In his book, Christianity and Liberalism, published in 1923, J. Gresham Machen says that “few desires on the part of religious teachers have been more harmfully exaggerated than the desire to avoid giving offense.” This desire, to avoid giving offense, at best inches dangerously close to dishonestly and, at worst, leads to the complete degradation of all things good.
Dating back to the earliest days of the Christian Church there have been foundational creeds and confessions that outline the doctrines of the Christian faith. These creeds and confessions acted as the framework for our understanding of the Bible, and the gospel message itself. They also acted as a bulwark against the rising tide of subjectivism.
I am saddened to report the bulwark is crumbling. It shouldn’t surprise us that a sinful humanity would be increasingly offended by the truth contained within the words of a holy God. Jesus himself, said that he came not to bring peace but a sword, knowing that his message divides, that truth gives offense. The question is how we should address this reality?
I can tell you how most seminaries and churches have addressed this. They have avoided giving offense. Doctrine divides, so instead our churches focus on self help. The truth hurts, so instead, our seminaries focus on social issues. This is all done not realizing the harm we are doing to those we are attempting to not offend. Without a lighthouse to guide us and lead us to shore, many are left sailing in the dark and crashing into the rocks.
This has not only spiritual implications but practical ones as well. I recently heard that Italian artist, Salvatore Garau, sold an invisible sculpture for $18,000 dollars. Yes, you read that correctly. Someone paid him $18,000 dollars for nothing. How did we get from Michelangelo and Rembrandt to Jackson Pollock and Salvatore Garau? How did we get from masterpiece to nothing? I think it’s the same answer that has brought the church from the days of creeds and confessions to the days of light shows and coffee bars. From the days of biblical truth to the days of your own truth. It’s always our desire to avoid giving offense.
What happened to art can be traced back to a loss of artistic criticism. Few and far between are the thoughtful minds who have studied true art and are bold enough to say what true art really is, and equally important what isn’t, even when it offends. The result is no artistic lighthouse to guide our way. Art can be whatever you want it to be or art can even be nothing. We are ships wandering in the dark, crashing ashore.
What happened to the church can be traced back to a loss of theological criticism. Far too many churches, at least the popular ones, speak little of doctrine. We don’t talk about original sin, the blood shed on the cross, the holiness of God or the unchanging truth of his word. We’ve downplayed the reality of who God is and as a result have dimmed His true beauty and the beauty of his creation. The result, as we have seen with art, is quite predictable. Our modern Christianity is peddling $18,000 dollars worth of nothing. In our avoidance of offense we sacrificed depth, truth, beauty and goodness. We have sacrificed all that makes Christianity good and exchanged it for nothing.
What must we do? We must turn on the lighthouse once again. We must diligently study and seek the truth of God’s word so that we may know the false when we see it and we must ground ourselves in the truth of the word even when it offends. We must call good what is good, bad what is bad and pay nothing for nothing.
Dear reader, together we can reclaim all that is true and beautiful and good, but we must not inflict the harm that is done when we avoid giving offense.
- Log in or Subscribe to post comments.