Pre-Offended
Moishe Rosen, founder of Jews for Jesus, used to say to Gentile Christians, “Don’t worry about offending us Jews with the gospel. We come pre-offended.”
Can you identify with what it feels like to be pre-offended? Think of times when you have had a negative experience. How does this affect your attitude when thinking about reengaging in a similar situation?
If you’re fortunate enough to be searching your mind for an example, perhaps these cues will “prime the pump”: insurance providers, tech support, bureaucracies of all sorts. Think of hours waiting in line while maddening music plays in your ears. Is your blood pressure beginning to rise yet?
Far more serious than the frustration of being stuck in a “your call is very important to us” queue, in the United States we see increasing evidence of the rising tide of anger. Road rage is a real thing. Vitriol poured out on social media fuels the flames. Escalating violence stemming from deepening political and social divides is the lead story in our news. Mass murders are ongoing in Iran, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan, Syria….
Beyond merely being offended, the reservoir of boiling anger many are carrying internally is so full that the slightest jostle causes the volcano to erupt. From individual disagreements to geopolitical conflicts, we live in a cauldron of turmoil.
As followers of the Prince of Peace, we don’t want to contribute to the noise or the nastiness. We want to dwell in shalom as peacemakers.
So where does that leave us when it comes to proclaiming the gospel? We believe the gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile” (Romans 1:16). If we want to be at peace with God, Jesus is the only way to the Father (John 14:6).
We see the power of the gospel reconciling even bitter enemies. One of the clearest evidences is when Arab and Jewish believers are united as brothers and sisters through faith in Isa/Yeshua.[1] Historic enmities are eliminated; true fellowship endures.
And yet, while Jesus is the great uniter, He also is the cause of deep division. John’s Gospel relates repeated instances of internal debate as to the identity and deeds of Jesus.[2] The Savior Himself told His disciples, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to turn a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a person’s enemies will be the members of his household" (Matthew 10:34-36).
The early chapters of Acts record the open-air preaching of Peter and the apostles resulting in many thousands of Jewish people believing in Jesus. However, hostility toward those proclaiming the Good News of salvation through faith in Messiah Jesus results in the stoning of Stephen and Saul’s persecution of followers of “the way.”[3]
We are faced with something of a quandary here: Scripture clearly teaches “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Yet the very preaching of the only message that leads to eternal life is problematic. Paul states, “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:23).
The concept of Messiah being something over which the children of Israel would “stumble” is first revealed in the Tanakh (Hebrew Scriptures). In Romans 9:30-33, Paul quotes Isaiah[4] when referring to Jesus being “a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling.”
And in the Old Testament’s clearest depiction of Messiah (Isaiah 52:13-53:12), the prophet asks, “Who has believed our report…” and goes on to describe God’s Anointed as being “despised and abandoned… we had no regard for him.”
Paul also refers to the spiritual malady which makes Israel susceptible to stumbling: spiritual blindness (Romans 11:7-10). This metaphor traces all the way back to Moses’ statement near the end of his life in Deuteronomy 29:4. “Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.”
Isaiah picks up this theme as he speaks of God’s judicial blinding of Israel, related especially to the deep-rooted sin of idolatry.
Make the hearts of this people insensitive,
Their ears dull,
And their eyes blind,
So that they will not see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
Understand with their hearts,
And return and be healed. (Isaiah 6:10)[5]
A Modern Stumbling Block: Christian Antisemitism
In addition to the theological reasons for the majority of Jewish people not seeing in Jesus the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies in the Tanakh, another huge stumbling block evident today was unknown in the first century: “Christian antisemitism.” One day on the streets of Brooklyn, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi challenged me, “How can you be part of a religion so filled with hate?”
Life in Messiah has many resources devoted to the tragic reality of hateful words and harmful deeds suffered by Jewish people from those identifying as Christians.[6] You may be unaware of the breadth and depth of the historical record but many Jewish people know it well. Until recently, it was common for the Holocaust to be cited as the ultimate example of what “Jew-hatred” produces. But we need not look to the last century; the “Never Again” slogan is regularly being replaced with, “Oh no, not again!”
Understanding the theological and historical reasons why Jewish people are “pre-offended” by the gospel may prove to be a further deterrent for some believers to not engage in sharing Messiah’s message with a Jewish friend. After all, why would we want to further offend people who have already suffered so greatly?
The Moral Imperative to Share the Gospel
But withholding the offer of the only cure for a mortal illness because the sufferer doesn’t agree with the diagnosis or desire the medication would be morally wrong – and disobedient to Messiah’s clear commission (Matthew 28:19-20). If we believe mankind’s sin has separated us from a holy God and that His sole remedy is the shed blood of His beloved Son, why would we withhold the prescription? To quote atheist Penn Jilette, “How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize?”[7]
To be clear, we at Life in Messiah do not think the goal is to “offend people in Jesus’ name.” Given the horrors suffered by God’s chosen nation and the heightened sensitivity to anything threatening their continued existence, we have the greater responsibility to be understanding of their hurts. We need wisdom in our approach.
And we have the Jesus-assigned duty to be loving as we represent Him. In fact, “Lord, how would you have me love my Jewish friends?” is likely a better question than the tactical “How can I reach them?” God’s love in action is key to taking down barriers to the gospel.
God’s Ongoing Redemptive Plan for Israel
The great news is that we are cooperating with God’s divine plan when we lovingly present the best-ever news of salvation by grace through faith in the promised Messiah of Israel. Paul tells us that Israel’s spiritual hardening is both partial (a believing remnant is found in every generation) and temporary; one day there will be a mass turning in faith to the Pierced One.[8]
The Apostle Paul certainly knew what rejection felt like. He experienced being tossed out of synagogues – and worse – on multiple occasions. But his “heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is for their salvation” (Romans 10:1). His prayer reflected God’s own desire for the ultimate restoration of Jacob’s descendants whom He loves everlastingly (Jeremiah 31:3). One such declaration is found in Ezekiel 36:26-28:
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and bring it about that you walk in My statutes, and are careful and follow My ordinances. And you will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.
Until that glorious day, may the Lord help us demonstrate His love and share His good news with His chosen people, regardless of how deeply pre-offended we may find them. Let’s follow Paul’s counsel in 1 Corinthians 10:32-33. “Do not offend Jews or Greeks, or the church of God; just as I also please everyone in all things, not seeking my own benefit but the benefit of the many, so that they may be saved.”
Written by Wes, Life in Messiah Global Ambassador
How does understanding the hurts of the Jewish people increase your understanding of why many are “pre-offended”?
How does understanding the enduring nature of God’s love and desire for the spiritual renewal of the Jewish people motivate you to share the gospel?
Is “Lord, how would You have me show Your love to my Jewish friend?” a prayer you are willing to pray today? (And will you act on His answer?)
Endnotes:
[1] For example, see https://www.lifeinmessiah.org/thetovpodcast/man-from-lebanon.
[2] John 7:40-43, 9:16, 10:19-21.
[3] See also the response to Saul/Paul’s conversion in Acts 9:23,29 as well as to his preaching in Antioch (13:42-52), Iconium (14:17), Thessalonica (17:1-9), and Corinth (18:1-17). While we often see the religious leaders driving the opposition, some priests (6:7) and Pharisees (15:5) became Yeshua-followers. The “more noble” Bereans (17:10-15) also represent Jewish communities which more favorably received the gospel.
[4] Isaiah 8:14 and 28:16; see also 1 Peter 2:7-8.
[5] Also see Isaiah 29:10-11, 42:18-20.
[6] Additional resources produced by Life in Messiah:
Blog posts written by Life in Messiah staff members
Podcast Episodes from The TŌV Podcast (produced by Life in Messiah Executive Director)
Video from our YouTube channel
[7] https://youtu.be/6md638smQd8.
[8] Romans 11:25-27. See also Jeremiah 31:31-37, Zechariah 12:10, e.g.