Offensive Words

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.   2 Timothy 3:16-17

I sat reading along in the Bible on Sunday as my Pastor read from Matthew 11. I was struck by verse 6. It wasn’t where the sermon was headed it was just a verse among the others but it stuck out to me. In Matthew 11:6 Jesus is speaking and he says, “And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

I have often noticed that when I speak in general terms about God, people will listen. When I mention Jesus the responses change. There is a little more tension. Faith in God is not unusual. In our culture people believe that God is whoever we make Him to be. The scriptures are clear about who He is but an awful lot of people actually say, “Well, my God would not allow this or that” or “My God is a loving God.” They fail to check their impressions and beliefs with the scripture.

But, faith in Jesus Christ is radical. I don’t know if people recognize they know little about him or if they expect that He will change their lives and they don’t want that. What I know is that Jesus understood that His very being was going to offend people, I should not be surprised when I offend people by His name. But, He tells us that not to be one who is offended by Him is to be blessed.

This verse came to mind again this morning as I read an article on-line called “In Pursuit of a Faithful Witness” by Rev. Scott Seaton. (http://www.reformation21.org/articles/in-pursuit-of-a-faithful-witness.php) It was about some western missionaries who are producing Bible Translations for Muslim countries. It seems that the terms “father” and “son” have some different connotations in the Muslim world so they are removing them so as not to offend them.

So, Matthew 3:17 which we know like this: and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” would be translated in these new Muslim translations like this: “And a voice came from heaven,’You are my beloved Messiah; with you I am well pleased.’ Apparently there is not just one Bible Translation mission doing this but several. In one the word “Son” in reference to Jesus is being replaced with “Messiah” and references to “Father” are replaced with “Guardian.” GUARDIAN?! Someone unrelated. A guardian may or may not be family. How can I be assured I am an heir to a guardian? Okay, I guess that is a cultural understanding of the word.

A Father has certain expectations, even if he doesn’t meet them we expect a father to love, care for, protect, and provide for his children. When I think of a “guradian” I go back to my Juvenile Probation days. A guardian looked out for the best interest of the child but did not necessarily have any parental involvement.

Mr. Seaton points out in the article that as Christians we have been given a trust from God. “Every generation of the Church is given a sacred trust. As Paul says to the church in Thessalonica, “We have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.” (1 Thessalonians 2:4).

“We also have been given a stewardship, to faithfully guard and proclaim the gospel. What we say cannot be determined by whether the audience is pleased by the message.”

Jesus knew that people would be offended by Him or He would not have told us of the blessing of not being one of them. I am sure that calling Himself the “Son of God” was part of the offense the Pharisees took. He was claiming to be God and they could hear it. Some still came to faith because the Holy Spirit taught them the truth of Jesus’ own statement. You see he called Himself the Son of God as did the Father. It made some people call Him a blasphemer.

In John 10:36-39 Jesus said to the Jews in the temple, “do you say of Him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

It seems to me that the Truth of Christ as the Son of God is important to the believer. It makes Him our brother (Mark 3:35) and we are “fellow-heirs” (Romans 8:17) with Him. If He cannot be my brother then it would be harder to understand God as Father. These translators seem to have a real lack of faith in the power of the Holy Spirit to change hearts as well as minds.

When I first heard the gospel I was outraged that anyone would call me a sinner. It was not long before the Holy Spirit clearly and unquestionably changed my perspective. I clearly see my sin. I believe the same Holy Spirit can take any understanding of “Father” and “Son” and show them the Truth of our relationship to God the Father and God the Son – regardless of the culture they were raised in.

I understand that these agencies believe they are working within a culture but God clearly told us in His word that we are not to add to it or take from it (Deuteronomy 4:2). We lead people astray because they will not know the Word of God as it was given to us by an all powerful and all wise God. The Muslims these are written for will not have a right understanding of the Triune God. Matthew 22:29 says, “But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.”

One of Mr. Seaton’s closing remarks (and now mine) was this: In the same way, a Muslim’s sub-biblical understanding of God the Father and God the Son can only be answered with who God really is–God the perfect, eternal, good, loving Father, Son and Spirit. Words are important. If a Bible translation fails to include references to Jesus as “Son” or “Son of God,” Muslims will fail to think of him as such.

Blessed is the one who is not offended by Jesus Christ as the Son of God, or by God as our perfect heavenly Father.