew that singing
God’s Word causes favor to fall on him, because God acts on His own promises.
No, the disciples offense didn’t come from
lyrics (logos word meaning written of God), but from the rhema or spoken word
from Jesus (Son of God) revealed through the Holy Spirit.
Though the Greek word rhema does not appear in non-Greek
Bibles, Matthew 4:4 gives us an example of its importance. "Man shall
not live by bread alone, but by every word (rhema) that proceeds out of the
mouth of God." Jesus later confirms
this in John 6:63 when talking to the disciples about their being offended and
not believing what He spoke: "The
words (rhema) that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life."
There are so many things that divide the Body of Christ
that it stops unbelievers from coming to know Jesus. Are you in any way contributing to the
numbers of the lost through the spirit of offense? The beginning disciples drove people away
from Christ with their murmuring, bickering and offense over the teaching of
Jesus. Have you done the same through
some other means of offense?
This Week’s Challenge:
Deserting Offense
If you’re a Christian no doubt there is something that
has offended you when it comes to traditional things being done in the
church. It’s time to desert offenses that
cause the Spirit of God’s favor to leave us so that we can get on with our
discipleship classes with Jesus.
Perhaps you’re one that questions every doctrine that
comes down the pike, or always has an opinion on whatever is being taught from
the pulpit. Then maybe you don’t have a
problem with the message as much as you do with other things that are taking
place in your place of worship, such as the new music being introduced to the
congregation.
Jesus instructed that if they aren’t preaching against the
Word of God we are to let people alone and let Him sort it out His way. If it’s something we don’t like or understand
we don’t have to participate in the act, but we surely aren’t to pick our
fellow believers apart.
This week’s challenge would be a good time to do some
internal searching. Is there something
that has come across your path from the Word, a message at church or even a
song that has truly offended you?
So many times when we have an issue of offense, we wear
our thoughts on our faces. A frown, a
scowl or even a tense look lets others know that we are ticked off and not
happy about something. If you have
verbally vented your frustration publically through murmuring, your attitude may
have contributed to modern day desertion of Christ as the early disciples did.
Murmuring and offense are forms of unbelief and don’t
make for good discipleship students. If
unchecked they ultimately turn to hate just as we learned in Lucille’s
case. She allowed it to be a stronghold
in her life that ruled the way she dealt with things she didn’t like or
understand. Jesus talked about this
behavior in the last days, which we are in at this time.
“And then many will be offended, will betray
one another, and will hate one another.” (Matthew 24:10 NKJV)
As you search yourself this week grab a Bible and dig in
to the scriptures to find the offense that’s causing you to sin, and read how
Jesus said to handle it. Instead of
staying offended get rid of it and continue to follow Jesus.
As I was finishing this writing my husband chimed in with
an unconventional suggestion for this week’s song, which he proceeded to sing
to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands.” Although it won’t make the top 10 list, is a
bit overboard and corny, it captures our point about allowing church tradition
to steal favor from our lives.
If you’re offended
and you know it smack your head.
If you’re offended
and you know it smack your head.
If you’re
offended and you know it
Then your face
will surely show it
If you’re
offended and you know it smack your head.
Has this offended you or will you desert those feelings and
allow the Holy Spirit to bless you with favor for your journey with Jesus? Embrace this message and never let the
traditions of man usurp the authority of the rhema Words of Jesus Christ.
If this article has encouraged or helped you, please
consider sharing it by using the social media icons provided at the end of this
post.
Until next time, favor the Word of God
over church tradition!
Check out my new book progress this week.
“Tradition of mankind cancels out My favor.”
Jesus Christ
*Unless
noted, the names in articles are changed to protect the individual(s) privacy.
Note: Emphasis
is given in some scriptures to show clarity or understanding and is not to take
away from the inspirited Word of God.
When used,
the words satan or devil are not capitalized deliberately, because we give him
no place in our lives.
... and
yes the word "discipled" isn't a word used by the world, but that of
believers.
Disclaimer:
Article information is not meant to be used as treatment for mental or physical
issues, but geared toward spiritual awareness.
What’s New This Week: Click
on the photo or link.
The Bait of satan: Living Free From the
Deadly Trap of Offense
with
DVD by John Bevere
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know, but would like to have this kind of favor in your life also. Click on the above tab “Tell Me” for more
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Content and Image Copyright from Favored1. Do not copy.
Scripture
reference was taken from the New King James Bible Version provided by Gateway Bible.Image credit: Google Images or Dreamstime Creative Common License if not specified.
Image: Church Building Psalm 96:1 Bread of Life John 6:60 Rhema Word
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Deserting Offense, How to Deal with Offense, Discipled by Jesus, Discipleship, Disciples of Jesus, Daily Favor Blog, Favored1, Christian Living, John Bevere, Bread of Life, Rhema Word of God, Logos Word of God
